Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

underwater photography

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Getting started with Underwater Photography

Photo by Zaide Scheib
Everyone like to have photographs of their experiences, and from their vacations and travels.  Divers are no different.  The only issue is that taking photographs and videos underwater requires a little bit of pre-planning and some different equipment — well sort of.
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.

Eric Keibler in Yap by Joe Thompson

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

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Scuba Santa 2018

Travis Hershey Stars as the Scuba Santa
Santa is Waiting For You
We had a great time this past weekend with Santa underwater at the West University Recreation Center Pool!  The kids had a great time finding Santa hanging out underwater and Mom & Dad have fun holiday cards to send out.  If you are a Houstonian member or know a member, Santa will be visiting the Houstonian this weekend.  There are still some spaces so if you want to have your photo made with Santa, you need to hurry and call the member services group to set-up a time.

  • What: Santa In the Pool
  • Where: Houstonian Hotel, & Spa
  • When: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
  • Note: The Houstonian is a members only club so you must be a member of have a member set it up for you to have your photo made here.

On Wednesday, Santa will be at the Houston Racket Club with the Kinkaid Swim Team and the Houston Racket Club Swim Team and some of their members.
 
So you can see, he really gets around when he is town!

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Equipment Special For Photographers the SeaLife DC2000


The new DC 2000 has a waterproof  camera to 60 feet,that fits into a housing rated to 200 feet and shoots at 20 MP, Shoots RAW, JPG, 1080 HP video – Free Wide-angle lens
Free Wide Angle Lens: Urgent:  The program ends on Friday but, Dive Mom has an extension so that you can order before noon on Monday, Oct 2 2017, so you can get the Free Wide angle lens.
 
Upgrade Offer:  If you purchased a Sealife 2.0 Camera, from us in the last two years, and want to trade-it for the DC2000, you get a $150 credit toward the DC2000.  This is an Oceanic Ventures only promotion and expires on Monday October 2 at noon.  Please note, the camera must be in working order and traded in with the charger cord.

This is SeaLife’s most advanced camera! 

Enjoy full creative freedom with SeaLife’s new DC2000 digital underwater camera. Featuring a large SONY® 1″ type back-illuminated 20MP image sensor and RAW formatting capabilities, the DC2000 will let your underwater inspirations guide you to stunning results.
 

  • Full featured with nearly unlimited editing options
  • With an ultra-fast auto focus and shutter response, you’ll never miss a shot with the SeaLife DC2000.
  • Take control of your creativity by selecting from the 8 shooting modes: manual, aperture, underwater, shutter, program, intelligent auto, land, and panorama.
  • JPEG and RAW (Adobe .dng) imaging formats are available, providing you with nearly endless photo editing options. Get the best of both worlds.
  • With DSLR-like imaging results, you’ll want to make the DC2000’s waterproof inner camera your go-to land camera with the ability to capture rich landscapes and stunning close-ups and portraits.
  • The DC2000 features a 31mm (film equivalent) lens with a variety of underwater lens options available.
  • Ultra-fast shutter response of 0.1 seconds
  • 4 Underwater Shooting Modes for sharp, colorful underwater pictures under any conditions
  • 3 built-in underwater digital color correction filters: shallow water (snorkeling), deep water (diving) or “green” water (algae bloom)
  • 25 Land Scene modes adjust camera settings for specific shooting environments
  • Intelligent Auto Mode selects the optimal land scene mode for effortless shooting
  • Continuous Burst Shooting shoots high resolution 20MP pictures up to 10 frames per second
  • Manual White Balance control to customize UW color correction to your specific depth and water conditions
  • Manual shutter and aperture for complete control over image exposure from 15 to 1/2000 seconds and F1.8 to F11 in 0.3 stop increments
  • Auto focus from 4″(10cm) to infinity
  • WiFi to wirelessly preview, download and share pictures/videos to smart phone or tablet with free Link123 Plus app. Includes Geotagging and “Auto Send” functionality.
  • Micro SD, SDHC SDXC and UHS-1 memory card compatible up to 64GB
  • Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) – CCD shift technology reduces camera shake
  • Short-cut key for fast and easy access to favorite menu setting
  • Expandable with Sea Dragon Flash(es), Photo-Video Lights and SeaLife lenses
  • Rubber armored, shock-resistant for rough handling and tough environments
  • Depth rated down to 200ft/60m (camera in housing)
  • Depth rated down to 60ft/18m (inner camera)

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Twenty-Five Years of Photographs

Twenty-Five Years of People and Adventures – Scuba Diving with Oceanic Ventures

 
On November 12, 2015 we debuted a video collection of a sampling of twenty-five years of scuba diving with Oceanic Ventures.  It was fun putting together the video and it brought back a lot of memories and reminded us of a lot of people who have been diving with us for a lot of years.  I hope you will enjoy it.  Here is the video:

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Santa Is Coming – Scuba Santa in West University 2015

Scuba Diving Santa at West University Place
Scuba Diving Santa
I recently saw a sign on Facebook that said “if you don’t believe in Santa, you get underwear”  So, I have enough underwear —  so Santa I believe!
On November 7, 2015 at 11:00 in the morning, Santa will once again arrive in the City of West University Place to pose for pictures with all of the good girls and boys (and let’s face it we are all girls and boys at Christmas).  This is your opportunity to hand Santa your diving slate with your wish list for the holiday season and to have your picture made, on scuba or without, underwater with Santa.  The photos make great Christmas or holiday cards or a fun shot on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Snap Chat.
Travis Hershey Stars as the Scuba Santa
Santa is Waiting For You
As in the previous year, I will be underwater taking photographs and keeping Santa and out Elf company underwater.  The event runs from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and costs $15.00 in advance or $35.00 at the door (hint – pre-register) and it is better to schedule your time earlier in the day rather than later.  For those wanting to Scuba Dive with Santa, Oceanic Ventures will furnish the air, you just have to pick it up at the store before going to the pool.  Send Dive Mom a note or purchase your ticket to the event here.
We have a great time and the proceeds of the event help the City of West University Recreation Department.
Make time and have a fun photography taken with Santa and his elf…
Scuba Santa at West University Place
Scuba Santa at West University Place
 

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The Holidays are Coming for Scuba Divers

Wow, it has been a busy month here at Oceanic Ventures this month and it is not even half-way over.

OVIF-119Our charity event, A Night in Old Havana, was a great success.  We grossed over $8,000 for the Oceanic Ventures Foundation which was set-up to donate money and products to the places we visit as scuba divers.  The event itself was based around an old McNamara family photograph (yes, I really am Irish).  Sheridan, the professional Mixologist from Don Q Rums, served up very special cocktails  while Ashton kept the trays of food rolling from the kitchen.  Zaide and Alex helped serve the treats as did Ann and Eric.  There is no way we can ever thank all of the people who helped up pull this event off, but we will try.  We would like to especially thank Bob and Joyce Hoover, Ashton Arsement, Zaide Scheib, Jeremy Eich, Rosemary Keibler, Steve Soulen, Steve Jurbala and Joel Hershey.  We also want to thank our sponsors Don Q Rums, Cobalt Coast Resort, Dive Tech Grand Cayman and Tusa.  We also received some extra special gifts from  Jim Turley and Lee Emerson.  You should check-out all of the photographs from the party.  We have posted them on our Facebook page.

Santa UnderwaterSanta also dropped by for some underwater photographs.  We had both scuba divers, free divers (snorklers) and just swimmers jump in to have their photos made with Santa Claus.  Our favorite elf, Zaide, had a great time posing with Santa.  And, we almost made it onto Fox News — the talent, Ruben Dominguez, canceled on us at the last minute and the camera man did not want to film without him.  The loss was even harder since Eric, Ann, Alex and Heather, the Activity Coordinator for West University, all had to be at the pool at 6:30 in the morning!  But oh well, we still got a few fun photos of Heather with Santa Clause.  We want to thank everyone who came out and helpped as well as those who helped us with the event including Travis Hershey, Zaide Scheib, Joel Hershey, Keegan Madden, Alex Witschey and Eric Keibler.

Of course, the specials do not end with these events.  The Holidays continue with some other special events including:

There are special pricing and give-a-ways each of these days.  You really must read more about them; they will be loads of fun!

Santa and HEather