Photo safari in the Red Sea

Photo safari in the Red Sea

A mirror-like sea and over 40 degrees in the shade. It was 28-31 degrees in the water and in total we did 19 dives in very nice conditions. We were often the only boat out here on the reef. A comfortable boat with good logistics for diving and we had handpicked dive guides. Last but not least, we were a lovely bunch of nice, tagged and photo-interested divers. This set the very framework for a third photo safari in the Red Sea under the auspices of Scuba Travel. To that should be added that we had a crew who bet everything that we would have a good time. Not least the chef was fantastic!

This time we were two photo guides on board the boat. For Ingvar it was the third time as a guide. This year he was accompanied by Jonna Bergström, who was Swedish champion in UV photography in 2009. The idea of ​​us being two guides was, among other things, that we could give more individual feedback to each participant.

The layout of the photo safari had three main components: Short educational elements with different themes. Individual feedback on images and perhaps most importantly, joint image reviews where participants show a selection of their images and give each other feedback. Then, of course, the whole thing was based on the fact that we could offer a lot of time with the camera in the water, and that the participants were given photo assignments that stimulated and challenged. For this, our liveaboard was perfectly suited given the simple logistics: Dive - eat - rig cameras and charge batteries - rest - dive. Nothing else disturbs!

The diving cruise

This year's cruise took us to partly new dive sites on a more southerly route that included St Johns and Abu Fandira. We also visited classic dive sites such as Dolphin Reef and Elphinstone. Visibility was mostly excellent, and the reef was bursting with life. Possibly those who longed for shark encounters were a little disappointed. The water was probably a little too warm, so there were relatively few shark encounters. But otherwise the reef was bursting with life! We managed a total of 19 dives, including three night dives and several powerful dives in reef labyrinths with cave formations and sunlight filtering in through openings in the ceiling! Two of the dive sites also had wrecks that offered great opportunities to practice wide-angle photography.

Now we want to try to convey a bit of the trip through a series of pictures that different participants have contributed. We don't think there is a better way to present a photo safari. (See gallery on the right of the page)*

Summary of photo safari in the Red Sea

With this travelogue, we tie the knot from another educational and wonderful adventure with Scuba Travel. It gave us new friends, reunion with old friends and inspiration for future exercises! Thank you to everyone who participated, for helping to make this photo safari to the Red Sea such a fun trip!

- Ingvar Eliasson & Jonna Bergström
 

*All pictures on this page © the gang from the photo safari, more specifically: Ingvar Eliasson, Oskar Arvidsson, Agneta Fransson, Annika Garnås, Annikki Wahlöö, Eva Holmen, Håkan Berg, Patrik Gustafsson, Peter Sandén, Roger Viktorsson, Suz Viktorsson and Linnea Arvidsson .

Top image © Ingvar Eliasson.