Open Water Scuba Class, 9 - 14 September, 2008
Instructor:  R.N. "Chat" Watts
Divemaster:  Cynthia Williams
We happened on a great deal on a used digital Canon camera and the underwater case for it, giving us the ability to shoot pictures down to over 100' depth.  It'll likely be a while before we're certified for that deep, and maybe by then I'll know better how to use the camera.  For now, though not the best, here are some pictures from our class.  I hope to soon add photos from our open water dives.  Thank you, Chat and Cynthia, for a great class, and thanks to our classmates for helping make it the great time it was.  I tried to get photos of everyone in the class, though some did not turn out well enough to post.  If any of our classmates would like to see the entire series, including the lousy shots, drop me an e-mail and I'll arrange to send them along.
I already have some ideas on methods to improve the photos.  These were the first photos taken with this camera and the underwater case (at least, while we've owned it).  One suggestion is to manually set the ISO to 200, thereby increasing the effective "film speed" and lowering the light requirements.  When we used the flash for these photos, it reflected excessively off the bubbles, even with the built-in diffuser.  Without the flash, the shutter speed was slow enough to allow blurring from motion of either the subject or the camera, or both.

The beauty is that digital film is especially cheap, and I can experiment some more in the YMCA pool before we head to open water.  I'm not out to win awards with my photos; just to preserve memories and to share sights we'll see on dives. 

Our class was conducted at the Dive Shop in Tucson, using their indoor facility for the confined water dives.  If you've ever been interested in learning to scuba, I encourage you to visit some of your local dive shops (most cities have them, even if they're far away from the ocean) and check into their programs.  Many offer "Discover Scuba" courses, which are very basic introductory orientations to using scuba gear.  These are often free, and are a great way to try out scuba without obligation.

e-mail:  info@cardanspod.com     Cardan's Pod Home