This image got an Honorable Mention in my camera club's competition last night

I did win a Medal & 2 Awards for 3 other shots, but they were land shots, not dive related.

Christian's First Dive, Wakatobi

Congrats Ellen!

Awesome!

Way to go Ellen!

Steve

Great work Ellen!!!

Karel

Wow, what a terrific place to do your first dive. Well done Christian! And Ellen, it won't be long before Christian will be using your camera and then something like this will happen... (my son at 11 years old)

Actually, I'm no relation to Christian. He and his family (I think they were from Germany) were on our boat in Wakatobi and they were snorkelers. Christian watched us and really wanted to try diving so his parents signed him up for a resort course and asked us to take a photo of him underwater to show to family and friends back home. I was more than happy to oblige. I could not believe this kid's buoyancy. He was a natural.

My son is now 19 and I had him certified when he was almost 13. I think I have a photo of his first dive somewhere. Not as good as this one though.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Congrats

WTG Ellen! and such a nice story to go with the photo.

It was a pleasure to share this experience with you Ellen! As I recall, Christian's family was from Switzerland and they were such a pleasure to meet. I've never seen a child beaming more brightly as when Christian did his first dive. Who wouldn't in Wakatobi!?!?!?

This is a fantastic shot Ellen. A very big congratulations to you for receiving Honorable Mention! Robyn

Yeah, that was indeed the trip of a lifetime Robyn. I had sooo much fun!!! I was so nervous taking that photo because I knew it had to be good. Afterall, I was just the stand-in for the best

Congrats Miss Ellen, yes I was there also, what a FANTASTIC TRIP..... god I hope I have the money and health to do it again some day....What fun!

Congrats on your Honorable Mention! The image really does warm the heart.

Christian was one of the most well behaved 11 year old boys I've ever seen, and he certainly deserved to do his first dive at Wakatobi. It was indeed a pleasure to be on the boat with both he and his family. I found out that Christian's father used to work for Switzerland's version of the Internal Revenue Service. We definitely had some stories to share with each other about working for the government auditing tax returns :-)

Keep up the good work, Ellen!

Thanks Scott & Ellen. Christian & his family were indeed, very delightful people. I'm sure you and his dad did have some interesting stories to share.