Dive Horizon

The Call for entries : World Festival of Underwater Pictures

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:03:11 GMT

The World Festival of Underwater Pictures will take place for the second successive year at the Palais du Pharo in Marseille, from 27 to 31 October 2010.

Jean-Michel Cousteau will be the honorary president of the 37th World Festival of Underwater Pictures. We will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of his father, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, in presence of those who took part in the Calypso odyssey.

Author of "The Cousteau team adventure in comics", Dominique Serafini will invite us to relive this journey with an exhibition of large-format reproductions of drawings.

Entries for the 2010 competition are now open

This year a new category will be introduced: the "Photo-Trio". This competition asks photographers to enter three digital photographs without any limitations on style. It’s open to everyone, professionals and amateurs, as are all the Festival competitions, but it is aimed more specifically at amateur participants who don’t have the possibility of entering a series of ten images each year, as required by the Portfolio category.
Participants in this new competition may also participate in other competitions in the Festival, as long as their images do not appear in two different categories.

Top 10 Weirdest Sea Creatures

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:37:58 GMT

Top Ten Weirdest Sea Creatures

Source : Discovery Science Channel

They're weird in good ways, and they're weird in bad ways. But most importantly, they're just WEIRD. Really weird. And frankly, we felt like we were being totally selfish not sharing them with you. So put on your snorkel, goggles, and flippers, and hit the water with us to check out the absolute weirdest (but coolest!) sea creatures. But we're warning you—if our choices' names alone are any indication, it definitely won't be pretty. Case in point, Number 10 ...

Choosing Scuba Diving Fins

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:11:57 GMT

Split Fins Probably the biggest choice you have to make is whether to go for a solid fin design such as the Mares Avanti Quattro fins, or a split fin such as the Tusa X-Pert Zoom fins.

The idea behind split fins is that they make it easier to fin underwater - they do this by having a less rigid body which obviously offers less resistance to the water. This does usually mean less raw power although the increased efficiency (less effort) can make up for this. Also unless you happen to dive in conditions where you have to fight a current often, this isn't really an issue.

Underwater Camera housing Setup, Protection & Maintenance Tips

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:36:41 GMT

Source: Underwater Photography Guide

Preventing camera fogging, dome port scratches, o-ring care

Never let your underwater housing sit in the sun, to prevent camera fogging. When in the open, and especially in the hot sun, keep a wet towel over it. Letting the sun hit your underwater case can cause condensation later when you dive, and can dry it out and cause salt crystals to form.
Always keep 1 or 2 desiccants in the waterproof housing to prevent fogging up
Always have your rig handed to you in the water, don't jump in with it
When you exit the water, if you have a wide angle dome port on, train the crew to put your dome port cover on immediately to avoid scratches.
Soak the underwater case in fresh water for a few minutes after every salt water dive, if possible. Soak it for longer if the salt water had a chance to dry. “Work” the buttons and controls for a few seconds while the camera is underwater, if possible. Afterwards, quickly towel-dry the housing.
After your dive, don’t leave your camera unattended in the rinse tank*. I have heard many, many stories that start with "it flooded in the rinse tank".
Get your housing serviced every year with the appropriate authorities.
Keep a neoprene cover over your dome port as much of the time as possible, to avoid getting the dome port scratched. I try to enter and exit the water with a cover on my dome port.

Read more...

Basic Underwater Photography Tips

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:02:20 GMT

Basic Underwater Photography Tips

Source : Underwater Photography Guide

#1 - Get close to your subject - preferably within 12 inches. Water reduces color, contrast, and sharpness

#2 - Make sure your camera flash is turned on, preferable in "forced flash mode"

#3 - For best composition - get low, shoot at an upwards angle, don't center the subject, try to fill your frame with the subject. Down shoot "down" at the subject

#4 - Make sure the subject's eyes are in focus

#5 - Get your diving skills down before you start using a camera underwater

Underwater photography Tips for underwater compact camera users

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:02:20 GMT

Underwater photography Tips for underwater compact camera users

Source : Underwater Photography Guide

#1 Make sure you read the Beginner's guide to underwater photography

#2 - Cover the front of the housing directly in front of the internal flash with duct tape when adding an external strobe that is optically fired, otherwise you will still get backscatter from the internal flash.

#3 - Make sure you understand the focusing distance of your camera in and out of macro mode. Use macro mode when you are within the macro focusing distance.

#4 – If you use an external flash, make sure you place it as far away from your housing as possible, and your internal flash is blocked, to reduce backscatter.

SAFE DIVING TIPS

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:37:17 GMT

All diving involves a degree of risk, because, after all, we are air-breathing mammals and are not designed for breathing underwater. If we accept this premise, and admit to ourselves that we are voluntarily entering an alien environment, we are more likely to approach our diving with a sensible degree of caution. We must also acknowledge that we rely totally on our equipment while diving.

These safety hints apply to ALL dives and should be read in addition to those hints for specific types of diving.

Be trained by a recognised agency. Such training will make you aware of the more common problems you will face underwater, and how to reduce the likelihood of these problems occurring.
Read more...

DIVERS ALERT NETWORK

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:31:56 GMT

DIVE HORIZON is proud to support DAN Asia-Pacific (DAN AP). The Divers Alert Network (DAN) is a global network of not-for-profit, member-based, dive safety organizations working for the safety of all divers through education, research and training.

DAN AP provides Worldwide Emergency Evacuation Coverage and optional Dive Injury (Treatment) Insurance Services for Members. In addition the organisation is responsible for funding and/or manning 24-hour diving emergency hotlines throughout the
Asia-Pacific region.

DAN AP is a part of the International DAN Federation of Dive Safety Organisations with worldwide Membership presently exceeding 300,000.

Choosing a computer : Entry-level Dive Computers On Test

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:00:07 GMT

By John McIntyre

Source : Dive Magazine UK

Choosing a computer is one of the most important diving decisions a new diver will make. John McIntyre checks out what's available

The dive computer test

We all take dive computers for granted these days. But essentially, we trust our safety to modern-day technical wizardry without a second thought. Few of us even bother to use a back-up system, so reliable are the majority of today’s dive computers. For my money, a computer needs to perform the following functions: clearly show the current depth at all times, the duration of the dive and, perhaps most crucially, the available time for diving without the need for a decompression stop.

Then, of course, if a decompression stop becomes necessary, the computer should not only tell me audibly that I’m going into decompression, it should show quite boldly the amount of decompression time and minimum depth for the stop or stops. Last, but not least, it should show dive duration.

100th anniversary of Captain Cousteau's birth

nazir4321@gmail.com (Administrator) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:07:35 GMT

On the occasion of 100th anniversary of Captain Cousteau's birth, The Cousteau Society broadcasts during 3 days Jacques Yves Cousteau's film "The Golden Fish" (with Edmond Séchan) hat won an Oscar in 1960 for Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects.

SEE THE FILM HERE

OFFICIAL COUSTEAU WEBSITE