Atlantis ImageMakers Days 3 and 4

Day 3

Day 3 of the ImageMakers trip was another day shooting macro on the great sites that are around the Atlantis Resort. The day started with a thorough briefing, with the dive masters and organizer Marty Snyderman providing a thorough briefing to the day’s events.

As we are quite a large group, we split up into 3 teams on separate boats so as not give ourselves lots of space on the sites.

Besides, Howard Hall and Jonathan Bird are filming, so it is essential to give them time and space to avoid their footage showing flashes from still photographer’s strobes.

The muck diving here is good with most sites having a shallow seagrass bed and then a sandy slope with, in some cases, coral rubble that provides habitat for the critters. The abundance and variety of critters make for plenty of subjects and allows trying some creative options.

After two long dives, we returned to the Resort for lunch and to change batteries and cards. The dive center here is spacious and well laid out:

After lunch, we headed out for more divinG:

Once again, there were lots of photographic opportunities.

It is full moon here-lots of tide and critters!

Day 4

The fourth day of the Atlantis ImageMakers involved a trip to the nearby Apo Island. About 40 minutes away by boat, the volcanic island is a marine reserve, protected by the National Integrated Protected Area Act (NIPA) and under the jurisdiction of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). It is well known for its abundant hard and soft corals and lots of marine life.

We all embarked on one of the resorts large outrigger boats. The local coastguard regulations require that people wear life jackets, which caused a certain amount of hilarity!

We dived three sites, each with long dives. Although we did not see any large pelagics (which sometimes visit), we did see multiple turtles, sea snakes and sea kraits.

The reefs are very pristine, and there are minimal signs of damage. Also, I saw no signs of bleaching, with the corals seeming healthy.

The team has quite an array of cameras…

After lunch aboard the boat, we did a further dive:

Days 1 and 2.
Days 3 and 4.
Days 5, 6 and 7.
Day 8.
Days 9 and 10.
Days 11 and 12.