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My reply is that more people die each year EATING sharks than are EATEN by sharks. Think about it. Apex predators are often not very good to eat; they bio-accumulate toxins. Sharks are filled with PCBs and mercury. Some people have allergic reactions and some simply choke on their "food".

Of course air consumption depends a lot on water temperature and depth. In tropical water I average around 50-60 minutes on an Al80. I stay longer if the dive operator permits. My longest dive on an Al80 was 94 minutes with an average depth of 38ft, and yes I left 500psi in the tank...

It is interesting to hear the range of responses. They are running diametrically opposed.

I think the pure Photoshop version is nicer, but I would tone down the contrast a little and apply a little noise reduction. I would also try using the Shadows/Highlights tool, which is a Photoshop version of tonemapping. Maybe it is me, but I really dislike the Photomatix halos and you are...

You should join the Paradise Dive Club. It is a great place to find dive buddies. We meet on the last Tuesday of each month at Petrini's family restaurant. There are directions at Paradise Dive Club Santa Barbara, CA. There are a lot of good photographers in the club.

No, my assistant is fine with it. I am just trying to be intellectually honest.

I tried sending this to intlcomp@laups.org but it bounced due to an overquota error, so I decided to post it here and see if there is a consensus. I have a great "self" portrait that I would like to enter in the LAUPS competition, but the question I have is about the role of assistants in...

I have never had the airlines weigh my hand luggage which is very lucky since the Pelican 1510 cases I use for my camera weigh 6.5kg EMPTY! Once, in Malaysia, they didn't weigh each bag, but all of them together (including hand luggage) in a heap. I check all of my dive gear except my...

When I was in the Yucatan diving at Dos Ojos earlier this year, one of our dive instructors told me about all of the beautiful Cenotes that are essentially off limits due to bandits. In some of the more remote spots it is fairly common that bandits will hold up the dive vehicles. While...

I have seen Mola Mola twice while diving in the Channel Islands. I have also seen them a couple times from the boat. The Mola Mola feed on jellyfish and tend to follow the currents that push them around, even when it pushes them into cold water. The first time I saw a Mola Mola it was being...

I am a little confused by this statement. You will get substantially MORE oxygen through the regulator at depth than you get breathing on the surface due to the increased partial pressure. I am not a physician, but the breathlessness and feeling of "air starvation" has nothing to do with the...

I agree that a 100 mm macro (or 105 in the Nikon world) is a must have lens. It is great when working with skittish subjects and with MacroMate (or other wet diopter) you can do some 2:1 work. The other advantage is that it focuses quickly and is razor sharp. Here is an image with my EOS 5d...

Hi all. Last month I dove the wreck of the fishing boat Transpac in British Columbia, Canada. While I was busy photographing the wreck, I was completely oblivious to the face that someone installed on the bow. I was vaguely aware of the white disk, but it wasn't until I was back on the ship...

Great. Remember, it is a big world and most of it is covered with ocean. Why restrict yourself to the 25% that girds the equator?

Do you ski naked? Of course not! Then why do some people think that cold-water divers dive in nothing more than a bathing suit? Diving is as much about thermal protection as it is about tanks, regulators, and BCDs. How many of you have had a variation on the following exchange while...

I recently had a similar episode, which really surprised me because it had never happened before and because I have been diving long enough that my situation awareness skills are mostly second nature. It goes to show that these things can happen to anyone at any time. The key is how you deal...

I carry a SMB, dive-alert, storm whistle, and lexan mirror. I don't know why people keep recommending using CDs or DVDs as mirrors. I tried that and after a couple of dives, the aluminum corroded completely away leaving me with a blank piece of plastic. The lexan safety mirrors are cheap and...

If you do photography, you want a black skirt to reduce glare when looking through a viewfinder (or look at a LCD screen).

The pic and pluck foam looks nice, but it takes up WAY too much space. If you are like me and you pack these puppies to within an inch of their lives, you want the dividers. That being said, I bring two on the plane with me (one for me and one for my wife) and have never had to check them. I...

Depth doesn't affect battery life, but temperature does. In a recent dive trip to Alaska, several people complained that in the cold water the battery life was dramatically shortened, although the Li ion batteries in my 5D, I didn't have any problem recharging them once a day. The same was...