Lagamorph's Underwater Photography

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Lagamorph
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PostLagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Lagamorph » Sun Feb 16, 2014 6:52 pm

So whilst I was in Dubai I went scuba diving at the Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall, and did a PADI speciality course (originally named the "Dubai Aquarium Specialty") which is a recognised speciality that counts towards the Master Scuba Diver qualification. It involves two dives (technically three but we didn't surface between 2 and 3), the first of which is a general exploration dive of the aquarium tank, the second of which though has a theory session on Underwater photography, then an exploration session in which I was given the underwater camera to take some pictures.
The third dive takes place in the shark tank, during feeding time.
I'm by no means a good photographer, but it was something I really enjoyed and has definitely got me considering the full underwater photographer speciality.

In the meantime though, here are some of the highlights of snaps I took during my dive,
These were all taken on a GoPro Hero3 with an original resolution of 4000 x 3000 px. For ease of viewing I've resized them to 1000 x 750 px. There was no zoom on the camera, so you're pretty much seeing things as I was seeing them.

These first few were taken by the Dive Master accompanying me,
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Lagamorph geared up and prepping to enter the water

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Descending down the line

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One of the sharks decided to swim right under me as I was descending to the bottom of the tank, 11m below the surface.

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On the bottom and the shark from earlier comes to take a look at his near miss

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The downside to diving without your own gear, getting a proper fitting mask is really hit or miss, so I was having to clear this one every 5 minutes or so as it was a tad leaky


These next ones were taken by me,
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This shark did hang around for a little while....

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The rays do like to come up pretty close. I was told most of the marine life in the tank was quite curious about new divers so would often come to investigate.

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Maybe a bit more curious than I'd like in some cases

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These two barely moved during my time down there. That may well have been a good thing.

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They look a lot scarier from underneath don't they....?

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When I saw this coming right at me, I'm not ashamed to admit I whimpered slightly.

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There's that whimpering again....

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I have to wonder if some of the people outside the tank thought it was a little unusual that, as they were looking in taking photos of me, I was in there looking out and taking photos of them :lol:

Well I don't know if anyone will even see this, but if you did thanks for looking and hope you liked some of the pictures. Any feedback is welcome since, as I said, this is something I may well look at getting into (on a hobby basis, somehow I doubt I can quit my day job for it just yet).

Lagamorph's Underwater Photography Thread
Zellery wrote:Good post Lagamorph.
Turboman wrote:Lagomorph..... Is ..... Right
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Victor Mildew » Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:27 am

Don't float Lagamorph.

That tank is massive!

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Lagamorph » Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:41 am

Ad7 wrote:That tank is massive!

10 million litres of water in there.

51 metres long, 20 metres wide and 11 metres deep.

Here's a picture of the main viewing window (spoilered for bigness)
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There's also an underwater tunnel through the middle and several smaller viewing windows on the other side.

Lagamorph's Underwater Photography Thread
Zellery wrote:Good post Lagamorph.
Turboman wrote:Lagomorph..... Is ..... Right
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Shotty
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Shotty » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:30 am

Nice.

Out of curiosity, about how much did that course cost?

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Lagamorph » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:32 am

Shotty wrote:Nice.

Out of curiosity, about how much did that course cost?

About £300 altogether with the camera rental.

Lagamorph's Underwater Photography Thread
Zellery wrote:Good post Lagamorph.
Turboman wrote:Lagomorph..... Is ..... Right
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Joer
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Joer » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:42 pm

What a bargain. Would love to do something like that. Good stuff.

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Orbital
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Orbital » Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:57 am

That's a beast of a tank. Well done mate, nice photographs.

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zXe
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by zXe » Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:13 am

That's incredible

RandyMes
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Postwriting an illustration essay b627zj
by RandyMes » Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:11 pm

Nicely put, Many thanks!

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Vermilion
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Vermilion » Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:26 pm

Holy bumpasaurus Batman! :shock:

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Lagamorph
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Lagamorph » Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:34 pm

Man I need to go back to Scuba Diving. I haven't done it in years.

Lagamorph's Underwater Photography Thread
Zellery wrote:Good post Lagamorph.
Turboman wrote:Lagomorph..... Is ..... Right
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Oblomov Boblomov
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by Oblomov Boblomov » Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:06 pm

I can't believe people were starting sentences with "So" even back in the halcyon days of 2014 :x :evil:!!

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rinks
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PostRe: Lagamorph's Underwater Photography
by rinks » Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:59 am

Lagamorph wrote:So whilst I was in Dubai I went scuba diving at the Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall, and did a PADI speciality course (originally named the "Dubai Aquarium Specialty")

Sounds like someone’s been to Dubai.


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