UW Photo Workshop?

Hi all,

Been thinking about heading somewhere next year for an UW photography workshop. Can anyone recommend one in the Asia Pacific rim? Thinking maybe Indo somewhere would be good (would like to be able to do WA plus macro). The ones I know about (but am yet to see new dates) are Divephotofest and the ones by Michael Aw/Mathieu Meur, but open to any decent suggestions.

I guess the real question is how worth while are they? To give you a view as to where I'm at, I've recently upgraded to a dSLR, but was shooting compacts with strobes for a couple of years before that. I try to dive a few weekends every month locally, so will have had plenty of practise with the SLR by the time I get anywhere. If you're really feeling helpful, there's a link in my sig to my gallery.

Thanks in advance for any help, it's much appreciated!

Ryan.

Hi Ryan,

I did a one on one for a few days with Mike Veitch when I was in Indo in Sept and learnt heaps, well worth the money. I believe he is working out of Lembeh now days so you might be able to get him to do a course for you.

Regards

Gary

Hi Ryan,

Congratulations on your move to DSLR. I am still waiting a bit before i move on.

I would highly recommend doing a course with Jeff Mullins at Tulamben, Bali. The dives are really easy with some super wide angle and critter opportunities. The course is one to one (which is what i prefer as it is not that typical commecial course) with various choices and not expensive. He is a great teacher and the course includes 2 or 4 dives with him. I did a course with him before i took to digital photography and must say i am more than happy. I just did a komodo liveboard organised by his wife Dawn and Jeff and must say it was a satiating experienxce. You can check out this link if interested :

http://reefwreckandcritter.com/

Cheers and good luck..hope to see some pics soon:)

Diggy

Hey Diggy, Komodo, I'm very jealous! That's pretty high on my must do list. Where're your photos from the trip?

Tulaban is somewhere I'm looking at going next year, so I'll have to check out Jeff Mullins.

Gary, Mike's (through DivePhotoFest) are ones I was looking at. I seem to remember him saying they were going to upgrade their website with new dates soon, so guess I'll just have to be patient!

hehe ya sorry...

Doing more one on one stuff at the moment here.

I will send you a PM...

Workshops can be quite good for the uninitiated, but once you get past one-n-one, the benefits diminish.

I can't comment on Mike as I met him only for a split second long before he gained fame and fortune.

I've dived with Jeff Mullins and while I didn't need instruction, I believe strongly that he can provide excellent instruction in a great setting. I have nothing but kind words for Jeff.

fortune?!?!!?! hahahahaha

That was in DEMA Houston

I spent some days diving with Jeff in Oct/2006 and had a wonderful time . He and Dawn are really nice people to hang around . Tulamben is great for fish portraits , macro and wide angle ; and Jeff know the sites very well .

Just my 2 cents

Good luck

Jose Alejandro

But you wont find better diving in Bali, Manado and Lembeh are outstanding and heaps better. Bali is great if you want to do other activities besides diving

I'll add to the list of those who've had great experiences with workshops from Jeff Mullins. I took a day and a half workshop with Jeff in late September in Tulamben, Bali and it was worth every penny I spent. I even wrote a testimonial for Jeff and, in a short time, it will be up on Jeff's website which is mentioned in diggy's post. Jeff spends a lot of time with you before you even go in the water to see where you're at and to make suggestions that will improve your uw images from the camera you're using. Then he goes diving with you to capture the images. After the diving, he sits down with you to go over your images.

He's offering a liveaboard course in the Komodo area in the spring of 2009. If I can get off time at work, I plan to be on that liveaboard.

Ellen

I'm a big fan of more training. I did the Digital Shootout this year just after I got my SLR and it made a world of difference. On a couple subsequent trips I had the opportunity to talk to a pro or two and their tips also helped build on what I had been doing. Now I'm scheduled for another workshop in Jan. with Dr. Alex and can't wait for the opportunity to take things to the next level.

Remember, the pros are still learning, trying new things and stretching their knowledge - why not do the same? If you have the interest and the opportunity to hang out with them (especially one on one!), I say go for it!

Phil