Breathtaking, that's the only word that I can use to describe the guests' photos taken during last years' Photo Workshops. Three more guests took the brand new PADI Digital Underwater Specialty Course, and we had our youngest ever photographer to date onboard, Peter Ciagwa, a keener than keen 11 year old from Poland.

The dive sites of Fury Shoals & Friends, Marsa Abu Dabab and Elphinstone had been specially chosen for their photogenic qualities; shallow sandy bottoms, with maximum depths of 22 mt, to allow plenty of time for photography. Combined with diverse subjects of wrecks, reefs and the stunning caves of Claude to photograph, they certainly did not disappoint. Even the checkout dive at Ras Shona produced the most wonderful array of critters including two enormous crocodile fish. I'd never seen one of these guys before, let alone two!

Sailing down to the reefs of Fury Shoals, guests had numerous opportunities to practice techniques learned from the daily presentations in how to create 'Magic Macro' shots with their compact cameras. Wide angle shots, with and without flash, were also covered giving divers a greater understanding of what can be achieved with their 'pocket rocket' compact cameras.

We spent the week exploring the amazing paradise coral garden areas of Maksour and Malahi to name a few - there are so many breathtaking hard and soft coral garden areas at Fury Shoals. Amazing overhangs of table corals with fish hiding underneath them, to all kinds of 'Nemos' waiting to be photographed, from baby ones, just a couple of centimetres long, to curious adult ones that swim right up to your mask to say hello! The caves of Claude, with the light shining in, make for some wondrous photographic opportunities. It was then time to explore the gorgeous tug boat of Abu Galawa, as well as the yacht of Soraya. These are always amazing subjects to photograph with fish hiding in the crevices and schools of glassfish pouring out of the hull of the boat. We made a dolphin stop near Sataya and the fins were impossible to count. There must have been at least 60 to 100 of them, some with small calves just a few days old. Truly the stuff that dreams are made on!

Sailing back towards the Wadi Gamal area, we stopped off for a special afternoon game of football on the Siyul Islands. Clear turquoise waters lapped over the powder soft white sandy beach around this deserted picture postcard paradise.

And still more was to come, the famous green sea turtle encounters at Marsa Abu Dabab, yet again, did not fail to disappoint. These underwater lawnmowers are completely oblivious to divers around them, even ones with cameras and flashlights in their hands. They carried on eating their favourite sea-grass, occasionally looking up to pose for the camera. We were also lucky enough to see a Guitar Shark, two Bat Rays the size of tables swimming together, as well as the three gigantic sea turtles.

The last day was spent at Elphinstone and the group was ecstatic about diving this renowned wall dive in the Red Sea. And there was a special guest waiting to greet us on our arrival; a beautiful Oceanic White Tip Reef Shark cruising around the boat. The whole group was in complete awe simply watching her from the surface.

So how did the photos turn out? After just Day 2, the results were shown as a slideshow. We all, including me, had trouble convincing ourselves that such an improvement could be made to their photos in just one day. By the end of the week, the guests had even more trouble recognising their shots compared to the start of the week when all that could be seen was a blue shadow in the distant. Now all their photos not only packed punch, but were vibrant with lots of colours, textures and clear, sharp, identifiable subjects. Everyone was ecstatic from the results during the week; quite simply they could not have got any better!

A special thank you to Cameras Underwater and Ocean Optics for their help with camera accessories during the trip.