Mona & Chris' Travel Photography » My Point of View

About diving and watching…

Mona and Chris — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:02:34 +0000

Most of you must think now while reading the title : well there’s nothing new! We know that you love diving and watching the underwater world! True! I do! But sometimes it’s good to be reminded…
We arrived last Thursday here in Nuweiba, Egypt to have 2 weeks of diving with Sarah and Daniel at African Divers. I left home with a big cold which didn’t seem to surrender. Having my 2 ears and the sinuses completely blocked I stayed on the beach the first 2 days reading and rising my score in “Angry Birds”…
Yesterday I was already sunburnt and decided to give it a try with my “Mickey Mouse Mask” also known as “ProEar mask”.
All dives around Nuweiba are shore dives so the entry is smooth and you can easily control your depth.
The dive spot was ” Sinkers”. A buoy dropped by the Israelis long ago, but with the chain being too short of about 15m. So the top of the buoy supposed to be out of water hovers at -9m in the blue. It’s all beautifully grown with soft corals and fishes around.

Sinkers

I’ve dived this spot a couple of times already but was never really happy with my out coming shots.
Yesterday I left my camera home as I was not sure at all to be able to get deeper than 2 m.
At my surprise I ended up at Sinkers at -26m and slowly followed the 2 big chains. I took my time, watched all the way up and spent lots of time at the buoy itself. The diver’s bubbles fill it up from below which creates a wonderful mirror effect. On top you’ll find numerous anthias and a huge barracuda cruising around.
At that moment I realised that I never really took the time to watch this buoy calmly before. I saw things and details I’ve missed out before!
I can’t wait to get back there with my camera in hands now…

Filed under: diving, My Point of View

I want your opinion :)

Mona and Chris — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:11:14 +0000

Chosing one single shot is giving me sleepless nights! I need your help and opinion on the following pictures. Tell me which one is your favourite. You can click on the image to get a larger view

Some friends reported problems while trying to vote via IE. Firefox and iPhones seem to work just fine

Thank you all for your participation

Filed under: My Point of View, Photo of the day, PhotoCompetitons, underwater

Best wishes!!!

Mona and Chris — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:39:45 +0000

We hereby wish you all the best for the upcoming year!!! May all you dreams and waves ome true. Keep on making bubbles, open wide your eyes and enjoy every single breath! May it be underwater or facing the winds!

Posted in My Point of View

Festival de l’image sous-marine Antibes

Mona and Chris — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:04:31 +0000

Last week took place the 35th Festival de l’Image sous-marine in Antibes, southern France. This was a great opportunity to get away from the freezing temperatures around here in Luxembourg and to drive south 1000km.

Festival mondial de l'image sous-marine

I had also organised to meet an online buddy from Digidiver.net there, Thomas Vignaud aka Autopsea. It’s always interesting and funny to meet people you only know from the net for real. Concerning Thomas it was a great day to meet as he won the first prize in the photo competition as well as the prize of young photographer with his great turtle shot.

the winning shot!

I believe he needs some time to completely realise what happened to him. And this is only the beginning, I’m sure!

Thomas with his "Oscar"

The day after you could even find his turtle on the front page of the newspapers.

interesting reading

You can check out more of Thomas’ beautiful work on his flickr account and find him as well as moderator on www.digidiver.net

Posted in My Point of View, PhotoCompetitons

Pamping’s treasures

Mona and Chris — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:19:37 +0000

I heard quite a lot of different opinions on dive guides. Some people don’t want them around, seeing them as policemen watching them. Others don’t care about them or worse ignore them. Others again want them around to show them the way back to the boat. Sometimes people are surprised when I tell them that the guide makes the dive. Of course it depends on the person. How can you define a dive guide? The answer is simple : Pamping! He dives in Bohol (Philippines). When you meet him at the shop he seems a bit shy, but he is always smiling. You discover his real personality once you’re underwater. He loves diving and he loves people. It’s as simple as that. What a feeling to dive with someone who knows every single feather star, sponge or elephant ear! No, never you get the feeling he’s bored . He’s searching for treasures which he offers you as a present. I don’t know how many critters I encountered, watched for a while and photographed only because he “offered” them to me with his smiling eyes as if it was the first time ever he encountered that special creature!

hairy squat lobster on sponge

imperator shrimp on sea cucumber

But that’s not all. I’ve seen many guides on my trips who want to please especially photographers by “presenting” them critters by all means. Digging out on octopus, pulling a lobster, replacing a nudibranch, teasing a peacock mantis shrimp or feeding a muray… who hasn’t already seen that?

Pamping did none of all the above. I always watched him when he spread delicately a feather star’s arms, checking a gorgonian fan, without touching it in search of pygmy seahorses.

Would I ever have found this wonderful nudibranch and all other critters above all by myself? I have some doubts.

Now some of you might think that this perfect dive guide only exists in my dreams. No, he’s real and you’ll find him on Bohol, Alona beach. My stay in Alona would never have been so rewarding without his presence.

Thank you, Pamping

Pamping, me and Chris

all photos HERE

www.sea-explorers.com

The Call of the Wild

Mona and Chris — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Why are you diving? How is it?

These may be the questions most of the people ask after having watched one of my slide-shows. How do you explain this feeling? Are we looking for something? It’s not easy to put words on this special sensation.

In some way we are like gold seekers in the old times. They travelled the whole country to the unknown lands and felt like adventurers. They scanned every single river, they dreamt all night to find the precious metal. They looked below every stone, examining every sand-corn until their eyes got blurred. Even on their way back home in the evenings, their minds were filled with golden sparks. And finally when they held a tiny precious piece in their hands, the world around them stopped. Nothing had any importance anymore. Their eyes were fixed by a magic glimpse of gold.

I often travel through unknown lands before I get to a dive spot. My eyes and mind are filled with sparks. I open up to all these new sounds, lights and smells. But the underwater world is the largest unknown place on earth. And it depends on us.

“La bibliothèque de la vie brûle et nous ne connaissons même pas les titres des livres” (Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian politician)

Life’s library is burning and we don’t even know the titles of the books .

Most people don’t care about things they don’t know. That’s why I always take my time to answer questions. We as divers are very privileged people. Everyday new species are discovered. We get face to face to some of the most awesome creatures. We also see the damages done to the reef, the shrinking number of some species like sharks. And sometimes we even see fellow divers damaging the reef. Is an underwater picture worth damaging the reef or harassing the wildlife? Never! As underwater photographers we are examples for the people close to us or even on a wider board. We should use this to protect our seas. To raise awareness.

“Il ne sert à rien à l’homme de gagner la lune, s’il venait de perdre la terre.” (Francois Mauriac)

It doesn’t help to gain the moon if we would loose earth

All the best…

Mona and Chris — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:47:34 +0000

Christmas is approaching and I still haven’t figured out which greeting card to send. First I focused on a photocomposition , then I went through my photos to find the right one. There are far too many. But then I came across this cold water shot. Good, cold water goes with Christmas, at least here in Luxembourg. And on top, I don’t need any composition. There is actually a Christmas tree standing in 12 m depth in the Blausteinsee. It’s a magic tree…as you get closer the more you discover the crayfish who call it home. After taking this picture from the top of the tree I counted the crayfish , there were more than 20 on it ! Once again it was a wise decision to take a closer look.

My wishes to all of you for the new year? Take close looks wherever you go…, there might be some magic hidden crayfish around…and who knows they might turn into a prince …or princess.

Let’s pray

Mona and Chris — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 09:12:57 +0000

What will happen next? Thisis the question which goes though my mind everytime I get news from Burma. In my 3 weeks stay there in 2003 I only got a glimpse of this regime, as they have propaganda on TV all the time.
But I have real great memories with the Burmese people trying to make their living in their country. And every now and then you hear a whisper : “Do you know our Lady?” Yes, Aung San Suu Ki is called the Lady, more than a symbol, a mother, a leader who dvoted her intire life to the freedom of her country, leaving her beloved ones far away in England.
I would be time by now to open up, to let go, but I fear the junta doesn’t want to give a away a sole part of their power.
…so let’s pray, that’s all we can do

New facelifting

Mona and Chris — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:34:06 +0000

hi everybody,
I hope you like the new face of my blog . I’m happy to include flickr into the blog. Just tell me what you think.

And finally let’s pray for all the Burmese people. Let’s be very optimistic and hope that all this will not end in violence. It would be time for the Burmese to live in freedom and peace

More photos from Burma :http://www.flickr.com/photos/wistiti/sets/1596764/show/