Dear Fellow Diver,
On my return from Curacao last year, the Miami customs agent who opened my
ReefMaster got soaked with that brown battery-innards-and-seawater mixture peculiar
to flooded cameras. Being a kind spirit, he removed the waterlogged film and asked
if I wanted the pictures. It was time to convert to digital, one easy to use and
small enough to fit in a pocket. I bought a Nikon Coolpics 3100 (list $299) with
an Ikelite housing. However, many of my shots were blue or dark, and though I
enhanced them with Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9, it was time to upgrade my skills.
The digital revolution drove Nikon out of the underwater photography business.
Nikon’s Nikonos guru, Frank Fennel, struck out on his own, taking over the
Nikon School of Underwater Photography, which he promotes at the Divi Tiara Resort
on Cayman Brac. In February, my travel agent tried to coordinate course dates
with frequent flier airline tickets, but Fennell was not answering emails or phone
calls. So, we rolled the dice; if I could not go to school, I’d just go diving.
In March he replied by email -- major computer failure, he said -- gave me a
resort reservation number to call, then disappeared again until late May, when he
asked for a deposit for my August trip.
The hotel has about 70 rooms distributed between four buildings, two of
which resemble mid 50’s shore-side American resorts. All the buildings, including
the two one-story buildings housing the dive shop and the photo center, are painted
in a range of pastel colors. Max, the General Manager, proudly told us the
color scheme was inspired by stoplight parrot fish. Hmm. Two three-story timeshare
buildings are being renovated -- and those will offer upscale units for an
upscale price. There’s a small, but nice, swimming pool, a tennis court, and an
outdoor bar (hurricane Ivan demolished it in September, but getting that bar
rebuilt, I’m sure, is a number one priority). It’s on a million dollar beach with
a view of ocean waves breaking on the far side of the lagoon. My “deluxe” room
was modestly furnished in what I might call a yard sale ensemble, but it was certainly
adequate. I stowed my clothes in the rattan dresser, and mildew perfumed
them within a day. Yet, the
room was kept clean, had a good
air conditioner and ceiling fan,
and an adequate bathroom with a
tub. The door opened to the
beach and an area shaded in the
afternoon, with two lounge chairs
and a hammock.
A new 48-foot Newton
catered to the timeshare folks
and a somewhat smaller, but still
spacious boat that served the
hotel customer. At most, 13
folks were on our boat, except
one day when both groups were on
the larger boat because several
folks had departed. The supurb
dive staff takes care of you from the moment you leave your dive gear for pick up the first day, to washing all the
gear after each dive and hanging it up. If my gear is not properly cleaned and
dried, my booties really stink. They were odorless all week.
I checked into the Photo Center and met Barbie, the photo pro. She suggested
that my partner and I, the only students, come to the shop in the afternoon for
the course’s only classroom session. The lesson was basic: shoot upwards, position
your subjects in a context with the reef and highlighted by sunlit blue
water; get close to your object; take lots of shots. She showed us several photographs
and described how they were taken and explained settings for our cameras,
flash, macro mode and light level. The next morning, we were issued Nikon
Coolpics 4300 cameras in Fantasea housings, and Barbie showed us how to seal the
housings and told us to cradle the cameras in life preservers under our seat.
Because we already had some experience, our first assignment was to shoot smaller
creatures. I have prescription lenses in my dive mask, so I had difficulty seeing
the LCD image when I lowered the camera to achieve an upward angle. In the afternoon
I viewed my photos; so did Barbie, who didn’t offer much advice, though the
photos were blurry and deep blue, with fish bodies lacking heads or tails.
The next day she fitted the cameras with strobes and explain how to use them,
but once underwater neither mine nor my partner’s worked. Barbie was on the dive
and got them flashing, at least for a short time. Between dives, she changed the
battery in one camera and repositioned both strobes, but they still didn’t flash
properly. The afternoon photo review session showed that for the few times the
strobe had flashed, the results were dramatically better. The next morning we
added wide-angle lenses with instructions on how to attach the lenses underwater.I got several shots, but my partner was still hampered by strobe problems. In the
afternoon review, Barbie mentioned that I got some good shots, which I suppose
meant she believed that if you had nothing good to say, perhaps it was best to say
little. At $100 more than the Coolpix 3100, the Coolpix 4300 ($399, 4 megapixels,
3.0 optical zoom) had several advantageous features compared with my 3100 (3.2
megapixels, 3.0 optical zoom); for example, both cameras have a sleep function to
lengthen battery life, but if the 3100 is not used for three minutes, it turns off,
losing all the custom settings. The 4300 simply sleeps until you use it again.
On our last day my partner again had strobe problems, but my shots improved.
Barbie gave us a CD containing all our photos and asked us to enter the weekly
photo contest for guests. Only one other diver entered -- he won.
In retrospect, we got little class time, not much critical evaluation, and
frustrating strobes. The course would have been much better if we had instruction
during the dives. But, it was
an introductory course and
tuition was about equal to the
cost of renting the photo gear
if we had done so separately.
Instruction seemed more like an
afterthought, so it’s a stretch
to call this the Introductory
Course of the Nikon School of
Underwater Photography, a
moniker much too inflated. In
fact, Barbie is a professional
and I bet we would have gotten
as much help if we simply rented
the gear and kissed off the
school. In fact, the best I
can tell with the extra dives
offered beyond Divi’s normal
package and the use of all that
camera gear for a week, my
course cost of $1199 probably
saved me few bucks over Divi’s
normal rate and camera rental
fees. When I left, I felt okay
about this, but if one had
selected this course over other
diving options, expecting formal
and thorough instruction,
one would go home dissatisfied.
On the other hand, this course
would be fine for folks who are
curious about underwater digital
photography and just want
to try it, perhaps before they
invest in equipment which may
not suit them.
The Divi dive operation
is excellent. The crew called
roll before they left the dock.
The boats were well-equipped,
however they lacked heads, a troubling omission on the two days we motored to Little Cayman. The rules are
basic; turn the dive with half a tank, find the boat at 1000 PSI, get on board
with 500 PSI and do not dive below 110 feet. A dive staff member joined every
dive, but they allowed us to dive on our own. On all but one shallow site, vis
ranged from 80 to 100 foot and the water temperature was 85F at depth.
The Brac and Little Cayman are about corals, tropical fish, and critters. I
saw several southern stingrays, three nurse sharks, a few sizable groupers, parrot
fish, an eagle, and lots of turtles. We also dove the Russian destroyer -- an
imposing large wreck made especially interesting by its guns, the beginnings of
sponge habitation, and some penetration opportunities. It was a welcome diversion.
By the end of the week, several of us were speaking longingly about memories of
sharks and eagle rays in abundance at other dive destinations.
At most dive resorts, when divers aren’t talking about diving, they talk
about food, which Divi serves buffet style. A good breakfast with plenty of variety
started at 7:00 a.m., leaving ample time for our 9 a.m. departure. Buffet
dinners included delicious soups, salads, vegetables, starches, and three lukewarm
entrees often carved or grilled outside -- basically well-prepared home cooking,
despite occasional premium entrees such as lobster and roast beef. Lunch was a
downer: make yourself cold cut sandwiches for $9US; add a salad and the bill is
$14; add a hot dish and you pay $18.75. Beers were $4.25 at the bar, so a staff member drove me to the liquor store. Pam at the front desk provided a Styrofoam
cooler and told me to help myself to ice in the kitchen. That was typical of the
Tiara, a friendly place where you dive and kick back.
When my partner got her credit card bill after the trip it was $1400, not the
quoted $1300 (somehow it got rounded up from $1275), but Frank straightened it out.
He emailed that the “instructional CD” was not done, but he would be sending it when
completed. What instructional CD? And after the course? Oh well. If one is serious
about studying underwater photography, there is a better choice in the Caymans.
-- G.K.
The Cathy Church School of Photography: Operates out of Sunset House on Grand
Cayman, here you’ll find true week-long sessions or plenty of individual instruction.
Divers who take courses here universally praise the results. Cathy, of
course, is one of a handful of elite underwater photographers. Phone: 345-949-
7415, Fax: 345-949-9770. www.cathychurch.com.
Digital Imaging for the Underwater Photographer: If you want to shoot digital
underwater or simply convert your underwater shots to digital, this is your book.
Jack and Sue Drafahl will help you with contrasting and saturating images, reducing
grain, eliminating backscatter, correcting exposure errors, modifying colors, and
enhancing your images. This 224-page paperback is full of photos explaining the
computer techniques for top quality images. Save 20% off the $39.95 list price by
going to Undercurrent (which will lead you to Amazon.com) and our profit
from this sale or any other book you purchase will go to the Coral Reef Alliance.
Divi Tiara Beach: divitiara.com/divitiara/resort.asp or call 800/801-5550 ...
The Nikon School of Underwater Photography: 1-866-NIKONOS or
www.nikonschool.com/underwater_prog_details.html or NikonosSchool@snet.net.