ISSUE
N°16 J U N 2016
PORTFOLIO
PLAMENA MILEVA
THE CLOWNFISHES OF PUERTO GALERA by P. Vassallo
MARE NORDEST 2° international contest of UWP
A PARADISE FOR DIVERS: MOALBOAL by D. Barzazzi
MONTHLY CONTEST Cedric Peneau wins “Reptiles” topic
ARMS: SAME OR DIFFERENT ? by P. Peluso
NIMAR EXPERIENCE Housing review
Dear friends, those of you who have been following us since the beginning will remember that the main mission of the scubashooters network has always been to bring knowledge, beauty, service , fun, and education to all the lovers of the sea and UW photography. We leave to you, dear friends, the judgement wether we are succeeding in our mission or not but what I can tell you is that we are offering endless efforts and always endeavoring to achieve higher standards on all our channels; the flagship website, our magazine, our contests and our social presence. We have been developing important cooperations through the years, DRT show, Dabirahe resort in Lembeh, UWPguide , Reefid just to name some of them, everything with just one aim… quality. So wether you are a manufacturer, a resort , a diving center, an UW photographer or just a sea life fan we are here to serve you and I’m sure you will find interesting and endless possibilities on our network; if for example you run a diving center and you don’t have any idea on how to make it UW photographer friendly, just contact us and we can help you in developing your activity into the right direction. Or you are a manufacturer and you just put on the market the latest product and want it to be spread among the community? Again, just contact us and we can help you very easily. I would like to close this month’s editorial with a sentence who deeply touched me and I want to share it with you. “A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time”. Henry Ford Marino Palla Owner and Founder Scubashooters Network
Cover image
“The encounter” by Plamena Mileva
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EDITORIAL by Marino Palla
MOALBOAL A paradise for divers by Davide Barzazzi
PORTFOLIO Palmena Mileva
THE CLOWN FISHES OF PUERTO GALERA by Pasquale Vassallo
NIMAR EXPERIENCE by Simone Caprodossi
DAN EUROPE: COMING TO GRIPS WITH SYMPTOMS
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20° MONTHLY CONTEST: Reptiles
ARMS All the same, all the different by Pierpaolo Peluso
MARE NORDEST 2016 International contest of UWP
Editor: FABIO STRAZZI Verein Scubashooters, 8952 Schlieren - Switzerland
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THE CLOWN FISHES OF PUERTO GALERA Words and Pictures:
Pasquale Vassallo
September is not the best period: heavy rain and strong wind. However, this does not limit diving and especially the beauty of the dive sites in Puerto Galera, located in the eastern part of the island of Mindoro, in the Philippines. The diving sites are really a lot: wrecks, coral reefs and walls sinking into the blue, muck dives on the sand in search of the most bizarre creatures and fantastic night dives. During each dive, I often met beautiful anemones with their colorful guests: the clown fishes. The colors and the liveliness of this small fish attract every diver. Almost in every encounter, I found the clown fishes busy with their re
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productive habits, laying eggs and particularly caring them. The site chosen for spawning is a piece of rock or, if missing, even the remnants of a shell, a crustacean’s carapace or other biological remains that substitute the lack of a natural solid substrate. Usually these remains are dragged to the anemone’s base or in proximity of its tentacles, so that serve as protection. The male cleans the site from the presence of any eventual organisms; then the female, usually of larger dimensions, begins laying eggs one beside the other on the substrate, sticking them to it through an adhesive filament. Then the male goes over the eggs and fecundates them with his sperm. The couple will never abandon the nest, but will monitor the eggs waving the water to oxygenate and keep them clean. After 7-10 days, the hatching occurs and the larvae will return to the surface, to go back to the bottom searching for an actinia where to spend the rest of their lives in symbiosis with it. Diving and staying to watching the parental cares of these small fishes is a truly enjoyable experience. This small act is part of the cycle of life and, as an observer, I enjoy all the emotions.
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NIMAR EXPERIENCE Words and Pictures:
Simone Caprodossi
A month I was offered the opportunity to try for the first time a NiMAR Underwater System with my Canon EOS 70D DSLR. I asked the NiMAR team to provide me with a Macro port to test it with my Canon 100mm so that I could leverage the cropped sensor for extra closeness for some macro shooting. After many years of topside photography I started doing underwater work about 9 years ago as I moved to Dubai from Europe and this increased my realistic opportunities to get wet and find interesting subjects. I started with a low cost entry level solution that was at the time
a polycarbonate transparent Ikelite system for my Canon 40D camera. That was good to get started but also gave me few issues with leakage because the tightening system, particularly for the ports, was quite loose and the material felt fragile. So, once I upgraded to a more professional camera system and intensified my diving and photography, I also up-
graded to a more top end housing system. I now usually shoot underwater with a Canon EOS 5DSR in a Subal underwater system so I was curious to see how well could I work again with a more entry level system and compare it to my current experience. When I received my NiMAR system I was immediately impressed with the attention to detail and customer care. I have always complained about the fact that really expensive housing companies don’t even bother to include port covers, o-ring removers or any little accessory to make the photographer life easier despite the big bill. The NiMAR housing comes in a great padded soft bag to carry it and is accessorized with anything you may need: spare o rings, cleaning clothes, o-ring removers and different keys and mini screw drivers. So you are ready to go with no extras needed. The housing very positively surprised me with its sturdiness and reliability. It is made of a thick transparent polycarbonate that feels very robust despite the material being in general more delicate than metal housings. The step change from my first housing memories is the NiMAR locking system: 4 large metal fasteners clip the back in place tightly and a bayonet lock system for the port provides very safe waterproofing down to 60meters. A leak alarm completes the security leaving leakage risk only up to the photographer’s human mistakes. The housing is also finely shaped around the camera, which makes it about as compact as metal housings, very
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24 important especially when carrying it on planes. With such a good design the polycarbonate material looses the disadvantages and keeps only the benefit of seeing through the full camera that I always liked in my first system. The other new experience for me was to try for the first time a fiber optic strobe connection. I normally use my Inon Z240 strobes with a sync cord as the 5DMark III has no built in flash to trigger fiber optic. The 70D with the NiMAR housing is perfectly designed for fiber optic connection. You just have to slide in the camera with the flash unlocked and fit the thin fiber optic cords in the designated holes in the front of the housing. The fiber optic cords get then connected to the optic triggers of the strobes all with easy wet connections. This system requires half the setting up time and takes away the need for all the extra dry connections that could go wrong with sync cords. For Sync cord lovers or if you have strobes that cannot be run via fiber optic there is still an available cord connection head on top of the housing that links to the camera via an internal hot-shoe, allowing to connect an external TTL or one flash directly. I was eager to get this new toy wet, so I first tried it in the pool also to familiarize with the handling and the fiber optic lighting system. The housing was immediately really easy to use and all controls very responsive. Some of my pool “wildlife” shots were quite successful right away. I tried to shoot in TTL with the fiber optic and I find the images were slightly underexposed vs. my manual setting but nothing that a bit of brightening in post-production could not fix. The housing allows to access nearly all functionalities with a couple of small exceptions as it is not possible to operate the back wheel control of the camera nor access the “AF” and “drive” direct setting buttons on the top right. This was a design choice not to clutter the back as the Canon DSLRs have a very useful “Q” button in the back that allows to select any setting from the menu via the arrow controls and then change them via the top wheel. As I started using the menu and the Q button I found
myself loving the simplicity of managing settings this way and the transparent hosing makes it really easy to look through the camera display. It is also not possible to operate the ON/OFF camera switch so you have to remember to get your camera in already switched ON. In any case with the basic practice of taking at least a test photo after assembling the system at home it will be immediately evident if one forgot to switch it on. So it was finally time for the real test out on a dive. As I said I live in Dubai and just a couple of hours drive from the city you can reach some lovely dive sites on the UAE East Coast that faces
26 lovely seahorse and some cute catfish that were hiding between parts of the wreck. The housing is slightly positively buoyant and that was a very welcome relief while holding the housing in one hand and cleaning my mask with the other, repeatedly. The second dive at Inchcape 2 was more relaxed as I sorted out my mask and we were only at 20 meters so I could enjoy a relaxed dive and testing the housing functionalities. I played around with settings with some of the many scorpion fish and small catfish moving around in a compact group confirming the really smooth operation of the housing. The NiMAR Macro port is also designed to attach a focus light on a slot on top of it that makes the focusing much faster and easier particularly at depth or for small subjects hidden in the corals or in dark areas. I enjoyed the cropped sensor of the 70D giving extra magnification to my Canon 100mm macro lens. I usually have a Macromate wet diopter on my macro system to get extra magnification. NiMAR just brought out some new flip lens holder system to add some wet lenses for supermacro and this will make this setup even more powerful to shoot really tiny subjects. the Indian Ocean. So I booked a day trip to dive Inchcape 1 and 2 in Fujairah, two small wrecks sunk about 15 years ago that have developed into quite rich underwater environments. Not the Lembeh Strait but some good macro life for a camera test. Inchcape1 is a deep dive at 30 meters with limited bottom time to about 25 minutes and my mask was fogging constantly so I got to try the housing in torture test conditions. The housing proved really easy to handle and friendly to operate despite my lack of experience with it. I used manual strobe settings, as those are easy to set for macro and managed to get some quite nice shots of a
Net, I think this NiMAR system offers a great quality and value housing option as I could deliver the same images I would have gotten with my 3 times more expensive pro-system. I would definitely recommend it to someone taking the first steps into DSLR underwater photography and I would seriously consider it as a solution as a more experienced photographer.
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COMING TO GRIPS WITH SYMPTOMS The Diver The diver was an experienced, 43-year-old female with more than 150 lifetime dives. She was reportedly healthy and reasonably fit, and she denied taking any medications regularly. The Dives The dives were made in the ocean from a private vessel; the diver breathed air and performed a three-minute safety stop on each dive. The water temperature was 14°C, and the diver wore a drysuit with attached gloves. The first dive was to 26 m for 22 minutes. After a one-hour surface interval, she made a second dive to 17 m for 40 minutes. Despite her use of dry gloves, the diver’s hands became cold, especially during the second dive. At the surface she reported reduced sensation in both hands with associated loss of grip strength. She and her companions attributed the symptoms to being cold, and they headed home. Contact with DAN The diver experienced some difficulty driving due to the reduced sensation and strength in her hands. Thinking her symptoms resulted from being cold, she spent more than an hour immersing her hands in warm water, but she noted no change in her symptoms. Concerned that she might have decompression sickness (DCS), she called DAN. The diver and the DAN medic discussed her dive profiles, breathing gas and any potential issues that might have occurred on either dive. The discussion then turned to the symptoms: their time of onset, character and evolution. During the conversation two important pieces of information surfaced. First, her wrist seals were well used, meaning the chances were very low that constriction had impeded normal circulation. Second, the diver had a history of similar symptoms. The Complication The diver reported a history of carpal-tunnel syndrome. Upon reflection she noted her present symptoms were essentially identical to those she had before. Once carpal-tunnel symptoms became a likely explanation, the medic sought to determine whether some activity during the dive could have aggravated the condition. The diver explained that she made the dives to familiarize herself with the use of a new camera housing in the marine environment. She confir-
med she had an appropriate amount of weight for ballast, but she realized she did not have the weight positioned for proper trim. The housing tended to float with the lens side up, which required her to flex her wrists to bring the camera into a usable position. The DAN medic encouraged her to be evaluated at the local hospital’s emergency department that day. Discussion There are no tests or imaging methods such as X-ray, CT scan or MRI that can diagnose DCS. The diagnosis of DCS is typically reached by a process of elimination. This can be more difficult when a preexisting condition mimics the symptoms of DCS. Three primary factors are associated with the diagnosis: provocative dive profiles, proximity of symptom onset to diving and symptoms consistent with DCS. Let’s review this case with these criteria in mind. The diver’s profiles (26 m for 22 minutes on air; 60-minute surface interval; 17 m for 40 minutes on air) were not particularly aggressive, but DCS cannot be ruled out based on this exposure alone. The actual onset time of the symptoms is somewhat unclear due to the fact that the diver’s hands were so cold. However, the symptom onset was well within 24 hours, the timeframe within which DCS symptoms are expected to occur. Eighty percent of all DCS symptoms present within the first 12 hours following a dive. Regarding the specific location of her symptoms, there are no documented cases of DCS in which symptoms occurred in both hands and nowhere else. Some might argue that a preexisting musculoskeletal condition could predispose the individual to an increased risk of DCS in the affected area. There is some evidence that this is a possibility, but no such predisposition is statistically apparent; the case data about DCS do not support the idea that previously injured areas of the body are prone to DCS. DAN’s recommendation that the diver seek medical evaluation was to ensure review of all other possible signs and symptoms. The Conclusion The diver chose to wait until the next morning so a physician familiar with her condition could evaluate her. Her symptoms had improved slightly overnight and remained localized in her hands. The diver did not report any new symptoms. A physical evaluation determined that the reduced sensation originated at the heels of the hands and extended into the index, middle and ring fingers of both hands. The fifth (little) fingers were unaffected. Based on this verified presentation and the manner in which the diver repeatedly flexed her wrists during the dives, the doctor suggested that the symptoms were consistent with an aggravation of the diver’s existing carpal-tunnel syndrome. The doctor spoke with one of DAN’s consulting dive physicians. After reviewing the profiles, the time of symptom onset, the character and progression of the symptoms and, ultimately, the objective physical findings, both doctors agreed that DCS was unlikely, and hyperbaric treatment was not recommended. There is no substitute for a physical examination in person. A diagnosis cannot be made over the phone or based solely on signs and symptoms
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34 that appear in a particular list. None of the signs or symptoms listed for DCS is exclusive or unique to DCS; all factors need to be considered in their proper context. While one of the essential goals in the management of DCS is prompt initiation of treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, this should not supersede a thorough medical evaluation. Medical examinations that occur prior to treatment have not been associated with negative clinical outcomes, and they may uncover other important causes of symptoms that were erroneously associated with diving. If a diver develops symptoms following a dive, encourage prompt evaluation by a medical professional, and do not hesitate to contact us via the DAN Emergency Hotline (+39 06 42115685).
WHALE SHARK & MANTA ADVENTURE CANCUN MEXICO 2016 During the summer months (June - September), whale sharks migrate to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and form the largest whale shark (Rhincodon typus) aggregation in their natural habitat. Cancun is the perfect staging point for trips to the whale shark feeding grounds because it is easily accessible, close to the sharks and surrounded by warm blue water that make whale shark encounters that much more enjoyable and your images that much more spectacular! In addition to these colossal creatures, we also have the chance to see mantas, mobula rays,schools of golden rays. We stay at a comfortable and quiet hotel situated close the jetties where we embark each day. We can supply a variety of accommodation options whit additional price. Please note that these are snorkelling trips
LOCATION : Cancun - 6 guests per boat Dates August 2016
Included: - 3 days at the boat charter (7:00am - 2:00pm ) with experienced instructor and photograph Raffaella Schlegel and Dietmar Posch - 4 nights in Hotel Accommodations (double occupancy) in Cancun - Breakfast - Lunch onboard and soft drinks - Transfers to/from Cancun International Airport - Single occupancy rooms are available at an additional cost NOT Included: - Airfare - Crew tips - Dinner and Drinks - Other activities For more details contact us today : bluerush@me.com
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MOALBOAL
A PARADISE FOR DIVERS
Words and Pictures
Davide Barzazzi
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The trip is a bit long but my wife Agnese and me we got used. And so, after 26 hours flying from Milan to Cebu, we have to drive three hours to reach the Sampaguita Resort in Moal Boal. We arrive at 8pm and after a tasty dinner and a couple of mojitos we go to the room for a good night’s sleep. The next day, an employee comes to wake us up because... It’s already time for lunch! When we get out from our bungalow we immediately appreciate the sunshine, the garden, the palm trees and the view of the sea. We realize now that we will spend the holiday in very relaxing and enjoyable place. The resort is very simple and basic but the great thing is that after a couple of days you feel to be at home. The bar’s terrace restaurant is very cozy and is situated directly on the reef. After lunch we bring our diving equipment to the diving center, and then we check and fit all our cameras in their housings: two housing for dslr cameras, one for a compact one, six strobes, four cameras, cables, batteries, arms, glasses ... about seventy pounds of stuff! Of course we know that most of our dives will be dedicated to macro photography. Once everything is settled we go for a dive to test all our equipment. We can do unlimited dives on local reefs, and every day we’ll make two with the boat. The first dive is satisfactory and now we find out that the site is full of life and that the area left of the reef is frequented by many green turtles. It’s clear that for us, underwater photographers, the holiday will be challenging and satisfying. Our guide for the next three weeks will be Rene, an expert diver and able to meet all the demands of an underwater photographer.
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Another very interesting dive site is the one on the wreck of a small airplane, not only for the wreck itself but also for all marine life. The dives are not deep (usually not deeper than -100/120 feet) and no current. At the end of the day we take our computer with us and spend a couple of hours on the terrace drinking some mojitos and checking our photos while admiring at the same time the beautiful sunsets. We dedicated our time to night dive just in front of the resort where there is a colony of mandarin fishes. The night dives sometimes last nearly an hour and a half because you can find many interesting subjects swimming at only -6/7 feet depth. What’s more, the area is also populated by a big family of green turtles. In case you would decide to do the nigh dive with Renè…. Wellll, you wouldn’t never come out of the water! We had the chance to go to Oslob where it is now settled a group of about ten whale sharks. The site has become very touristic because the sharks are fed by fishermen from dawn until one o’clock, and so you have to get there before the place is crowded of tourists. We didn’t love very much this experience because sharks seem dazed from too much food and there is nothing natural about this.
Our first dive by boat has been dedicated to discover the site Garbage. As soon as we dive immediately understand the reasons for the site’s name as quickly on the bottom are various types of garbage as truck tires and metal tubes. Rene shows us anemones full of porcelain crabs, clown fishes taking care of their eggs, ghost pipe fish and many sea slugs. As we stop taking photos of a subject there is immediately something else to take care of: small crabs, clams, shrimp... There is so much stuff to take photo of that sometimes you have to control how much air you have left in the tank because the risks of forgetting to control the pressure gauge is very high. Do you want to see the pigmy seahorse? Rene brings before Panagsama where to live -32mt tiny pigmy to a small range of coral. Do you want to photograph the crab of soft corals? Renè you will find as you want ...at the end of each day we made three dives and about two hundred photographs of good quality. The dive sites are many and all very close to the resort. We spent three or four days at Pescador island, about two miles right in front of the resort, where a huge shoal of sardines stopped for two years, then they moved ahead to the village of Panagsama. There there are millions of sardines. They are so many that when you enter the school you feel to lose your balance because it’s like swimming in a “fish tornado” that turns around you, and at the end you feel like a drunk.
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It was much more fulfilling a few days before the encounter with a whale shark he appeared alongside our boat while we were sailing from Panagsama to the resort. It ‘was a real surprise! We immediately jumped into the water without tanks. It was around 20 feet long and he came immediately towards us, slow and elegant… He came so close that we could have touched him but of course we didn’t. It was beautiful to see him disappear into the blue... and watch it slowly ascend from deep blue to reappear then... Agnese was very happy and excited because until that moment she he had never met a whale shark. The excitement was huge even for me, you bet! You never get used to the emotions that you can receive from the underwater world. The days pass quickly thanks to the good food, the mojitos and the pleasant company of a group of Italian divers. At the end of our vacation we checked all our underwater photographs: they were about 3000 and all very beautiful thanks to the clarity of the water and the skill of our guide. We spent our last day walking around Moal Boal and buying some souvenirs in Panagsama.
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In the evening we had a great dinner with our new friends by taking a few drinks and singing a bit ‘of Italian songs. A long journey lies ahead: the return will be a bit sad but we will bring in our hearts the images of all those fantastic underwater creatures we met underwater and the faces of our new friends and the aromas and colors of this beautiful country where we hope to return as soon.
Haybols Scuba Hub is a homey, comfortably furnished, bed & breakfast inn that offers scuba diving courses, rentals and services. Bauan-Mabini RoadAnilao, Batangas, Philippines +63 917 856 6887
www.facebook.com/HaybolsScubaHub
PORTFOLIO Plamena Mileva
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I was born on the coast of the Black Sea in Bulgaria’s largest seacoast – Varna. My youth was idyllic, and I was surrounded by the unique atmosphere that comes with coastal life – the soft, therapeutic sound of water lapping along the seashore, the brilliant rays of the sun as they beat down on the sand, to name but a few. Within this kaleidoscope of rich color and life, there developed within me the yearnings of an artist. Over time, as I grew older, I came to desire, more than almost anything else, to convey my emotions and yearnings through photography. To me, photography is special. It is an art that allows me to create figures and tell stories, just as a painter uses canvas. In the inner sanctum of my mind, I have always been preoccupied with the magical, the fairytale-like, and beauty, all tidily connected to my love of water. Perhaps this is why in my world everything happened naturally, organically. Filled as I was with a love for art and my native Black Sea, as a child I was somewhat lonely. The artist, you see, is often lonely. Loneliness, after all, stirs so many deep emotions. It must be said too, that I was a painfully romantic. I would write poetry and envision my beloved sea as the heart and the soul of a higher consciousness, which would at times fully embrace me, or suffer with me, or comfort me, depending on what was transpiring in my life at a particular time.
58 In 2001 I graduated from the Department of Arts at the Veliko Tarnovo University “St. Cyril and Methodius.” It was precisely this artistic foundation that allowed me to pursue my passions with the rigor needed to develop one’s talent along a professional line. Photography became the ideal medium through which I could explore beauty in all its dimensions. Using my beloved Black Sea for inspiration, I gravitated, naturally, to the water. I began to use live models underwater in order to “paint” seascapes inspired by life and the natural world. I believe man is the highest most complex creation, and I find it both challenging and exciting to seek and exhibit his perfection through photography. Light creates shadows in water just as it creates shadow in a landscape painting; the difference being that in the water the figure falls playfully into zero-gravity, connecting harmoniously to the underwater world. With this connection there is a primordial mysticism; a magic that resonates with that part of my inner-consciousness seeking magic and esoteric fancy. These fairy-tale plots are my own attempt to escape reality; to access some distant, parallel world, which in turn helps me sustain my creative spirit. In the years to come I began to make professional forays – tentatively at first, but then with increasing confidence and resolution— into underwater photography. Six years ago I experienced the first joys of motherhood, and I remember wanting deeply to immortalize the sacred emotions and feelings that are associated with the mother. My precious son was the perfect model, and allowed me to explore and recreate a visual representation of this emotion and love for one’s child; feelings that makes every woman so very beautiful. From this moment onward I realized that this medium
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– underwater photography – offered big, big rewards. Difficult challenges too, to be certain. But the rewards were worth it. My path was set. From the beginning I was ambitious, if slightly utopic. Truly, I wished to unveil and lay bare, for all to witness, my passion for the sea and all the magical nuance that comes with underwater photography. But through hard work and dedication – and some setbacks along the way – I was fortunate enough to gain recognition and achieve success. Over the years I have been awarded many international underwater photography trophies. Among my most cherished are: Ocean Art Contest – Scubacam festival – Eilat Red Sea underwater photography
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competition – Without Borders – Bosnia and Herzegovina – MARMARA FESTIVAL (Turkey) – Blu Cobalto Academi Underwater Contest – Mare Nordest (Italy) – International Salon of Print and Digital Art Photography Varna – Underwater Photo Marathon (two years in a row) – Croatia – the annual contest sponsored by underwaterphotography.com. I was also featured in numerous magazines and online issues. My most recent exhibition, entitled Tenerife, Underwater Paradise, was featured in Bulgarian media and national television. Finally, I am very proud that my underwater shootings heralded a new esthetic literacy, and the basis for development of underwater photography with live models in Bulgaria. Many of my photos are taken via apnea (the holding of one’s breath) in the Black Sea of Bulgaria and the Aegean Sea in Greece and Turkey. In January 2014 right before a diving excursion in Egypt, I became diver certified, to be followed later by an advanced diving degree in Greece. That same year, for the Eilat Red Sea underwater photography competition in Israel, I worked with the underwater model Ellie Biel. These sessions proved to be a wonderful stepping-stone along the path to becoming a professional underwater photographer. I had the opportunity to shoot the beautiful Ellie with jewelry by D&A Fine Jewelry (some of the pieces priced above $100,000!). This shoot – the styling of a “Cosmic Medusa” – turned
64 out to be one of the most complicated stagings I have ever done. The use of “ice light� in costume (as well as yellow, blue, and red lights) involved no small degree of intricacy. This is just one example in which practice and outcome justify the following thesis: with determination and hard work anything is possible, as long as one has a clear vision of where one is going. 2015 will remain an especially important, almost emblematic year for me. It is a year in which I laid the foundation for a new stage in my underwater photography. In April I left for Tenerife, the Canary Islands, where after two months I met the Spaniard Jessica Avellaneda Aristi. This was a match made in Heaven, as we managed to canonize our energies into one scripture; a scripture which came to life in our underwater sessions. With Jess, so artistic and gracious, I realized my best underwater series in a collection of fascinating settings. We wor-
66 ked in majestic caves and in a sunken ship that could have come out of an adventure novel, all the while being surrounded by stingrays and turtles and other beautiful creatures. The process was magical. The biggest challenge turned out to be arranging the model in a wedding gown and having her pose, kneeling as if in prayer, in front of a statue of the Virgen del Carmen, which sits submerged thirty-three meters below the surface. I didn’t realize it at the time – but this particular session broke the then world record for deepest underwater session. I use the following in my photography: Canon 5DMark III, with Ikelite housing and Ikelite strobes D161, as well as the lenses Tokina Fisheye 10-17mm f/ 3.54.5, and Canon Fisheye 8-15mm f/4. I entered 2016 with a series of contest awards, promising offers, and ambitious plans. I returned to my beloved Bulgaria and continue to work and convey my passion for underwater photography and allowing others to learn from me and experience the beauty of the underwater world.
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20° “REPTILES”
MONTHLY CONTEST:
FIRST PLACE
CEDRIC PENEAU “Turtle”
MONTHLY CONTEST
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SECOND PLACE
THIRD PLACE
“Snake head”
“Loggerhead portrait”
JONATHAN SALA
MICHAEL GALLAGHER
Located in the center of the Gulf of Kvarner - Croatia, our diving center is in the ideal location for countless different dive sites. Three wrecks, colorful walls and ideal sites for macrophotography. We offer the opportunity to dive for every level.
From our beach, with our boat... ...come with us and enjoy your dive!
www.diving-marcopolo.com
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MCH-6 SR HP PORTABLE COMPRESSOR DRIVEN BY CHARGIN RATE FILLING TIME CYLINDER 10 L 0-200 bar WORKING PRESSURE NET POWER DIMENSIONS DRY WEIGHT NOISE POWER LEVEL FILTRATION INTERSTAGE COOLER AND AFTERCOOLER
SUBARU PETROL ENGINE 100 L/min - 6 m3/h 20 min 200 - 225 - 300 - 330 bar 6,5 HP HEIGHT 35 cm, WIDTH 78 cm DEPTH 32 cm 37 Kg 100,5 dB (LWA) ACTIVATED CARBON AND MOLECULAR SIEVE CARTRIDGE STAINLESS STEEL
AEROTECNICA COLTRI® S.p.A.
via dei Colli Storici 177 25010 San Martino della Battaglia Brescia - ITALY Tel: +39.030.99.103.01 +39.030.99.102.97 Fax: +39.030.99.10.283 www.aerotecnicacoltri.it
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82
ARMS:
ALL THE SAME, ALL DIFFERENT
Words and Pictures
Pierpaolo Peluso
84 Arms: all the same, but in fact all different From the passion of a young man for diving and photography, owner of a precision mechanics workshop, come the arms that professionals are appreciating in their simple idea. The brilliant idea is in the clamp-spheres coupling. We usually see the spheres with an O-ring in the middle, or clamps with the O-ring inserted inside; these two systems try to give a certain relationship between tightening and fluidity in movement. The problem is that a rubbery surface tends to yield if stressed frequently. Moreover, we must not forget the operating temperature of these seals: at changing weather conditions at the place of diving, we will always have different results but never optimal. During his workshops, Adriano Penco often uses to say that if you want to “paint with light” you need fluid movement and reliability of tightening. Furthermore, the reliability of the arm system is vital when, diving in frozen waters, you wear big gloves that take away your sense of touch, as testified by Sergio Riccardo in his Arctic expedition using SML_SUB arms. How did Alessandro Miari to make this possible? Simple: a lot of experience in the high-performance hydraulic industrial motor engineering. This allowed achieving details precise to the penny. Moreover, this system naturally occurs in animal joints since millions of years and is therefore a fully tested system, which includes mobile and sliding parts. Let’s get into detail: positioned inside the anodized aluminum clamp there are disks of black Delrin which, according to the desired clamping, make the movements fluids or rigid depending on the need but providing exceptional sealing, unlike all those arms which, using rubber, lose fluidity, causing confusion in the tightening (too much or too little). The body of the arm is composed of a pre-anodized extruded aluminum tube: thanks to the mechanical characteristics of this material, and to the internal air volume, the arm is very light in water. The fastening system of the sphere to the arm consists of a thread on both sides (tube and ball) with one internal O-ring, all clamped by a permanent thread-blocker and a proper tightening torque: this allows to not having to search around for the glue while you travel because the sphere has decided to abandon the rest of the arm. Recently, the SML_SUB has designed and created for his arms a modular system of floating stabilizers that, at first glance, leave the photographer perplexed, like everything that is unknown. They consist of an aluminum tube and two caps of plastic material, and are mounted by hooking some double C, that are perfectly suited, first to the arms and then to the floats: an interlocking system that allows you to change the floats when changing lenses in less than 10 seconds. The innovation lies in being able to rotate the float around the arm so to tilt the camera without forcing on the wrists. When you change the settings for shooting from macro to wide angle, or vice versa, it is possible choosing to change the buoyancy thrust and the ideal position as needed: whether keeping the camera parallel or having a positive or negative tilt of 45° or more.
The Blue Marlin Diving Center is since more than twenty years a focal point of attraction for diving activities for Rome and its coast. Logistically it is inserted within the magnificent structure of the Tourist Port of Rome, located on the waterfront Duca Degli Abruzzi at Ostia Lido. The Diving Center, designed for diving “on a human scale,” is an ideal reference point for all divers of the capital and beyond, who will enjoy all the conveniences and amenities offered by the marina. Even divers accompanied by their families will find for them an excellent point of reference to their enjoyment. Its strategic position allows to provide to enthusiasts divers a series of first-rate services, such as cylinders transportation by electric carts, departure to the diving spots from the dock right in front the headquarter, changing rooms, hot and cold showers, as well as complete equipments for hire. To reach the dive sites is used a fiberglass boat 9,30 meters long, that can accommodate 12 persons plus three crew members, and can be covered in winter for a further comfort. The Blue Marlin D.C is accredited as authorized center to effect dives in the Protected Marine Area “Secche di Tor Paterno” (Tor Paterno shoals), located in the sea of Rome, in front of Ostia. This is a protected area located 4.5 miles from the coast, a real submerged island in the middle of the surrounding absolute desert, mainly composed by sand. The highest point is 18 meters below the sea surface. This island, or better this huge series of shoals, has been circumscribed at the surface by four large yellow marker buoys that delimit an area of 1200 hectares, thus offering a wide choice of diving spots, each one different from the other. The Marine Protected Area of the Tor Paterno Shoals is undoubtedly a real “city” underwater. Consisting of a rocky bank, it is one of the few places in the Mediterranean where you can find a surprising amount of vegetable and animal life.
Owner: Sabrina Macchioni Contacts: Mobile +39/339/6644286 Shop 06/56030293 Address: Lungomare Duca Degli Abruzzi 84, 00121 Ostia Lido neg.851 Porto Turistico Di Roma Free parking inside the Port of Rome Requested level: Advanced
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From 1992 Diving & S.P.A
Nature
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Archeology.
The magic of
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men s art and
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nature s art
in a wonderful place to be discovered
Via Miliscola, 163 80078 Pozzuoli (NA) - Italia Cell.: +39 3292155239 - tel./fax: +39 081 853 1563 from Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 a.m to 8.00 p.m.- (monday we’re close) Email: info@centrosubcampiflegrei.it Web site: www.centrosubcampiflegrei.it
A journey in and around Capodacqua - Pictures and text by David Salvatori Publisher Punta Campanella Diving
Reflections from the past “Reflections from the Past” is a photographic journey in the heart of Tirino valley in Italy, ending in the crystal clear waters of the Capodacqua lake, at the culmination of a journey in which the places visited by the author stimulated fascination and personal reflections. “Reflections from the Past” is an obvious line that connects all the photographic work, those of reflections of the images on the separate surfaces of water and air. In the end, Reflection is an instrument “of reflection”, a mirror to past fears and troubles, for which the exploration of Capodacqua and its surrounding areas is a “journey” whose powers of suggestion become encapsulated and processed in a symbolic way to represent an experience of personal growth of the author. The final goal is the achievement of a positive thought, peaceful, calm and as clear as the lake’s water; the communion with water being the road to rescue, the map to discovery of what is true and real in life.
www.reflectionsfromthepast.com
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