23rd May 2008 - Mark Harrison wins Photograph of the Month in Sport Diver

My photograph was taken at the Kuredu Caves dive site off the Maldivian Island of Kuredu in the Lhaviayani Atoll last May. It’s nicknamed Turtle airport as there are many overhangs where the turtles take a rest. Fortunately this turtle didn’t mind me getting up close. They are certainly easier to photograph than fish!

I got into the photography side of diving to show friends and family the amazing fish life that can be seen underwater but I’ve only been taking underwater shots for a couple of years and the results were very hit and miss. My wife, Ali, then bought me a strobe to go with my Olympus SP350 and I booked on an Oceanvisions photography course which has certainly helped. At least I now know what I should be shooting!

This shot was taken in Macro mode with a 1/60th shutter speed and the aperture set at 7.1.

23rd May 2008 - Action Underwater Studios – New One Day Course Venue in Essex

I am very proud to announce a new venue to teach my popular one day courses in conjunction with Ocean Optics and Action Underwater Studios in a brilliant 6 metre deep tank, perfect for those guests who want to understand and make full use of their flashguns and wide angle lenses.

This tank is extremely special as it is where many a famous movie has been filmed, as well as top models Kelly Brookes and Gwyneth Paltrow amongst lots of other famous names being photographed there.

Kirk Lovell and his friend Steve came along recently for the first course and had a great time playing with a Giant Squid from Four Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

So make a date in your diary and I look forward to seeing you there very soon for some spectacular wide-angle photo making opportunities.

27th March 2008

I was extremely proud today to be told that Mark Harrison, one of my course guests from a course in November 2006 has won 'Photograph of the Month' in Sport Diver Magazine with one of his beautiful photos of a turtle.

Mark shoots with an Olympus 350 Compact Camera, and has taken some beautiful shots. Well done Mark!

15 - 22 March 2008 - Whirlwind - Northern Red Sea Trip

I've just returned from another fantastic week on Whirlwind with Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel to the Northern Red Sea Wrecks & Reefs.

An unbelievable great group of guests were on the boat and a special thank you to Angela and Tony at the HQ office, Susie & Thomas our amazing guides and all the guests on-board.

Simon & Dave did a great job putting their Canon Powershots on a steep learning curve to get some great shots. The full report will be coming soon!

March 8/9th - London International Dive Show

Thanks to everyone who popped past the stand at the London Dive Show. It was great seeing old friends as well as meeting new ones all interested in the great results that can be achieved with these little cameras.

Congratulations to Jo Marlow who corrected guessed that out of the three photos, the one taken with a compact camera was indeed the Giant Manta Ray from the Socorro Islands in Mexico. Well done to all of you that got it right, it wasn't an easy one to guess.

Look forward to seeing you all soon and hearing about your underwater scuba advetures. Stay safe!

February 10th - DiverSE 08, Kingston

What a great event to get you in the mood for UK diving after the New Year.

It was busy, busy, busy, lots of great talks, good catch-ups and great to see past guests as well as meeting lots of new ones and having fun with our new style competition! It raised a few eyebrows and even my own at times.

Many thanks to Steve, Darren and Mark from Sea Shepherd for their help throughout the day as well as Gill McDonald and Colin Doeg from the British Society of Underwater Photographers for picking the winning entry from a multitude. I'm looking forward to DiverSE '09 already ....

January 2008

Nautilus Explorer Trip Report

I took a group of guests back to Mexico where I used to live three years ago to a group of remote, spectacular islands called the Revillagigedo Islands on the Nautilus Explorer. Read the full report of how it went!

January 2008

Getting Creative with Your Compact Camera Course

The first course was run at the London School of Diving, and was a great success. Lots of time to play and understand different accessories for Geoff's and Kei's compact cameras. Their only further wish was a deeper bathtub so that they could continue practicing all of the skills learnt during the day!

Many thanks to the London School of Diving for a great venue.

Dolphin Plight in Japan - Can you help?

Please spare a moment and watch this video - it will show you what is really happening and if there is anything that you can do to help them - then go ahead and do it to keep these beautiful creatures ALIVE!

Click here to see the video

October 2007

Visions Festival - London
Ocean Optics put together a special event packed with stellar speakers from around the globe on Underwater Photography such as Tony White, Thomas Peschak, Alex Mustard and many more. Colin Doeg, the co-founder of BSOUP, received a special surprise at the event. I still can't believe that he too dives with a compact!

October 2007

Dive Show - Birmingham NEC
Busy, busy, busy - that's the only way that I can describe it! It was really nice seeing so many familiar faces as well as many new ones to welcome to the wonderful world of underwater photography. And congratulations to Sarah Hambley who won Accommodation for Two at Eynsham Hall as well as a course of her choice! Look forward to seeing you all at London on 8/9 March 2008 for some very special surprises!

Safaga - October 2007

A special trip to Safaga to see Emperor Divers' new diving centre and to explore their local House Reef. I have never found so many different varieties of fish, eels and even 4 seahorses in such shallow water, all less than 5 metres deep. Laila, the Dive Centre Manager there was brilliant and struggled to get me out of the water after two fantastic days.

Whirlwind - September 2007

This month took me on an amazing voyage with a group from Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel as well as Diver's very own John Bantin to explore the Northern Wrecks & Reefs of the Red Sea. A fantastic group, great company, fantastic dives and quite simply can't wait to get back in the water again. What a great trip!

July 2007

BSOUP Splash-In Event
This was held at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth and was a truly spectacular day with beautiful blue skies to be enjoyed by all. BSOUP did an amazing job to hold a wonderful event with many people taking part. The winner of the Best Beginner Portfolio was Jim Drake with a beautiful close up photo taken on his D70. Keep your eyes posted for next year's event, it promises to be just as special!

July 2007

Presentation at Ocean Optics with Gerald Rambert
Another amazing day meeting lots of new faces interested in learning how to improve their photos using their compact cameras. Gerald gave a fantastic couple of talks on the thought behind taking an image as well as advanced ways of making pictures with a compact camera. Visit his website on www.geraldrambert.com for more info.

June 2007

Wanderlust Travel Magazine, voted as one of the world's best travel magazines, featured an article on the wonderful world of underwater photography, whereby part of it was written by yours truly. Another very special moment for me, as I remember buying the first ever copy of Wanderlust and since then the magazine has continued to be an excellent resource for any traveller.

May 2007

This month saw me take my first holiday in over three years to Poland. Although it was just a four day break with no diving involved - it proved to be just as spectacular as some of my diving trips with the amazing mountain scenery to the southern area in Zakopane, and of course the amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site of Krakow with its' stunning architecture! A beautiful country full of wonderful surprises which is definitely worth a visit.

May 2007

This month was just as busy as last with four journalists visiting me in the last four months! This month saw Brendan O'Brien visit to write a feature for Diver Magazine at Eynsham Hall. It was another fantastic day had by all at this beautiful venue with all the guests looking forward to their new learning curve! Here is a picture of me (yikes!) with Trevor Edmunds, one of the guests on the day.

Gerald Rambert

I am very proud to introduce Gerald Rambert from Mauritius who has taken spectacular photographs with his compact camera, a Canon Powershot during his time in his home country, Mauritius. Gerald's work has been featured on many a front cover of Diver Magazine, as well as numerous other magazines and the book "Going Down" - Reflections of a Reluctant Diver with his girlfriend Amanda Ursell, an award-winning journalist, author and TV presenter. Gerald will be helping with the underwater photography courses this year and a new course for Advanced Compact Camera Techniques will be launched very shortly. Welcome Gerald - your photos are simply awesome!
Visit www.geraldrambert.com.

British Society of Underwater Photographers

I felt extremely priviledged by being asked by Gill McDonald, Colin Doeg and J P Trenque of BSOUP to give their first talk on Underwater Photography with Compact Cameras at their meeting at the Imperial College in London. It was a very special evening and definitely one of my main highlights during the past year.

Eynsham Hall, April

Gavin Parsons, an award winning photojournalist whose work has appeared in many magazines including Diver and who works very closely with British Divers Marine Life Rescue came along to Eynsham Hall's U/W Photo Course in April to cover the course for an article in Outdoor Enthusiastic magazine. Both him and the course guests had a fantastic day and even Gav learnt new techniques about compact cameras that he never even knew about!!!

London Dive Show, March

What a fantastic show! It was great seeing you all and to meet so many people at the seminars interested in photography. Thanks to you all for coming to visit and look forward to seeing you again soon.

February 2007

This month took me for four amazing days at the Oregon Coast Digital Centre in Portland, USA where Jack and Sue Drafahl have taken 35 years of their photographic experience and designed a work environment to help students better understand the digital realm and provide personalised Photoshop intstruction with small groups. Based on their renowed books Digital Imaging and Adobe Photoshop for the Underwater Photographer, lots of different tips and techniques were learnt and both Jack's and Sue's enthusiasm and hands-on experience proved to be invaluable and well worth the journey to get there. Visit www.jackandsuedrafahl.com for more information on their workshops and seminars as well as Jack's Cool Toys page.

Destinations Travel Show 2007, Earls Court

Phew, what a great start to the year launching our brand new courses for the year on Travel & Wildlife Photography. It was great meeting everyone and catching up with guests. Thanks to all who visited and I look forward to hearing all about your future adventures.

Tamworth's BSAC Club

January 2007 saw Tamworth's BSAC Club come along for an underwater photography course at Eynsham Hall. It was a really special day and a great time was had by all.

Visions 2006 Underwater Festival

Visions 2006 Underwater Festival held by Ocean Optics proved to be as inspiring as ever with Amos Nachoum, Martin Edge, Charles Hood, Peter Scoones and many others giving exciting and inspiring lectures during this weekend event.

Dive 2006 in Birmingham

Dive 2006 in Birmingham was a great success and it was fantastic seeing everyone and thanks to all who entered the competition. I look forward to seeing you again soon and happy shooting in the meantime.

Underwater Photographic Trips with Emperor Divers

The last three trips have been an outstanding success with Emperor's Guests taking some breathtaking underwater images. Don't miss out.
Read all about the last successful two trips here: click here

Deep Blue Scuba, Edinburgh

July 2006 saw me and my artificial reef board an Easyjet flight to Sunny Scotland to have a fantastic day with Deep Blue Scuba in Edinburgh. Getting back wasn't easy, but it was well worth it with a great day had by all!

Sport Diver - April 2006

Saw an article written by myself on the first ever underwater photographic trip designed for divers with compact cameras featured in Sport Diver which was in conjunction with PADI and Emperor Fleet.

This week has definitely been the most amazing experience of my life, leading the first ever underwater photographic trip especially designed for divers with compact cameras on Emperor Fleet's beautiful M/Y Majesty.
Read More >

New One Day Underwater Photography IntroCourses

Underwater Photography is now easier than ever before by joining a one-day course tailor-made for divers with compact cameras to help you set up your camera correctly so that you can bring home photographs to impress your friends and family.
Read More >

Scuba Trust's 10 th Anniversary Year

This year is the 10 th anniversary of the Scuba Trust, a charity set up to help disabled people experience the magic of their underwater world.   I feel really blessed to be able to be with such a lovely group of people and their achievements are amazing to watch.   Don't forget to visit them at the Birmingham Dive Show and you can enter a prize draw to win a fantastic Suunto D6 Dive Computer to show off to your friends!

January 2006 - Gran Cayman with Cathy Church

A trip of a lifetime awaiting me here to spend time with Cathy and her great team as well as Mike, Dee, Max and the wonderful Sunset House Team at Gran Cayman. Anyone who is there has to visit her beautiful gallery and great team. A very special thank you to them all for their kindness and help. And don't forget her book, it's a must!

The Traveller's Handbook - February 2006

This book is the Insider's Guide to World Travel and features everything any traveller needs to consider and know before going away on their trip of a lifetime. This book featured an article by myself on Underwater Photography and is on sale at all branches of Waterstones and Borders.

24 hour Dive Challenge, Mencap - June 2005

The 19 th June, the longest day of the year and was a fantastic day to hold such a brilliant event as Mencap's first ever Dive 24 Round-The-Clock Challenge! This event was held at the Sundridge Park Leisure Centre, near the Golf Course, in Bromley and although we ran out of people after a whopping 12 hours, a great time was had by all and over 600 pounds was raised for a superb cause.

Mexico's First Dive Show in Cozumel - May 2005

This was a real test for me, giving a presentation on my work and the diving in my beloved Puerto Vallarta, the pacific side of Mexico - all in Spanish! Although specialising in Mexico, I had yet to visit this part, and it lived up to it's promise. The diving was simply awesome, although I hated not being able to stop on drift dives! All in all, a top event and the Mexican Government have worked hard to promote events such as this. Well done - Felicitaciones!