This month, one of our Club Aquarius sponsors, Sweetwater Pool & Patio, has a fun special for the summer — Big Green Eggs!
This is your chance to own one of these fabulous ceramic cookers and prepare the juiciest ribs your family has ever tasted (ask Eric & Wade both owners of ceramic grills). The smaller units are perfect for your Dive Around Texas Scuba Diving cookout or a cookout at the lake. Remember, as Eric says, “Texas diving is a barbecue interrupted by diving.” And as a special offer, if you go in and ask Shelia or Kim to ring your egg up, they will even throw in a free bag of smoking chips to get you started. They also offer a full line of BGE accessories as well as other pool and spa accessories. Go by and visit and see what you have been missing!
Here are some of the specials (while supplies last):
Blog
Diving the Philippines – A Teaser
The Philippines is a country with over 186,000 square miles and over 7600 islands. There are over fifteen primary areas for diving, stretching from La Union in the north to Davao in the south. All but Apo Reef and Tabathaha are just off island communities; these reefs must be reached by boat.
In her presentation at Club Aquarius on 22 March 2018, Ann Keibler will be talking about diving in the Philippines and the differences between the various regions of the Country and where she thinks the most diverse diving areas are located.
Come find our more by attending the meeting at 7:00 PM at the Black Labrador Pub.
Getting started with Underwater Photography
There are a number of ways to get started from jumping in with your GoPro to using your mobile phone in a case to take photographs. But, what is the best way? That is a difficult question to answer, It all depends on where you are in your land photography and where you want to go with your underwater photography. What so I mean by that? Let’s look at this further further.
IPhone Camera User
If your primary camera is your iPhone or Android phone even on vacation, then you will probably be happy starting with a simple underwater camera. These allow you to shoot video or still photographs and download them to your computer. Most of these cameras save files in a JPG format. However, some of the new models have a RAW file feature too. Not sure what these terms mean, check-out part 2 of this article about digital files and processing. Let’s just say that the JPG files are what you are used to seeing in your iPhone which means they have some processing done during the save function. Some examples of these camera are the SeaLife Micro 2.0 and a GoPro. You could also put your phone in a housing and take it with you. Kraken makes a new housing for phones.
IPhone and Point and Shoot Camera User
If you use both an iphone and anther camera during your trips, you are probably trying to get better images or different images that what you can get with your phone. For you, the SeaLife Micro 2.0 or the SeaLife DC 2000 might be good options. Both have basic functions but also expand to let you “tweek” your photos and your experience.
DSLR & Mirrorless Camera Users
Now this is a wide-ranging area of underwater photography. You could stick with the simpler camera from above or you can expand to take your land camera underwater in a housing. A lot of it depends on what you want to accomplish underwater and how much you are willing to invest. The housings for your underwater camera can cost more than your initial camera investment and then there are the strobes… So you could look at the SeaLife DC2000 or a housing from Nauticam or Aquatica.
How to get started
Our Club Aquarius meeting this month will be focusing on “How to get Started in Underwater Photography.” We will be discussing how to meet your various goals and what equipment you might consider. We will also be discussing some things you can do to improve your photographs once you start with a system.
Club Aquatrius Meeting:
- Speaker: Zaide Scheib and Eric Keibler
- When: 22 February 2018, 7:00 PM
- Where: The Black Labrador, 4100 Montrose Blvd. Houston, TX
Wade's Excellent Scuba Diver Specialty Weekend
If it is in May, why mention it now?
I can hear you asking, “if it is not until May, why should I sign-up now?” Because “now” is the perfect time to start reading the material; it is cold outside! One of the requirements for a Specialty Diver Weekend is that you must complete all of the educational materials before you show up. By enrolling now, you
- Have time to complete your reading;
- Guarantee your space;
- Have time to make sure you have the required equipment for the program;
- Have time to purchase what you are missing; and
- Plan your contribution to the “Pot Luck Dinner” (remember as Eric says, Texas Diving is a BarBQ interrupted by diving).
What specialties can I take?
You can participate in a number of specialty programs this weekend including,
How Do I sign-up?
Enrolling in a class is “as easy as squeezy” as they say in Trinidad. You can either call Dive Mom to sign-up or simply, click a button below, which will take you to the product to purchase it. Either way, we will open up the training materials so you can get started and be ready for diving in May.
Diver's Trivia Night – Club Aquarius January
Dive Mom’s fabulous Trivia Game returns with all new challenges for divers. Come test your diving and travel knowledge for some great prizes including a $50.00 Gift card and t-shirts. So pull your team together and try your luck!
We have also posted the Club Dates for 2018…
- January 25, 2018
- February 22, 2018
- March 22, 2018
- April 19, 2018
- May 17. 2018
- June 21, 2018
- July 19, 2018
- August 16, 2018
- September 20, 2018
- October 18, 2018 – The year’s best videos
- November 15, 2018
- December 8, 2018 Store Open House
- December 13 – Photo Contest Winners
Keep watching for all of the speakers, for this year’s meeting!
