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While I am mostly a wildlife/nature photographer, one of the most interesting books on photography that I have read in a very long time is "Magnum Contacts Sheets" - link below (and no, I don't get a commission if you buy it 🙂) https://www.amazon.com/Magnum-Contact-Sheets-Kristen-Lubben/dp/0500292914 This book shows the contact sheets of the photos taken by various Magnum photographers in trying to get their shot. It provides an absolutely fascinating insight into the mindset and creative process followed by some of the best photographers in the world. One of the biggest take-aways for me was the degree to which these photographers "work" the subject, in terms of exhausting various angles, perspectives and compositions. It took a lot of waiting to get the fusiliers aligned just right While this may not be news to some of the old hands here at Wet/Waterpixels, this is something I have rarely seen divers do in the real world, especially those new to underwater photography. Regardless of whether they are carrying a Go Pro, a TGx or a housed system, most photographers I see will swim up to a subject, spend a few seconds composing the image and adjusting their lights, take the shot and then swim off to the next subject. While this may be good for getting clean documentary shots of the subject, the results are generally lacking a little in artistic value. Yes, I did say "artistic value". As the art of underwater photography evolves, well-exposed, sharp photographs of various marine life (documentation) have become pretty much common-place. So how does a photographer evolve his/her images to make them stand out? The next step up from simple documentation is showing behaviour/action - and while this requires the photographer to be alert and technically proficient, there isn't necessarily a lot of creative input here either: the subject does the heavy lifting in terms of making the image. There wasn't much creative input into this image other than the choice of angles - replace the tiger shark with a less interesting fish and this photo would not be very interesting The highest level of photography (IMO) involves creating images where it is the design and composition that makes the image stand out - not merely "look, here is a cool subject". In wildlife, for example, it is much harder to take a great image of an antelope than a lion - similarly, it is much harder to take a "wow" shot of a coral head or some reef fish underwater than a whale shark or manta. You have to spend time thinking about what to include and exclude in the image, how to compose the frame, how to light it, etc. etc. When it comes to artistic design, your first shot is unlikely to be your best shot - atleast not consistently or unless your name starts with "Henri" and ends with "Cartier-Bresson". It takes time to work through the various compositional aspects in order to find the best image - ie, you need to work the subject. If you do, you can be rewarded with images that go well beyond the obvious. I'd like to illustrate what I mean with an example of how I went about taking one of the shots I really like. To set expectations, I have the natural creative talent of a brick and have to take a very methodical approach to taking images. So this process may seem a little plodding to the creative geniuses out there. For the rest of us, perhaps it may be helpful. This was a coral head I came across on a dive during a trip to Raja Ampat: I found the glass fish sheltering under the coral to be quite interesting and got into position, angled my strobes, set the exposure and fired off a shot, resulting in this: Ok, it's a shot showing the coral and the fish. But there really isn't much else to redeem it. It's lacking colour and pop, and there really is no unifying theme to the image other than "here's a bunch of stuff". And most that stuff is adding nothing to the image (and would not, regardless of how great the corner sharpness was 😜). So I decided to get a little closer and see what I got. It took around 10-15 shots from various angles before I found something that looked promising: Ok, now the image has a little more pop and there are no extraneous elements. But it still seems a little haphazard. Hmm, maybe having the glass fish appear more synchronised would help? This led to a few more shots (well, 60+, actually) trying to get the pesky fish to be aligned the way I wanted. Some of them: There were quite a few other variants of the above, with the fish facing one way or another. All were pretty nice but from a design element, there was something lacking - these images were still not giving me a sense or scale of being on an amazing reef in Raja Ampat. While nicer than the earlier images, these were still simple "look, here's some fish" images. So I decided to go a little wider to see if that would help capture the essence of the underwater world a little better. Ok, now this felt better. The blue water on the other side of the coral balanced the glassfish a little more, and gave a greater sense of the reef, and I was quite pleased with the image. But then I started thinking about how all the visual elements were only on one side of the coral whereas the blue water was completely lacking in any point of interest. Some more shooting and gesturing to my dive guide resulted in this: Bonus points to the coral grouper for a serendipitous appearance This (to my eyes, at least) felt like the best photo of the bunch - a good 100+ exposures after the initial image. I could have stopped after the first few images, I could have stopped after 20-30 images but by spending 30+ minutes in this one location, I found a photo that truly appealed to me. Is it perfect? Of course not. There is perspective distortion with the diver that could have been mitigated by having the diver move away from the edges. I'd have also have liked him to be holding a torch. That's a testimony to the fact that despite the time I spent, I could have always worked the subject more. So what's the takeaway here? Pretty simple: too many divers spend their entire dive swimming around, taking a couple of photos here and a couple of photos there. That's perfectly fine when you are starting out and is a good way to hone your technical skills and build a good foundation of documentary images and also action photos. But as your skills evolve, a good way to improve the quality of your images is by becoming more selective. Try to get a few really great shots as opposed to a large number of average ones. And in order to achieve this, shoot fewer subjects - but the subjects that you do shoot, shoot them really well. By that, I don't mean just blindly fire away and hope for the best. Instead, take a deliberate approach to positioning yourself, your perspective and exposure/lighting. Think about different ways you can compose the image. Then review the results, decide what could improve and repeat. Starting thinking like a photographer who happens to be on scuba - as opposed to a scuba diver who has a camera. Sure, this isn't always easy to do: unless you have your own private guide or are diving with a group of photographers, you rarely have the ability to spend as much time as you prefer on a subject. But if your goal is take the best possible images, you will have to find a workaround to that. Most dive centres are generally very receptive to (and slightly dread!) underwater photographers, and are willing to work with them in terms of guides, groups, etc. Make that extra effort and you will find the quality of your images improves significantly. Footnote: the series of images above is not a statement about how awesome the final image is. I like it a lot (and I shoot to please myself), but I have photographer friends who aren't that impressed by it (which is perfectly fine). The goal is to illustrate the approach to working a scene, and hopefully, this sequence illustrates it well. Sometimes, no matter how much you try, the animals don't cooperate. I spent a lot of time working through various compositions till I found one that appealed to me - all it needed was an appropriate subject swimming through at the right location. Despite waiting for almost 30 minutes, I didnt have any luck better than this.

Negative Space The two main tips on starting underwater photography are Get Close and Shoot Upwards. The idea being that the closer you get, the less the water interferes with the image. By shooting upwards there is a better chance of increasing the impact of subject by separating it from a messy background. Those two elements of guidance, especially the latter, can go a long way to improving image-making. But there comes a point for many underwater photographers where images become all a bit routine - yet another fish portrait? A FRESH APPROACH I hit this plateau some years back whilst running a dive resort in the Lembeh Straits. Just how many xxxxfish/seahorse shots could I take? I wanted fresh ideas. A fresh approach. I wanted to create something that wasn’t a fish portrait. A resort guest, a very talented underwater photographer, pointed me in the direction of using “negative space”. What? Negative space is “a term used in art to describe the space surrounding a subject. Also called white space, it is typically empty and lacks details as to simplify an image. Negative space surrounds positive space in a work of art”. “Typically empty” and “lacks details” are the key elements. A blank canvas. So how do you find or create “negative space”? A very simple example: if you shoot upwards, into the blue, you have lots of negative space - the whole ocean. Lighting can be tricky but is manageable. SEARCHING FOR NEGATIVE SPACE How about searching for a piece of coral that produces effectively a blank canvas? Corals can come in all sorts of interesting colours, shapes and sizes: think, for example, of Elephant Ear corals with their vibrant orange colour. A blank, orange canvas. Then see what lives there, what lies there, what might come on to that canvas and create a visually striking image against the negative space. What about a colourless rock? Or one covered in red algae? With this technique, you think about the dive in a different way and new ideas emerge: graphical images, images of perhaps only one or two strong and contrasting colours or shapes. The fish portrait starts to disappear and the image becomes one of lines, colours and contrasts. The subject might become an accessory to a strong visual impression. Try a dive where, instead of going hunting for a subject, you go hunting for a good negative space, a canvas, and see what might be there or, with patience, what might show up. Take some time to weigh-up the canvas: angles, colours, contrasts…. you might end up spending the whole dive in only one or two spots. CREATING NEGATIVE SPACE Inevitably though some dives sites just don’t offer negative space. So create your own. There are several ways. Using the widest aperture setting, so reducing depth of field, can turn a fussy background into a creamy, indistinguishable canvas. This is using the “bokeh” effect beloved of portrait photographers. This works very well if shooting low and upwards. (I can recommend 45-degree viewfinder for this!) and for subjects that are parallel to the camera sensor rather than being at right angles. Or the opposite: a fast shutter speed will reduce the amount of light the camera sees and turn the background into that classic black canvas. Or maybe not quite so fast and get a mid or dark blue canvas. Rather than shoot at, say 1/100, try 1/250 or the fastest your camera can sync with the strobes. High Speed Synchronisation - HSS - equipped strobes and triggers are a major bonus allowing much higher shutter speeds. Or use a snoot. Snoots are a great way of concentrating light onto a subject. A negative space is then created in the shape of a black or unlight canvas for the areas the snoot does not light. SEE THE DIFFERENCE Hunt for negative spaces, play around with these techniques and you may well find a whole new style of diving and a whole new way of image-making. Images which are strong graphically or in their simple and contrasting colours. And if that doesn’t work, you can always go back to fish portraits. A fast shutter speed creates a black canvas A red canvas of algae A wide aperture creates a blurry background Coral creates a canvas for a graphical image Snoots create negative space and highlight subject

Raja Ampat is universally known as "The Heart of Coral Triangle”, for its unrivaled wealth, including: 540 hard coral species (more than 75% of the world's coral species); 60 types of crayfish; 1,070 types of reef fish; 699 types of mollusks. Also on land, Raja Ampat has incredible diversities: over 874 plant species that 9 are endemic and 6 are protected species, of which 360 species are trees. Also there are 114 species of herpetofauna with 5 species of which are endemic and 5 other species are protected. There are also 47 species of mammals, of which 1 is endemic and 3 is protected. And lastly, there are 274 bird species with 6 species of which are endemic and 8 species are also included in the protected category. This mega-biodiversity and various types of endemic flora and fauna that cannot be found anywhere in the world. For that reason, 66% of Raja Ampat's terrestrial area is a Nature Reserve or Conservation Area, and 5 Regional Water Conservation Areas or KKPDs cover an area of 1,125,940 hectares. The epitome of Raja Ampat's beauty is found in the Misool area, which, due to its distance from the more frequented areas, and the very strict management policy of the marine park, allows marine life to continue to thrive. I’ve visited Raja Ampat 3 times, and every time I go back I feel that, unlike many other places I have visited, the marine life here doesn’t seem to suffer the anthropic pressure, a sign that environmental protection and public awareness are working extensively. The heart-shaped lagoon of KARAWAPOP Geosite The last time I visited Misool, I was on a cruise aboard the Gaia Love vessel, after a long crossing from Ternate (Halmahera), which I have already talked about in a previous article. The first stop in the Misool area was at Pele island. We dove sites as Pele’s Playground, Kaleidosoope and Toblerone, all with wonderful corals and pelagic life. I was amazed by the colors of Kaleidoscope, and I understood why this site was named like that. The Gaia Love at sunset, moored in the Pele area Moving east from Pele, we arrive in the Fiabacet/Warakaraket area, near the Misool eco resort. Here we can find some of the most iconic dive spots in Misool, such as Nudi rock, Magic Mountain, Boo Windows, Four Kings, just to name a few! The abundance of life and color in these areas is absolutely astonishing. We stayed in the area for the rest of the cruise, being able to count on an infinite number of fantastic dive sites in a very short distance. My favorites were, once again, Boo Windows and Four Kings. Between the spectacular cliffs of Boo and the pinnacles of 4 Kings every encounter is possible, even with our beloved winged friends, the Mantas. Here we had the privilege of swimming in very close contact with a majestic oceanic manta that stayed with us for almost the entire dive, making some laps and then coming back to greet us. Finally, after 11 days of fantastic diving, we set sail for our port of disembarkation, Sorong. I must say with a lot of melancholy, since these places enter your soul and you never want to leave them. Conclusions. My experience on this cruise, which started in Ternate and ended in Sorong, touching the most beautiful places in Halmahera and Misool, was absolutely extraordinary. I have to thank all the staff of Gaia Love who made sure that every moment of the crossing was unforgettable, starting from the top-quality food, to the diving guides who were always very attentive and who always made us feel safe and protected. I would also like to thank the officers on board who were always able to manage all the moments of the cruise with the highest professionalism. As for the photographic equipment, for those who are curious, I recommend reading the previous article where I detailed everything. See you next time! Pietro Cremone

Text and images: Davide De Benedictis - Claudio Valerio Cover photo: Marco Bartolomucci If we told you how long we've been diving, you'd immediately know how old we are. We'd just tell you that we've been diving for a long time and that our passion for the sea has always been a part of us. We've spent most of our time in the Mediterranean, and by diving year-round, we've seen the gradual changes in the sea we love the most. A while back, we observed some novice divers during our decompression stop and wondered what it was like for them exploring the seafloor. Are they aware of the changes they're witnessing, or are they unwitting victims of shifting baseline syndrome? Unfortunately, this is what we've been observing for years in the Mediterranean during the summer: a carpet of mucilage in the first few meters of depth. The video text is based on Greta Thunberg's famous speech at the Youth4Climate event in Milan in 2021. This speech, with its great impact and appealing style, has been used in lots of different contexts. However, to my knowledge, it hasn't been used in relation to the marine world. When we were editing the images, we thought of the old saying "Once it was all countryside here", which makes you think about the past in a nostalgic way. But even the most overused clichés have a grain of truth. To paraphrase the cliché, we could say that "Once it was all sargassum and Cystoseira here". These seaweeds, which are common in the Mediterranean, were an important part of the marine ecosystem. There were large groups of Sargassum and Cystoseira, which alternated with Posidonia oceanica bushes and seafloors covered with calcareous algae (maerl). Some of the algae were the size of a fist. The bottoms were also decorated with white gorgonians, which are typical of these shallow waters. Today, although these species are still present, many of them are difficult to observe and suffer from a thick layer of mucilage covering them. This is now so common during the summer months that only those with long diving experience, or observing the seabed in winter, can tell the difference. When we showed these images to a non-diving audience, even though we had a marine biologist explain them, they were still pretty skeptical until we showed them exactly the same places filmed in winter and spring before temperature rises. Then they finally understood what we were talking about: These two short videos show how challenging it is to communicate the changes taking place in the oceans. The warming waters and human activities are affecting underwater ecosystems just as much as they are affecting land ecosystems. But underwater, the problem is even more pronounced. There's a lack of historical data, which makes it tough to grasp how marine environments are changing (again, it's the shifting baseline syndrome). Plus, our direct experience of the underwater world is limited. Everyone can see the effects of fires in the Amazon rainforest on the news or watch the urban landscape change from the car window. But what's going on underwater? This is why it's so important to communicate the importance of marine ecosystem conservation in a clear and urgent way. This is the challenge we're up against. Given the lack of inspiration in our recreational diving, we've been wondering if there's somewhere where these changes haven't happened yet. It's probably the so-called "mesophotic zone or twilight zone", which is the bathymetric range in the Mediterranean from fifty to one hundred and twenty meters deep. As depth increases in this zone, plant life gradually makes way for animal life due to the decreasing levels of light. Recently, this zone has become really important for studying how climate and human activities are affecting our oceans. It's a completely undiscovered world that could be home to species that could be valuable resources for addressing problems related to global warming and overfishing in the surface marine zone. The trailer on our Underwater Italy channel gives you a sneak peek of the mesophotic seafloor of the Mediterranean. A while back, whenever we talked about our passion for deep diving, the response was always the same: "Why go to the trouble of going deep when there's so much to see here on the surface?" And then, of course, there was the inevitable warning about the dangers of deep diving. How could they be blamed for that? Back then, going beyond the limits of recreational diving was all about deep air and not much else. As it turns out, today in the Mediterranean, we can only observe intact ecosystems through deep diving, and the tools of technical diving allow us to do so in reasonable safety. However, even in these environments, things are changing. For years, we've been seeing signs of suffering in marine animal forests, even in the shallowest parts of the "mesophotic zone". This shows that the effects of climate change are constantly evolving. Here's an example of what's happening to some of the seabed in the Tuscan archipelago, between 50 and 70 meters deep. It seems that the damage is not only proportional to depth, but probably also depends on other factors such as currents and the morphology of the seabed. To get a full understanding of this phenomenon, further scientific studies will be needed. As divers, our role is simply to observe. It's crucial that we keep an eye on these changes in marine ecosystems and keep documentation up to date. Every observation and piece of research helps us to understand our underwater environment better. It's essential that we pay attention and put in the effort to adapt our conservation strategies so that we can meet the challenges that climate change poses. It's an ongoing process, but it's vital to preserve the wonders of the sea for future generations.

In April 2024, I took a memorable cruise, with the itinerary covering from Halmahera to Sorong, crossing some of the most iconic dive sites in Indonesia. In this article I will cover the first part of the journey, the one from Ternate to Pisang. I will add a second article focusing on the Raja Ampat and Misool area. I was onboard the beautiful GAIA LOVE vessel, a beautiful modern motor yacht, purpose built to explore the far-reach regions of Indonesia. This was the itinerary: The embarkation point was in Ternate, a city steeped in history. Once a major spice trading center, Ternate still exudes a colonial charm. Ternate Island is known for its historical sites and stunning beaches. Ternate, Al-Munawaroh Mosque, also called it “Masjid Terapung”, or "the floating mosque" because the structure was built by the sea, looking like floating on it. The first dives of the trip were in the Halmahera/Jailolo surroundings, and since the first jump I was delighted by the wonderful and pristine reefs of the region. The highlight of this sites are the big sponges, often covered with white sea cucumbers that give the sponges the effect of a decoration. Aerial view of one of the Goraici islands After Jailolo, we headed to the Goraichi islands, where we stay for 2 days and six dives. The small archipelago of Goraichi lies around 50-kilometres southwest. Another small cay of Goraichi's archipelago The locals here have a reputation as environmentalists, and the healthy coral reefs abound with macro marine life, offering fantastic opportunities for photography and night diving. In addition, there are also beautiful coral-covered walls to explore. Left the Goraichi's, we headed to South Halmahera, where we had another day packed with wonderful reefs and the highlight of a night muck dive in Penambuan. A small village in South Halmahera Then, we left Halmahera, crossing to Pisang. Pulau Pisang is located around 70-kilometres southwest of Damar Island, where the Halmahera and Ceram seas meet, making it a common stop for liveaboards as they cross to and from Raja Ampat. The diving here focuses on a series of underwater ridges that connect the main island to several smaller surrounding islands and feature large pinnacles covered with branching corals. I still found wonderful and healty reefs, teeming with life and, apparently, not yet polluted with plastic. During all the trip, we had calm seas and good visibility, that granted me the opportunity to get many good shots. The equipment: For this trip, I used the SONY A7RV, in a Nauticam housing, teamed with the Nikonos RS 13mm, adapted for SONY mirrorless by Isaac Szabo. I am using this fantastic lens since 2014, but with the adaption for Sony, Isaac made a fantastic job, making the lens yet more performing! Lighting was granted by SUPE D-pro strobes, with an even and powerul beam that well couples with the great field of view of the RS 13mm. The Boat: I was onboard the GAIA LOVE, a 40mt. steel motor yacht. The GAIA LOVE in front of Pulau Pisang The Gaia Love offers the guest contemporary settings, plenty of space and comfort, and a wonderful experience. I have tried many liveaboards before, but since when I boarded on Gaia I felt like it is a different level from the other boats! As a photographer, I was amazed by the great spaces that are available for the equipment, starting from the gorgeous and climatised camera room, and ending to the personal rinse tank that you havd on the diving deck, just in front of your personal place. The experience on board was then completed by delicious gourmet food , and a fantastic crew always ready to pamper the guests. The spacious camera room Conclusions: The first leg of the trip, covering the Halmahera region, was a great experience for me. It was the first time I dove these waters and I was really amazed for the richness of the reefs and the absolute sense of wilderness, we found maybe a couple of other liveaboards during the journey, and we always were the sole boat diving in any place! I will cover the second leg of the trip in a next article, please stay tuned.. Cheers! Pietro Cremone

Waterpixels is delighted to announce that Maria Munn has joined the team as our Compact Systems Specialist. For many years Maria has taught and specialised in producing amazing images using compact systems especially the Canon G series. She’s been looking too at action cameras and housed smartphone systems and has posted some really helpful guides and reviews. A more detailed resume for Maria is on our About page. We’re sure members will welcome warmly her knowledge, experience and enthusiasm. Great to have you with us, Maria.

A wide-angle image of a reef, a wreck, a school of fish or pelagic can look pretty spectacular. Adding a diver is even better for that Telling-A-Story type shot The diver often gives an idea of scale, usually confirms the scene is underwater, and makes the picture one to which non-divers can generally relate. The problem can often be, however, “the diver”. Viewed dispassionately, the diver may sometimes actually detract from the image. Legs and fins splayed all over the place, dangling gear, eyes closed, bubbles over the diver’s face, weird positions…. How to get over this? The more underwater photographers develop their skills, the more they realise that time, planning and effort are rewarded with better results. Of course you can go out, shoot away and get lucky. We’ve all been there. But to create a high quality image regularly takes patience and effort. So, the diver in the shot? Same approach: patience and effort. For starters, getting the right diver as a model: comfortable in the water, excellent buoyancy skills, patient, calm…. unflappable, willing to persevere. Sad to say, but generally good-looking and reasonable physique might be considerations too. Then, unless you are shooting radical chic or the 1960s look (love those oval masks!), wetsuits that don’t have holes, gear that looks like it was probably bought in the 21st century. Brief the diver: how you plan to shoot, the type of image you are hoping to achieve and against what background. It helps, of course, if you have dived the site before. Even better if the model has too. Do you want the model as background: just helping put the scene into a context? Perhaps in the background exploring the wreck/reef, pointing a torch to highlight a feature? Or a more close-up portrait-type shot? Agree some basic signals: up, down, left, right, blow bubbles with long, slow exhales, smile (honestly!), repeat, repeat again, stop, slow, go backwards, get close, get further away. I’m sure you can think of others. My partner is excellent at various other signals with which she likes to respond. These normally involve fingers - often a raised middle finger. And so to the water. Buddy check of course. Ripping currents and serious drop-off walls are reasons for extra caution. The safety of you and the model are paramount. So if either of you are struggling or uncomfortable, there’s always another time, another place and another dive. But assuming all is well, find the type of location that you have agreed and let the fun begin. Indicate to your model how you’d like them positioned against the backdrop; the direction of travel; carrying a torch which is switched on; and what point do you want them to stop or is it a swim-by? Which way do you want them to look - at the camera (hmmm, maybe not), at the reef. Maybe though you want to be able to see their eyes which might require some vague contortionist movement. Slow exhaled bubbles add drama and context. No doubt it will take several attempts. Fins in horrible positions, eyes closed, bubbles in front of the mask, pesky fish in front of the eyes, wrong angle…. (see why patience and perseverance come in?). So back off the reef or wreck a little, review what you have with your model, give them a welcome breather - and, probably, do over again. And again. And, probably again. When you get the images home and on screen, you will see just how many are not quuuuuite right. But with luck and effort, you should come home with some images that work. And, fingers crossed, that your model likes too - especially if you want to use their services again. Do give them copies. If it’s been an especially successful or challenging day why not print and frame a copy of a significant image as a thank you? If you’d like to try and sell the images, ask the model if they’d sign a model release which then makes commercial sales feasible. Adding a model to an underwater image helps tell the story of what you are seeing. But it needs careful planning, execution, patience and lots of signals. Even if they are a single middle finger. Top Tips for models: breathe with a slightly tilted head so bubbles move away from the mask straightish legs with one leg slightly bend at the knee. This creates length and elegance. tuck away gear so nothing is dangling big logos/brand names home create intellectual property issues in trying to sell the images de-fog mask exhale slowly - a long bubble stream looks good tuck away long hair to avoid weird ocean-created hair arrangements or hair in front of of the mask

I became aware of Providencia island as a diving destination, when I asked in Scubaboard for a Caribbean diving destination that still offers intact reefs and sealife and is not overrun by tourism (my Caribbean diving experience was, so far, limited to a stay in the early 90ies at Grand Cayman and two stays on the Florida Key Islands around 2000). Instigated by a very positive recommendation, Lisi, me and two friends (Franz and Gerdi) headed towards Providencia Island in March 2024... The tiny island belongs politically to Columbia, but is located in the western Caribbean approx. 150 km off the coast, at the geographical height of Nicaragua. It is located close to another, bigger, island, San Andres and belongs to the San Andres archipelago. Before I start to report about this remarkable diving and UW-photography journey, it is important to state that this is certainly NOT a diving destination for everybody. Do not attempt to undertake this trip, unless you are prepared to deal with the toils listed below, otherwise the trip may become a nightmare: (i) Arrival and departure to and from Providencia is very tedious: For us Austrians this means a flight from Vienna to Paris, followed by a long flight from Paris to Bogota, the capital of Columbia. After arriving at Bogota in the late evening and spending the night in a hotel near the airport, we took a flight from Bogota to San Andres. After spending another night in San Andres, we headed finally to our destination, Providencia. Satena, a small domestic airline, operates the route from San Andres to Providencia with small turboprop aircrafts that remind me at daring bumblebees (especially landing and taking off on the small landing strip on Providencia is an adventure for itself). The check-in luggage is restricted to 15 kg (), but more luggage is allowed upon extra payment, so no problem. The problem was that three suitcases got lost, already on the flight from Paris to Bogota and these delayed suitcases are not automatically transported to the final destination. It took us three days, a lot of efforts and nerves, numerous phonecalls and the dedicated help of Nelson, an employee of a concurrent domestic airline at San Andres, until we had our complete photographic equipment on site (we were three UW-photographers). Departure from Providencia was the same, but in reverse order, but this time there were no problems with luggage. Just count with three days for each direction... (ii) Tourism on Providencia island is simple. There has been once a small, single hotel with enclosed PADI diving base on the island, called "Sirius". The complex had been completely destroyed by Hurrican Iota in 2020. Since then, only very simple accomodation is available in private "Posadas" on bed and breakfast basis. There is no "cold" or "hot" water, it comes just at the temperature as it is available at the container on top of the building. Some apartments have a gas stove for preparing food. In SW-Bay (the biggest beach in Providencia) there was a a single and small restaurant ("Divino Nino") that offered delicious food for little money. For the spoiled ones amongst us, the choice between fish, shrimps or lobster may be a little bit repetitive, howsoever... I can say that the inhabitants of Providencia are very relaxed and exceptionally friendly to foreigners. Spanish is the official language, but they speak Creole amongst them and many know English. Few tourists from Colombia come to spend simple, nature bound, holidays. In addition to the general tourists, there are few divers, mostly from Colombia, but also others from all over the world (Providencia is not a complete insider tip any more). In the two weeks we stayed at Providencia, we met divers from Colombia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and USA. Daniel, the busy and helpful owner of "Sirius Diving" has established a new replacement diving base, located close to the original, but destroyed, one (there are plans to reestablish hotel and original diving base, but the opening day is uncertain...). The small island is located in Caribbean high seas and is surrounded by a massive reef. The diving spots, both on the outside as well as inside the reef, are reached by small boats. Visibility in "Carribbean blue" waters is good, I estimate 20m to 25m. The reefs are typical for the Carribean, with few stone corals, but plenty of horn and fan corals and impressive sponges. They looked completely intact to me, I could not see signs of bleaching or pollution (some hard corals were broken, presumably from the hurricane). Here a facette of the typical reefscape at the outer reef. While I was trying to adjust flashes and camera to make a photo of the reefscape and the three langusts, a juvenile reef shark swam into the frame and destroyed my composition . Sony A7R5, Canon 8-15mm @15mm, 140mm domeport, 1/160s, f/9, ISO 250, 2*Z330. The highlight for UW-photographers on Providencia island is certainly the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi). They live (still) in high numbers around the island. This species appears to be the Caribbean counterpart of the grey reefshark, that lives in the Indopacific (Carcharinhus amblyrynchus). They are "just" reefsharks, but some specimen can grow to quite formidable size (I estimate the individuals that we encountered to measure between 1 m and 2.5 m). The photo shows Gerdi taking a photo of a Carribbean reef shark at the outer reef: Sony A7R5, Sony 28-60mm @28mm, WACP-C, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 250, 2*Z330. These sharks are anything but shy and approach the divers as soon as the divers come close to the drop off at the outer reef (they are not fed or baited by the diving base). From few up to a dozen of these animals would encircle the divers during the entire dive and make outstanding motifs for UW photographers. Reef shark against the reef : Sony A7R5, Sony 20-70mm @20mm, 170mm domeport, 1/160s, f/9, ISO 400, 2*Z330. The Carribbean reefsharks at Providencia island are curious and investigative. Seldom but sometimes, they would come extremely close, almost touching the domeport, in order to check you out. At a few cm distance they would haul off and continue to encircle the divers at greater distance. Only once during the entire period of two weeks, a shark was exerting threatening behaviour against me, i.e. lowering his head and starting jittering with his pectoral fins just in front of me at arms length (I believe that this shark was feeling restricted, as I was positioning myself directly in his swimming direction to get a frontal photo, and Lisi, who was beside me, also taking photos, and the close coral wall dropoff - all contributed to the restriction). After Lisi and me swiftly retracted (better listen, when such an animals wants to tell you something ), the shark continued to swim speedily back and forth along the reef edge, repeatedly and fast opening and closing its mouth. At this point I should say that Carcharhinus perezi is considered harmless to humans, but attacks on humans after neglecting such threatening behaviour have been reported. Reef shark checking me out and hauling off afterwards: Sony A7R5, Sony 28-60mm @60mm, WACP-C, 1/160s, f/9, ISO 400, 2*Z330. A wreck, "El Planchon", is located at the bottom of the coral reefs surrounding Providencia island. Our guide, Carol, told us, that it had been a Colombian ship supporting German submarines with replenishment of all kind during WWII. When the end of the war was close, captain and crew decided that it is time to go home and sunk the ship upon translating their thoughts into action (happy people!). Today the wreck is home to triggerfish, groupers and impressive reefsharks as guardians. Grouper at "El Planchon": Sony A7R5, Sony 28-60mm @60mm, WACP-C, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 200, 2*Z330. The diving at Sirius diving base is typically done with the first dive in the morning at the outer reef and, after sufficient surface interval, the second dive in shallow and sheltered areas within the reef. These areas provide shelter for impressive schools of snappers, grunts and sweetlips, juvenile fish of all kind, puffer fish, nurse sharks and other kind of marine life (we even ecountered a group of friendly purpoises, but they were too far away to take reasonable photos in good quality). Mixed school of bluestriped grunts (Hemulon scirius) and French grunts (Hemulon flavilineatum ) at Tete's place: Sony A7R5, Sony 28-60mm @28mm, WACP-C, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 160, 2*Z330. Mixed swarm of French grunts (Hemulon flavilineatum) and squirrelfish (Holocentrus atcensionis). A school of other fish passes by in the background. Sony A7R5, Canon 8-15mm @15mm, 140mm domeport, 1/160s, f/16, ISO 320, 2*Z330. Closeup of a shool of grey grunts (Haemulon album): Sony A7R5, Sony 20-70mm @70mm, 170mm domeport, 1/200s, f/10, ISO 100, 2*Z330. West Atlantic trumpetfish (Aulostomus maculatus), well camouflaged in a gorgonian octocoral: Sony A7R5, Sony 20-70mm @70mm, 170mm domeport, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 100, 2*Z330. I must admit that I was so impressed by the variety of WA (and fishportrait) motifs (first of all the charismatic Charcharhinus perezi, that were an abundant motif at Providencia and whom I, personally, met the first time in my life), that I did not use my macro setup for even a single dive. Instead I was using WACP-C/Sony 28-60m, Canon 8-15mm and Sony 20-70mm for all dives (in this order). The period of two week diving was too short and it would have been better to stay for another, additional, week to exploit the beautiful macro motifs, including snails and shrimps, that we encountered... As a proof here a Flamingo tongue snail (Cyphoma gibbosus), feeding on gorgonia, taken with the fisheye lens: Sony A7R5, Canon 8-15mm @15mm, 140mm domeport, 1/160s, f/16, ISO 100, 2*Z330. The scubadiving holidays at Providencia island were an exceptional experience for all four of us, with font memories that will endure...