My dad bought a new camera since we had to replace our Canon G9, due to poor conditions after years. It is the new Olympus XZ-1. My sister took a lesson with Jeff as well previously (around 2 years ago) and her pictures were amazing! So I thought that if my sister could do it, I can too.

I had a two day course of underwater photography in Bali. My parents and I dived at sunrise on the Liberty Wreck and the pictures from the morning were used for Jeff to see where I was in terms of ‘OK’ photos. On the first day, Jeff taught me about the basics- what the aperture is; about the shutter speed, how to use the manual modes either on the camera and strobe, etc. We then had a dive altogether and Jeff helped me with the XZ-1. There was a Peacock Grouper, waiting under the shadows. Jeff pointed it out to me, though it didn’t attract my attention at first, due to the shadows making it look dull. Once I took a shot, I saw how the fish is actually much more colourful than I thought. The blue spots on it sides looked neon! I was impressed with the picture I took. My photos were certainly much better and so the lesson continued. On the next day, we had the same plan. I dived in the very early morning again, taking pictures of  Bumphead Parrot fishes and afterwards, we had a look at the improvements. When my dad and I went to Jeff’s, he put little notes on the strobe, telling me about the appropriate strobe power, shutter speed and aperture, to take wide angle shots or macro shots.

My favourite creatures to take photos of were Nudibranchs. This is because they are usually small; thus I have to use macro-lens which I enjoy. However, my favourite photo was when there was a White-Eyed Moray Eel, mouth hanging while a cleaner fish swam in its mouth! I tried to take as many photos as I could since I know that out of ten shots, only one may look good. My parents and even Jeff thought that my pictures were amazing! I was very pleased with my results. With all of Jeff’s explanations, underwater photography seems much simpler. Before, I had little clues for what the little indications are for, on a strobe; why the aperture and shutter speed is important and how to take wide angle shots. Now, I can answer those questions- all thanks to Jeff!


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Olympus XZ1 and Inon D2000 Strobes in an Olympus PT-050 Housing
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