Ocean Visions Underwater Photography Courses from London - Latest News

Red Sea Photo Trips with award winning blue o two

2012-01-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud that luxury Red Sea liveaboard specialist and award-winning blue o two have asked me to lead their fabulous "In Focus" trips this year to help both beginner and the more advanced compact camera user to develop their underwater skills and come home with a portfolio of underwater photographs to be proud of. There will be 3 trips this year, one from 29th June to 6th July to the Northern Red Sea, Tiran, one exploring the Northern Red Sea and the Thistlegorm in August and one focusing on the Southern Red Sea in October. All will concentrate on helping you make sure that you come home with fabulous underwater photographs with whatever make or model equipment you have. Please do give the friendly, expert team of blue o two a call at their office on 01752 480808 for more information.

Canon S100 Powershot Review

2012-01-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

So after spending a lovely weekend helping David, Susie, Stuart and Chris get to grips with their underwater photography, it was time to make the fastest sprint in history to Manado, Indonesia to see Michel, my boyfriend. I only had 2 and a half days there, so naturally a part of that had to be spent diving and Cameras Underwater pulled out all the stops to lend me a Canon Powershot S100 to take on a test dip whilst over there.A few things really stood out for me, the build of Canon's own brand housing seemed a little sturdier and the traditional blue buttons had been changed for black ones. There was also a handy shortcut one touch video record button which I found incredibly useful for grabbing a lovely video of a seahorse. Lastly, the shutter button seemed faster than the S95 which is probably due to the larger sensor. As with the Canon S95, don't forget to carry an extra battery.You can read all about it on Sport Diver's website at

New Year Courses in London

2012-01-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

So as soon as I finished helping Susie and David get to grips with their underwater photography, it was time to head to London that night to help Stu and Chris get to grips with their Canon and Olympus cameras. It was a long night journey that saw me have a power snooze on the M1, but it was a lovely day helping them and seeing them learn so quickly. Once again I was blown away by photos before the course with Stuart showing me some stunning ones taken with just his Canon 110 Ixus using the camera's white balance. I lent him a Sea & Sea strobe for the afternoon's pool session so that he could see the difference that it would make to the textures of his photographs. They both had a lovely day and I was really touched that I received lovely emails from them letting me know that they had learnt a lot from the course. Simba had a really super time too exploring the surroundings!

Welcome to the New Year's U/W Photo Courses

2012-01-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Phew, what a New Year it has been and it has got off to a lovely start welcoming course guests back who were with me a few years ago and have upgraded their camera systems. The first weekend of the new year welcomed PADI's Project Aware Dive Show Competition winners, David Graham and Susie Lawrence to the Gomersal Park Hotel in Leeds for morning coffees and theory practice before moving onto the pool at Robin Hood Watersports for the afternoon session. We then coffee hopped again, finishing off the day for a nice pub lunch nearby going through their images. David was using a Sea & Sea 860G and Susie was shooting with a Sea & Sea D-1G and a YS-110 strobe. Susie's photos before the course were pretty incredible so I am really curious to see how she gets on now that she has mastered the art of her strobe.I had a lovely email from them both the next day saying how much they enjoyed the course and the slight detour around Yorkshire to find an afternoon pub! You can tell that I don't get out of my little flat very often on an evening!

Wishing you a lovely Christmas and New Year

2011-12-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

I really can't believe that another year has passed so quickly ... where on earth did it go to?So here is a special, special thank you to all my guests and to those who I have met travelling this year who have made it such a special year. I still can't believe how well my course guests have done with winning prizes, and another well done to Dave Baker, Dave Martin, Libby, Lin Henson, Ian Palmer, Alan Thomas and Daniel Norwood for doing such a sterling job!Wishing you all and your families a beautiful Christmas, a wonderful New Year and may 2012 bring you all you wish for and much, much more .... Can't wait to hear of all of your photo adventures already, so don't forget to look me up on Facebook and share them!See you in 2012!

Printing Your Photos On Canvas

2011-12-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

So in amongst the craziness of moving belongings from London to Yorkshire, ploughing through paperwork, sending out DVDs and books I also picked up a my beloved large format printer again so that I could get back to printing guests' photos onto canvas!And it didn't disappoint with a gorgeous dazzling 12 ink colour system to really bring out the vibrancy of my guests photos. Here are a few of the prints which I have made for guests as Christmas gifts ....And here is the comment from Graeme Lockwood on receiving his!"Maria, received my canvas prints of the zebra lionfish and the wonderpus and they are fantastic! I am delighted with the way they have turned out especially considering the 'quality' of my original pics, lol, many thanks"I've really loved making these and am looking forward to getting back into the studio to finish making Lisa's order all ready for the New Year!

Alan Thomas wins Sport Diver Photo of the Month

2011-12-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

I found this out on exactly the same day as my book started its journey across the pond to California! Alan Thomas wrote me a lovely email to say thank you for the advice which he picked up from my talk at the Dive Show at the Birmingham NEC in October and that it had helped him to win Sport Diver's Photo of the Month competition, taking it to Guest Number 6 and my third one this year! Unbelievable ....I will be posting the winning photograph of an octopus together with the letter that he wrote. Really am super touched and what a beautiful Christmas Gift ..... Thanks so much Alan for doing so amazingly well!

Underwater Photography Book heads to the USA

2011-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 13th December is also a day that I will never forget!Backscatter in Monterey, California, whom I met at DEMA, the Dive Industry's largest trade show in the world a few weeks earlier, called me to ask if I could send them 20 copies of my book urgently as they had sold out!That night was spent personally signing every copy for my new american friends across the pond and as good as gold, my UPS friends came the next day to take my bubble-wrapped box on its merry way to the USA in time for Christmas ....I also had a really exciting call from a dive magazine over there ... so looks like more will be happening on that horizon very soon!Can't wait to hear what is thought of my book over there! I'll keep you posted! :)

My DVD is finally ready for shipping!

2011-12-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

Friday 9th December will be a day that I will never forget! Not only was it the day that all my things were leaving Bromley in Kent to begin their long trek up to Yorkshire, but 100 copies of my DVD "Underwater Photography Made Easy for Compact Camera Users" had finally arrived!This project really touched me, it was super hard work writing, producing and filming it all in a matter of a few weeks, but Scubazoo really went flat out to help and do the very best that they could and despite all manner of things going wrong, it was really touching to receive this comment from Graham Bazley yesterday ..."Love the DVD. I suspect that i will wear the DVD out over the next 6 months. All your hard work has really paid off. I wish that I had this before my last Liveaboard. You have a really great natural presenting style that makes it so easy to watch. Thanks."Over £100 has already been raised for The School of Hope and the SEAS Project in Mabul ... and that has made me really happy!And one was sold on Christmas Day ... super touching to see that!

Underwater Photography Talk with Ocean Divers, Caterham, Surrey

2011-12-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

So the following week took me to see the lovely club of Ocean Divers at Warlingham, Surrey, where they meet at a gorgeous Spanish Restaurant called "La Bodegita". The place was packed and there were plenty of divers in amongst them upstairs waiting for me! I was really touched, lots of compact camera users and gorgeous Spanish food which I love ... the photos will be coming very soon.We ran a photo competition and Kate won with a gorgeous photograph of a cave with rays of light shining through it. I really love giving talks to Dive Clubs and can't wait for the next scheduled talk which will be nearer my home in Sheffield with Diveworld Sheffield on 29th January!A special thank you goes to Paul Davies, Matt Wright and all the lovely members of the club for making me feel so welcome. I'll be running an underwater photography course with them on 3rd March in Caterham, so if you are interested, just let me know!

Underwater Photography Course in Leeds at Gomersal Park Hotel

2011-12-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

So after another busy week catching up with paperwork and of course driving back from Wiltshire, it was time to help Ian and Paul with their underwater photography back in my Yorkshire home. And another new venue was on the menu today, the Gomersal Park Hotel! Paul Dobson was a returning guest, as so many guests this year have been. He brought with him a lovely Sony NEX-5 camera with a Fantasea Remora Strobe and got some fabulous results with it! Ian had with him a Canon Ixus and we had an absolute blast. The pool session was held at Robin Hood Watersports nearby and I bumped into my previous course guests who I had helped in London there! What a lovely surprise!Another really super day. Paul has already sent me some photos from his holiday to tell me how he has got on and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw them! I will post them on here as soon as I catch up with this blog!

Underwater Photography Course in Wiltshire

2011-12-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

So after teaching Hannah on Saturday in London, it was time to head straight down the M4 and teach the owner of a children's swim school how to get to grips with his Sealife 1200 Elite System. This camera can do an amazing job on auto mode just by itself, and he showed me some fabulous photographs taken with the camera's wide angle lens and strobe.I helped him to get to grips with the camera's manual settings and a lot of fun was had. So much fun in fact that I almost drowned trying to pose graciously underwater!I have a feeling that his business will be absolutely roaring after just a few hours helping him with his underwater photography. Check out these pictures!

Underwater Photography Course in London, November with Hannah and Tom

2011-12-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

So finally, I am getting time to catch up with my blog and what an amazing few weeks it has been since DEMA and finishing the DVD with Scubazoo in Malaysia.As soon as I got back it was time to head back down the M1 again to London to help Hannah get to grips with her Canon G12 Powershot. I had met Hannah at the Birmingham Dive Show and she was celebrating her 18th birthday.We had a lovely day with her father Tom at Amphibian Sports Dive Shop with the lovely team of James, Dee and Jody there in a newly decorated shop! We headed off to a private pool which is a less than 5 minute drive away and Hannah came back with these pictures on her first ever shoot just using the camera's built-in flash!I was really proud to see what she achieved in just a day and am looking forward to hearing how Hannah gets on in the future. Well done Hannah!

DVD Underwater Photography Made Easy for Compact Camera Users Update

2011-11-20T02:20:00.001-08:00

So after DEMA it was time to head straight back to Mabul and Sipidan to grab the final shots needed to complete the DVD. It was the longest journey ever in over 10 years of my passion of travelling the world's oceans. I flew back to London, drove up to Bradford some 6 hours with a sleep stop on the way. 20 mins to pack, 20 more minutes to get presents for the staff at Borneo Divers and then time to drive to Manchester airport before taking a flight to KL via Dubai .... Phew ....

It was a crazy 3 days but the weather was definitely on my side and we had absolutely flat calm conditions for the time I was there. Absolutely amazing! More photos of this will be on their way soon, or don't forget to check out my Facebook page.

It was then time to head back to KK to put the finishing touches to the DVD with the Scubazoo Team before heading back with the Master Copy (which sadly broke) on the way back .... :( .... so I am just waiting now for a new one via DHL.

A very, very special thank you to Borneo Divers and all of the staff there for their help in the project since the start. The DVD should be ready at the end of the first week in December with plenty of time to pop it in your Christmas Stocking!

DEMA - Orlando, Florida

2011-11-16T20:12:00.001-08:00

Then it was time to head off to DEMA with my booth. Phew was I nervous but it was really lovely to receive Clement Lee's message on Facebook when I arrived at Orlando airport that evening and really great to see Tourism Malaysia the following day. I moved into the Imaging Zone and it was great being able to help my friends over the pond master the art of their compact cameras too.

I bumped into lots of friends, course guests from my recent trip to Key Largo as well as attending an amazing Wetpixel/DivePhotoGuide party and seeing many friends from the UK dive industry.

New online courses were launched the overseas trips with Borneo Divers as well as courses at Dive Centres proved popular too.

I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Thanks to everyone who made me feel so welcome :)

Underwater Photography Course at Amphibian Sports - London

2011-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

A day later crazily designing promotion material for DEMA it was time to take the plastic fish for their monthly outing to Amphibian Sports at Crystal Palace in London to help Sharon master the art of her compact camera. It was really great seeing Dee and the team there again and bumped into Paul from Ocean Divers too ...

Don't forget that I can run underwater photography courses at your own club, so if you are interested, just let me know.

Evening Talk at Portsmouth Adventure Club

2011-11-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

This must have been the longest UK drive of my life - over 10 hours to get from Bradford to Portsmouth and no, I wasn't driving Thomas either ... Simba my beloved Golden Retriever was very poorly sick and had to keep stopping to look after him.

But we finally got there and it was amazing to see how many patient budding underwater photographers were waiting to hear my presentation. It was a fabulous night and we raised over £70 for Sea Shepherd.

If you would like me to come along and give a talk to your club to raise money for you favourite charity, just get in touch. All I need is a place to stay and I will be there.

A very special thank you to Graham for inviting me down there and to Claire and her parents for letting me and Simba stay that night.

Looking forward to seeing them all again next year for a diving adventure.

Dive Show NEC 2011

2011-11-16T19:45:00.001-08:00

Phew, it has been an absolutely crazy few months and finally today is my first day to be able to update my blog. Since returning from Key Largo I headed straight to Borneo Divers in Mabul, Malaysia to start work turning my award winning book into a DVD.

Then it was straight from there to the Dive Show in Birmingham where I took Thomas my new photo bus for his first outing to the show itself. It was an incredible weekend, and a very special thanks are due to Naomi, Dave, Rachel, Andreea and Sally for helping out. It was packed, four packed seminars and so much interest in Thomas himself.

Thank you to everyone for coming to see me there, you made the weekend very, very special and one that I will never forget.

Weekend Photo Workshop in Key Largo, Florida - 16-18 September

2011-08-20T01:45:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited at going back to Key Largo in Florida next month to join Christopher Parsons run his Nauticam Photography Weekend Workshop from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th September. Suitable for complete beginners with point and shoot cameras to those looking to develop their advanced skills using either housed compacts or SLR rigs, there will be something for absolutely everyone. Chris will be giving a series of lectures as well as talks on Lightroom and much, much more! I'll be there to help out from Thursday evening where we will meet for an informal briefing until Saturday afternoon, so if this is tickling your underwater tastebuds, then just get in touch with Chris at Nauticam USA. Check out the schedule on his website here

Have a great weekend and hope to see some of you there! It's gonna be a lot of fun :)

Lembeh Straits - Critter Paradise Underwater

2011-08-20T01:30:00.001-07:00

Please forgive me for the quietness on my blog the past week, after such a crazy year or few, I finally realised that I needed a little rest. So off I headed to Lembeh Straits to continue playing with Canon Powershot's S95. I knew that I was well on the way to falling in love with this camera whilst in Nuweiba during my recent photo workshop, but how would it cope with the really small stuff here in Critter Paradise.

Well, I absolutely loved it even more and for the first time there was no need to use my INON Close-Up Lens. The camera focused quickly and sharply on all the subjects shown here and apart from a little cropping, none of the attached images have been photoshopped.

I used the camera's underwater mode to capture the photograph of the mimic octopus, I was lucky enough to see 4 of these in just two days there. Lembeh Straits really is an amazing place for any underwater photographer to go and sample macro heaven and get those photos ticked off the wish list!

I'll be continuing to play with my INON close-up lens as well as stacking them this coming week, so stay tuned for more news.

Have a lovely weekend :)

Underwater Photography Talk with ProDiveScuba to raise money for RNLI in Hull, Yorkshire

2011-08-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have to say that it felt mighty strange going up the M62 to give a talk, but found something very familiar right at the end of it - a huge bridge that looked very similar to Dartfords! The talk was held in an amazing venue, none other than Home Farm's Premier Inn and I must say the food looked extremely lush!

There was a great turnout of around 60 guests, all keen beavers wondering which buttons to press to get fabulous results with their compacts. First we watched a fabulous video on the Farnes with the seals, and then ProDiveScuba's guests were presented with their achievements.

After my talk there was an absolutely brilliant game of Rock and Roll Bingo followed by prizes up for grabs by Beaver and Oceanic as well as a Chinese Meal for Two with all funds raised going towards the RNLI.

It really was a cracking night, and I'll definitely be back for another game of Rock and Roll Bingo and a cheeky dive too! Let's just hope that the M62 doesn't close at nighttime again like it did on the way home, it took me over 2 hours to get back .... A long drive home, but very well worth it :)

For more photos, do join my page on Facebook. Here is what Kim Rowan, the owner of ProDiveScuba said today. Thanks so much Kim, David, Dane, Sean and Steve for giving me such a lovely welcome and making me chuckle. Hope to see you soon! :)

Hi Maria, it was so lovely to meet you, and I would like to think you are now part of our diving family. As to the talk we found it to be a very informative and entertaining presentation, we have had extremely positive feedback from people all day and also mass disappointment from people who couldn't make it! We are very grateful to you to take the time to visit us at Pro-Dive Scuba in Hull and would strongly recommend you to any other club that is interested in learning more on DUP, you were so approachable and helpful to everyone.

Course Guests Try Out My New Studio in Shipley, Yorkshire!

2011-07-31T14:09:00.001-07:00

So today was the first day of opening the doors of my new studio in sunny Shipley in Yorkshire to welcome Colin Bannerman and his Olympus MJU 850 with his nano strobe from Lincolnshire. The sun was indeed out, not that it mattered too much as the pool is now below the studio, making everything lovely and easy. The kettle was on when Colin arrived, lots of time was spent reviewing his past photo memories, playing with settings before tucking into a homemade lunch! I have really missed making these the past 2 months whilst being on the road between homes :)

It was then time to meet the pool below. Phew, it was like walking into the warmest sauna you can imagine. The air temperature was a balmy tropical 37 degrees and the water temp was at least 32. No need for wetsuits at all here!

Colin had a fabulous time practicing with his camera. He came asking for advice about an upgrade as he wasn't getting great results using the camera's "auto" mode, but a few tweaks of the settings and he was soon taking beautiful, punchy, sharp photographs full of colour. The beauty of this location is that the pool on Sunday afternoon is there completely for guests, no danger of getting cold and lots of things to practice on including our resident crocodile called "Snappy!" Don't worry, he's not real!

The day was finished reviewing all the photographs and then it was time for cupcakes before Colin headed back to sunny Lincolnshire.

A really wonderful start to my new home base and can't wait to welcome Sue and her husband next Sunday for more of the same! :)

Just shows that simple waterproof cameras such as this one can take some really cracking shots!

Birthday Celebrations!

2011-07-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

It's my birthday and it really has been a really special few months which has seen me absolutely flat out and covering more miles than ever before to help compact camera users take beautiful underwater photographs. So it seemed only fair to enhance the personal touch and attention to detail that my underwater photography courses are famous for. Welcome Thomas, the world's first ever photobus. Originally known as "Dubby" he has travelled all the way from Southern California to help you take your skills to perfection at any dive site in the UK. Just click on the Photobus box lower down the page and see his spec! I'm really looking forward to meeting you all with him and sharing some specially baked cookies just for you :)

First UK Dive - Capenwray

2011-04-14T02:22:00.001-07:00

The sunshine has arrived, so it was off to Capenwray with Robin Hood Watersports to dip my toe into UK waters and brave 9 degrees! It definitely took me a while to get used my new "ice cream head" but once I was in, it was amazing. I was surrounded by a huge school of trout zooming in front of me, and it was really great to see so many wonderful things underwater to photograph. Alex and Carl played models and I nearly passed out laughing when I met Shergar underwater, just in time for the Grand National!

A new course has been announced for the weekend of 28th and 29th May, the 28th has already sold out and there are just four spots for the 29th, so if you are interested, just let me know!

Really looking forward to spending more time up north .....

London Dive Show, Excel 2011

2011-04-14T02:15:00.001-07:00

So it was all nerves for the London Dive Show as I picked up my Diver Award for Best Publication of the Year on the Friday night. I really was so scared at turning up! It was definitely one of the most amazing things that has happened and it was even more fabulous to share the moment with so many lovely colleagues and guests who visited me at the show. Thank you to everyone who came along to visit me and attended my talks. I'm even more exciting about helping you with your underwater photography than ever before.

Back to Raja Ampat with Papua Diving

2011-04-05T05:27:00.001-07:00

And so it was back to the place that I had fallen in love with and back to Raja Ampat in early March to do some preparation work for the London Dive Show, this time staying at a beautiful peaceful paradise island called Kri. I was lucky enough to be with Max Ammer, the pioneer of diving in Raja Ampat and he told me lots of incredible stories of this area.

The team were friendly and extremely helpful, there was even a British dive guide, Ross Pooley who is growing corals at Kri Eco Resort with the hope of helping the locals to grow their own and make an income, protecting the local reefs at the same time.

The dive sites of Sardines and Blue Magic completely blew me away with the quantities of fish that almost clouded the sunlight. It was macro heaven too with gorgeous pygmy seahorses being seen in Blue Magic also.

The beauty of Kri Island is that the endemic Epaulette Shark can be seen just off the pier, as well as a friendly resident turtle. Mandarin fish are on the jetty at Sorido Bay, making it the perfect place for a night dive.

If you are thinking of planning a trip to Raja Ampat, I definitely recommend a stay at this resort to take in the numerous wonderful dive sites that it offers.

Underwater Photography trip to Raja Ampat, Indonesia with Worldwide Dive and Sail

2011-01-23T02:56:00.000-08:00

What an amazing trip with 4 lovely guests from New York, DivePhotoGuide's Mr. Turtle, the cutest puppy called Max for 10 days of adventure with Pygmy SeaHorses, over 15 Wobblegong Sharks, Blacktip Reef Sharks and Magical Manta Rays! Worldwide Dive and Sail's Mandarin Siren proved to be a beautiful personal vessel taking just six people to experience the magic that Raja Ampat offers and the crew went over and beyond to offer a superb, personal service.

Special dive sites visited included the breathtaking area of Misool, the area of Dampier Strait to experience Cape Kri and the area of Miskon, as well as Citrus Ridge which blew me away! Night-dives included experiences with a Blue-Ringed Octopus and the range of both macro and wide-angle subjects were amazing. With so many species of fish and invertebrates and many of them unidentified still, it was extremely difficult to know exactly where to point a camera. One of my cameras in fact, passed out on Day Two at the shock of seeing so much marine life there to photograph!

Raja Ampat is definitely a top and well-deserved hot-spot for underwater photographers and I simply can't wait to get back there to capture more underwater magic.

So many thanks again to Worldwide Dive and Sail and all the crew for the most amazing time. Can't wait to see you all again!

Where on Earth Has the Time Gone Too!

2010-12-06T16:35:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone,

If you are still reading my blog, thank you so much! I am so sorry that I haven't posted for so long, I honestly don't know where the past few months has gone too, well almost half a year in fact! So much has been happening that I am going to post the key events in the next few days to give you all an idea as to what I have been up too! Book signing, giving talks for clubs, grabbing a hot new venue to teach underwater photography in Leeds and my dream came true to go to DEMA, America's largest trade show for divers, and was so proud to be on DivePhotoGuide's stand along with Wetpixel. A huge thank you to all of them for making me feel so welcome. Photos and guest news coming very, very soon.

Scuba Show - Long Beach, California

2010-05-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

So it was time for me to finally be a complete tourist at a Dive Show and head off to see my very much missed Sunny Friends in the Sunshine State of California in Long Beach to coincide with the Dive Show there at the same time. What an event! It was great to see so many people there despite the clouds. I felt really honoured to finally meet two huge inspirations of mine at the event, Stan Waterman and Annie Crawley. Stan looked absolutely amazing and felt very humbled to see and hear of his experiences filming the oceans. Annie too has achieved an incredible amount and has so much drive and enthusiasm which is completely infectious. She has launched a range of DVDs in conjunction with Save Our Seas Foundation to help children understand and appreciate the ocean. Vist her website at www.diveintoyourimagination.com to buy them yourselves and to see her incredible work. I left feeling re-energised and even more inspired than ever before ........

Amazing what a Canon Ixus can do!

2010-05-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

So here I am finally catching up on all my news from the past couple of months. What a hugely busy month it has been. Debbie Rayne and her friend George came on a course and another great day was had by them. It was Debbie's first time taking a camera underwater and she had a Canon Ixus 100 with just the Canon housing itself. Simply using the built-in flash achieved this picture! Absolutely incredible and just goes to show what just the camera in the housing can do by itself .....

Day out at the Blue Reef Aquarium

2010-05-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Patrick Shier, the writer for Above 18 metres from Sport Diver magazine, kindly invited me and David and Stephen along to the Blue Reef Aquarium for a different day out of photography. David and Stephen took to the aquarium like ducks to water and struggled to get them out of the tank! The weather was really good to us as well making a fantastic day out for everyone. Patrick also teaches scuba diving when he is not writing for the magazines, so visit his website at www.exclusivelyscuba.co.uk for more information.

Talk for BSAC Sutton Coldfield to help the RNLI

2010-04-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

Finally recovered from losing my voice for a whole week since the Dive Show and I was fortunate that it came back in time for me to catch the train up to Birmingham to give a talk for this wonderful club. What a fantastic time I had with Hannah's family and her niece, grabbing more Easter Eggs en route to the talk and even had a bit of Tinkerbell Time!!!

It was great meeting Jill and Tony from the RNLI who gave up their evening to help raise money there. Once again there was a huge variety of pocket rockets in the audience with some wonderful photos being shared.

I look forward to seeing yours very soon. Just two weeks to go and I'll be taking some of my own again - yeahhhh :) :) :)

New Dive Trip to Raja Ampat Announced!

2010-04-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

I was so, so chuffed that my friend who owns Worldwide Dive and Sail asked me to lead a trip with them to Raja Ampat in January on their gorgeous new vessel, the Mandarin Siren which will look similar to the Siren pictured here. The trip will depart Sarong on 8th January and we will be exploring some of the most biodiverse underwater scenery on our planet for the next 10 days. Their new boat promises to be just as superb, if not, more superb than the rest and holds just 8 passengers. The price for 10 days is just 2,750 euros. There is even an onboard Masseuse! Visit their website at www.worldwidediveandsail.com for more details. I can't wait :) :) :)

London Dive Show - Excel 27th/28th March

2010-04-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how much has gone on recently and I have only just found the time now to play catch-up.

It was fab as always to see everyone at the show and to see so many friends and new friends-to-be! Thanks to everyone who came to visit and to Lydia and Andy from Sharkstooth Scuba for helping me to set up. I'm looking forward to helping you with your underwater photography more than ever! :) :) :)

Underwater Photography Day with George and Debbie

2010-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day it was, as is every day teaching here at my home. Even though the home-made bread didn't quite live up to its' expectations, both George and Debbie had double desserts to make up for it when they got out of their long pool session! Here are a couple of Debbie's first ever shots just using her Canon Ixus 100 in its' Canon Housing for the very first time. I was seriously impressed!

DiverSE - BSAC South Eastern Region Conference in Guildford

2010-04-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Phew, time for another talk and two trips to Guildford within a fortnight, via Leeds where I was teaching the day before at ROHO!!! Despite feeling very rough with bronchitis, I made it over to the University there and yet again it was an absolutely fantastic event, absolutely packed and full of lots of great stalls.

It was wonderful seeing my really good friend Darren from Sea Shepherd and hearing about their new launch of organic t-shirts ad ladies wear. The new clothes are absolutely gorgeous. Do visit the Sea Shepherd Online UK Website to have a look. You will be very impressed I promise.

Blue Reef Aquarium - Hastings

2010-04-07T13:16:00.001-07:00

Time for a change of scenery and many thanks to my lovely friends Patrick Shier and his wife Debra for taking me down to Hastings and giving a couple of my guests the time of their lives diving in the aquarium. It was a really brilliant day and both David and Steve were over the moon with the encounters that they had. For those of you who think that Patrick's name sounds familiar, he is a regular contributor to Sport Diver Magazine, creating the original Above 18m column. His book is due out soon and for more info or to contact Patrick, visit www.exclusivelyscuba.co.uk

Talk for Diving Dreams in Guildford, Surry

2010-04-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how many lovely clubs have invited me to give talks at their clubs and a few weeks ago at the beginning of March, it was time to head off to Sunny Guildford to give a talk at Gary's club, Diving Dreams. It was a really fabulous night with £120 raised for the Scuba Trust and Cherry won herself a Manta Ray Photo on Canvas. It was also her birthday, making the print even more special and deserved! Thanks again to Gary for inviting me and for more information visit his website at www.divingdreams.co.uk.

Talk for DAGSAC, BSAC Club in Dagenham

2010-02-25T03:17:00.001-08:00

And so last week it was off to Dagenham to reunite with a couple of course guests, Rob and Richie and to meet their club members to give a talk on "Creating Magic Photos with Your Compact". It was brilliant to see everyone there and even the non-divers really enjoyed the talk. £100 was raised for the RNLI which was fantastic and left there feeling really happy :) and I was given flowers, aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh ......

Talk at East Midlands Underwater Photography Group

2010-02-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

Busy, busy, busy and it was time to escape London and head up to Stoney Cove where I was kindly invited by Robb Cuss of the East Midlands Underwater Photography Group. Sam and Mike were absolutely fab in taking me around some beautiful countryside, filled me up with a lovely dinner at Nemo's Bar, before nearly passing out at the turnout there for people to come and listen to the talk. A special thank you to all who came and sorry that I didn't have time to talk to anyone and had to rush off home. Thanks too to Sam and Mike for looking after me. It was really, really awesome and was touched to say that it was the best turnout that Rob had had this year - until I realised that it was still only January!!!

Smallest Person Ever on my Course!

2010-02-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

What a busy, busy couple of weeks it has been! Since Alison and Mike graced their way back to sunny Scotland, I have met so many amazing guests during the past few weeks. Howard and Catherine came to spend a day with me to learn about their Canon Powershot and Canon Ixus with Inon Set-Up. They also brought along the smallest student that I have ever had on my course - in fact she is of course a memory stick :) They had a fantastic day as did John Brodie with his Fuji the following day pictured here with Lisa and struggled to get him out of the pool. He made this smashing portfolio and spent the next morning honing his photoshop techniques to make a cracking portfolio. We were all chuffed to bits with it and Lisa really extra chuffed with the retail therapy that she had in nearby Bluewater Shopping Centre whilst John was busy studying the course! Two more PADI Digital Underwater Photo Students passed with flying colours - hurrah!!!! :)

Well done Libby!

2010-01-21T01:52:00.000-08:00

Libby came on my workshop to Nuweiba last year. She emailed me on Monday to say that she was placed as joint runner-up in Bristol's Underwater Photography Group with this wonderful picture of two ribbon eels. She shoots with a Canon Ixus and a Sea & Sea Strobe. Well done Libby!

Happy Snowy New Year! :)

2010-01-07T16:39:00.001-08:00

Big snowy wishes to you all and here's wishing you a wonderful year ahead full of fishtastic diving and amazing photo opportunties. I never thought my garden would look so scenic or that Simba would enjoy eating the snow!

Despite the snowy start to the year, Alison and Mike from an even snowier Edinburgh still came down by plane for their course on Tuesday. We spent a wonderful day together until gone past 7 pm sharing conservation experiences and before they knew it, it was snowing again. I took them their diving equipment all dried out the following day ready for their flight back to Edinburgh and we all ended up trying to push the taxi out of the snow over a speed hump from the Sundridge Park Manor.

What an adventure! But there was more to come. Their flight ended up being de-iced on the runway itself when all the other flights from London City had been cancelled. Fortunately, they returned to Edinburgh last night safe and sound and exhilerated from a wonderful day. So enthusiastic, they've just emailed me to say that they are already playing with their cameras up in the snow!

I'm already excited about helping you all in 2010 so just get in touch to help you take beautiful underwater and overwater photographs :)

Wishing you all a Wonderful Christmas and New Year!

2009-12-17T12:48:00.000-08:00

What an amazing year it has been, two more guests won Sport Diver's Photo of the Month, one made it to the final of the BSAC Amateur Travel Photographer of the Year Award, one on the cover of Scottish Diver, one in UWP, another in Diver and London Diver and two overseas competition places too! Phew ...... Well done all of you!

Unfortunately, I have had to pull out of Greenwich Market due to my old injuries being aggravated by the cold which left me unable to walk, so please forgive me. Just drop me an email at maria@oceanvisions.co.uk

Don't forget to check out the new Online Shop and sign up before the end of the year to receive your discount.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you all in 2010.

Happy Christmas Snapping :)

Come and Visit Greenwich Market every Sunday

2009-11-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

Even though it was raining, it was great being back at The Artists Quarter at Greenwich Market on Sunday. Despite the weather, the aisles were packed in the morning and it was great meeting so many kids and bigger kids who loved Sharks and the Ocean. I'll be there this Thursday, 3rd and then on every Friday and Sunday up until Christmas. Come and see how your own images will look beautiful on crystal. Hope to see some of you there.

Daniel Norwood wins BSOUP Best Beginner 2009

2009-11-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

I nearly passed out last night when my one day course guest Daniel Norwood won the British Society of Underwater Photographer's Prestigious Best Beginner of 2009 with this amazing portfolio. He shot the pictures using a Fuji F50 and an Inon Fisheye Lens as well as a Sea & Sea YS 110 Strobe. The pictures were mainly taken in Bali apart from the ribbon eel which was taken in Sipidan and the whale shark was taken in Western Australia. A whale sized well done Dan, looking forward to seeing more of your photos ...... Don't forget to come along to BSOUP on the third Wednesday of every month at the Imperial College at the Natural History Museum in London, they have amazing monthly talks and it is great to see everyone and get inspired. Look forward to seeing you there .....

Visions in the Sea Underwater Photography Festival

2009-11-18T06:07:00.000-08:00

The annual Visions in the Sea Event proved to be an absolute class event for anyone wanting to learn about underwater photography at all levels. Inspiring talks were given by Martin Edge, Charlie Hood and my great mentor Cathy Church from the Cayman Islands with Orca Divers and Ocean Optics being fantastic hosts. The Shark Trust were there and it was fabulous to see Ali and John and to have a chance of a catch-up! A huge whale-sized well done to the winners of the Underwater Photography Competition there, especially to CJ Moran who scooped the Young Underwater Photography Prize. His picture here is absolutely incredible and a real inspiration to show that anyone of any age can take cracking pictures with a compact camera!

Daniel Norwood wins Sport Diver Photo of the Month!

2009-11-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

Course Guest Number Three, Dan, emailed me at the weekend to say that he has won this month's "Photo of the Month" with Sport Diver. His photos are absolutely mind-blowing and I was so proud! He took this photo with a Fuji F50 and a Sea and Sea YS 110 Strobe. Just shows you what a punch these little pocket rockets can do!

Miss Piggy Goes for a Dip!

2009-11-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a lovely day spent with a complete beginner who wasn't even a diver who wanted to learn how to take photos of babies underwater. Unfortunately, as I didn't have a baby to hand, the only option was my Piggy Hot Water Bottle! So out came the lavender in the middle and in went a lead weight! It worked a treat and made for some excellent photos .....

Sea Shepherd Event - 31st October - HMS Belfast

2009-11-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

What a fabulous event! Paul Watson gave an inspiring talk on what we need to continue to do to be able to save our oceans and the work of Sea Shepherd this winter. The event was absolutely packed and met some amazing people and really inspired me to get back to the sea next year and continue to do what I love .... watch this space!

Talk for the Rotary Club in Bromley, Kent

2009-11-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

I was kindly asked by my local Rotary Club to give a talk to them on my work. I decided not to bore them with f stops and bus stops, but instead to give a talk on my experiences and encounters with each animal, including grizzly bears in Alaska. They are an amazing bunch and was so chuffed to be able to spend some time with them. A kind donation was made to The Scuba Trust which was brilliant to be able to give to Gill.

Dive Show Birmingham

2009-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic show! It is always great to be able to catch-up and hear how well course guests are doing, but it was also very humbling to see so many people queuing up for my talks on both days and even stand outside in the hallways trying to hear what I was saying .... For any of you reading this who were there, THANK YOU! It was great to see so many friends in the industry, The Underwater Channel were filming there, Mark and Gayle Addison who always inspire so many people with their shark adventures in their home of South Africa, Sea Shepherd, British Society of Underwater Photographers, The Shark Trust, Biteback, The Scuba Trust and so the list goes on ..... A special thank you to the London Diving Chamber who without their constant help and support, none of this quite simply would not have been possible. Check out my Ocean Visions Page on Facebook for more pictures ....

Giant Kelp Forests with Catalina Divers

2009-10-27T09:26:00.001-07:00

So, stranded in LA, California, turned out to be a blessing in disguise to experience the wonderful kelp forests in this gorgeous island. It reminded me a little bit of living in the Keys with its quaint buildings. Eric from Catalina Divers and Wade proved to be excellent models and it surpassed all of my expectations by far. I'm now addicted to this part of the world, it was so great to catch up with friends there and realised how much I missed living in the States. I'm now really looking forward to exploring the Channel Islands and more of the world-class diving that California offers...... I'm in love with those Garibaldis :)

Catching Up With Friends in Mounu Island, Tonga

2009-10-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry, sorry, sorry for all of the delays with me. I have spent the last couple of months working as hard as usual and spending time with very missed friends who I hadn't seen since before I came back to England 5 years ago. Firstly I went to see Allan and Lynn at their spectacular resort of Mounu Island in Vauva'u, Tonga, South Pacific to swim with my beloved humpback whales. Although the weather was more like winter in England, it was an amazing experience and shared it with some wonderful people. Allan and Lynn pioneered the first ever swim with the whale project down there and are deeply passionate about the conservation of these wonderful animals. If you are ever passing down that way, do go and visit them. They will give you far more than just a homely welcome and their dog is just the cutest ..... On a sad note an amazing underwater photographer, Tony Wu, found a humpback whale caught in a fishing net down there and sadly the whale died. Visit his website at www.tonywu.com to see more of this amazing work and photographs.

Basking in the Shark Sunshine in Cornwall

2009-06-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me well enough knows very well of my humongous fear of my dry-suit in the UK, but when I heard that the Basking Sharks were in town, there was no time to hang around! A 7 hr trek to Penzance on Monday and little sleep was all worth it to meet Charles Hood from Dive Magazine and his Rib Logan. It was a wonderful sunny day and indescribable how awesome it was to be back on the sea. I felt like I was abroad, the beaches down there are divine. Two hours later, the first sighting was made of a large adult Basking Shark, and I was ready to pass out in shock. It came round and round Logan, circling again and again. I crept in the water and the temperature was a tropical 15 degrees, far warmer than Alaska! We saw about 8 that day with reports by fisherman saying that they had seen up to 40 that morning. I felt completely humbled and so fortunate to see these wonderful creatures so close. It is a memory that I will never forget and definitely one of the best underwater experiences ever. For more information visit www.charleshood.com or if you fancy a trip down there.

Canon Ixus and Fuji Finepix Underwater Photo Day

2009-05-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

What a blast we all had! Sian, Michaela and Keith who visited me at the London Dive Show were really looking forward to the course and I was looking forward to showing them the new pool additions. And it worked! A fantastic time was had by all, their photos improved beyond belief and all were really confident in using the different buttons to get really creative underwater photographs. Michaela even attempted a split level shot of Keith's foot! The Fuji F100 has a nice white square to remind you how much of your frame you need to fill when calibrating the white balance which is a nice touch and the macro mode on the camera is great.

My First Holiday in Five Years to Indonesia

2009-05-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

The great team of Eco-Divers kindly asked me to visit Indonesia after saying how much I needed a change from the Red Sea. My journey took me first to KBR, Kunkunghan Bay Resort as well as a newly managed resort of Kima Bajo near the Bunaken Marine Park. Both settings are the perfect places for anyone new in Underwater Photography to learn, with the setting matching a perfect 10 days of picture making and the world-renowned critters were on their best behaviour. Tim and Takako pictured here were wonderful hosts at KBR as well as Luca and Miho in Kima Bajo. See the gallery page on my website for photos taken from here. The sunsets were absolutely divine. I will be running an underwater photography trip there next year and am already really looking forward to getting back :)

Nikon Coolpix 5100 with Dean Hill

2009-05-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I finally got a look at the new Nikon Coolpix in a Fantasea Housing complete with wide-angle lens. The nice thing about this set-up is the ability of it's full manual controls so that users can change both the aperture and the shutter speed independently of each other. Fantasea also make both close-up and wide-angle lenses to put on the front of the camera which is nice. The housing is quite robust but of course those clips are not at all nail-friendly for us girls! However, it is a nice piece of kit and produced some really nice, sharp results. This is a picture taken by Dean on the day of our resident Nemo to see what you think.

A Fantastic Night at BSOUP with Colin Doeg and Peter Scoones

2009-05-23T11:13:00.001-07:00

A trip back to the days of when underwater photography first started was a real joy to watch by everyone who attended BSOUP last month in May. Colin Doeg and Peter Scoones the founders of the British Society of Underwater Photographers, as well as their friends, entertained and astonished everyone there with incredible tales of how they used to take their underwater images as well as their diving equipment. Phenomenal was a complete understatement and I left feeling extremely humbled by being able to learn of their incredible encounters to capture breathtaking images.

PADI Digital Photo Speciality Day in Leeds

2009-05-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

And today was not only a special PADI Digi Photo Speciality Day but it was also Denny's surprise birthday! Little known to her, Frank had made an underwater birthday cake all set with candles which went down an absolute treat! I love being back in Yorkshire where I used to live and am looking forward to getting back up there in June .......

Biggest Pizza in My Life at Dahab!

2009-05-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

I met a lovely group of Solo Travellers whilst staying at the Bedouin Moon recently and encountered the largest pizza that I had ever seen in my life! The diving in Dahab was brilliant and the photos that I got from the Canyon were spectacular as well as the chilled out atmosphere of the place in general. Highly recommended for anyone to go diving there and the Bedouin Moon was fantastic.

Finally, finally time to Blog Catch-Up!

2009-05-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone,

So sorry that I haven't had time to blog for such a long time, things have just been too chaotic and trying to take my first holiday in 5 years made me fall even more behind! Firstly, it was so great seeing everyone at the Dive Show and thanks to Ganesh and Richard Norbury for coming and taking a piccie of me there. I also scooped BSAC's Travel Photographer of the Year Award which was great. So many guests came up to tell me just how much my courses are helping them, which is really great news.

Fuji Makeover Day

2009-04-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

So last week was a Fuji Day and Ken Pike came over to visit me with his brand new little Fuji. On looking through the scene modes I had a look and found an interesting one which promised to give me more natural tones and to take away my sun blemishes! This has to be far cheaper than creams and was astounded when Ken pushed the button to take a photo of my mugshot before and after and it worked! The disappointing factor of the Fuji F100 is that you can't add on a wide-angle lens, but the macro shots that you can obtain with it are unbelievable.

Blue Reef Aquarium in Hastings

2009-03-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

An offer to clean a shark tank can't be refused, and off I went with the kind invitation of Patrick Shier of Exclusively Scuba to go and help down in Hastings. It was an absolutely beautiful sunny day, and the staff were absolutely brilliant. There were four little reef sharks in there and it was great to see how well looked after they really are. A special thanks to the Team at Blue Reef, George, Emma and Patrick pictured here.

Another Funny Canon and Fuji Mix Day

2009-02-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Dave and Pete came back to complete their course last Tuesday evening, having finally got to grips with all the new controls that their new cameras had given them! Before getting in the water, needless to say, they needed to re-sign their forms. Only thing was that I had forgotten to change the printer settings and the forms came out 46 inches wide!!! It took us all 15 minutes to stop laughing before getting in the pool! :)

They both did a cracking job and finished with some brilliant shots .....

Shark Day for Sian!

2009-02-22T14:27:00.001-08:00

Apologies for the delay in keeping up-to-date with the blog, life is way busy at the moment trying to be in three places at once. Sian came to see me last Sunday with her new camera, a Canon Ixus and little did I know that Sian has a fabulous passion for our sharky friends as well. Raising money for Biteback and Sea Shepherd in her spare time, I couldn't wait to introduce her to my plastic sharks underwater, and needless to say they were on their best behaviour and she loved them! She got on really well, and am looking forward to seeing how she gets on in her future trip to Sharm :)

Fuji Photo Course Day - F40 and F50!

2009-02-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

And today was the day to put my Fuji Hat back on for Kevin and John's visit to my studio to help them with their underwater photography. Kevin was stuck in Auto Underwater Mode (but doing a very good job with some beautiful composition shots taken with his Inon Wide Angle Lens) and John was stuck in Manual White Balance mode, but again doing a sterling job with some wonderful shots there.

They were on a three hour fast-track course and whizzed through the explanations of the different settings before getting into a much warmer pool to try out their new skills! John had a fantastic time playing with the ray whilst Kevin took some cracking up, close and personal shots of Mr Lionfish and his long lashes! They both progressed really nicely and confident in their new skills that will be going UK diving very soon to try them all out. Well done!

Canon Photo Course Day - The New G10 Revealed!

2009-02-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

And what a cracking little camera this new Powershot from the Canon Range it is! George Moss visited me today to ask for my help in getting to grips with the many functions that this camera has as the 300 plus page manual had overwhelmed him! Never one to refuse a challenge, all was mastered within 2 and a half hours and George was happily playing around with his settings, feeling very confident in how exactly this little camera was thinking.

Time to get in the pool and again this camera did not disappoint. The focusing was excellent for close-up photography, the screen was larger than it's predecessor, the G9, and made it really nice to see underwater when reviewing images, punchy colours, and a great all round camera. The only disappointment for me is that, like it's little brother the G9, it is impossible to fit a wide angle lens on the front of the camera's housing..... But of course for the thousands upon trillions of nudibranch lovers out there, of course is wide angle lens is not necessary for great underwater photographs of these little guys!

Fantastic camera, George loved it, and here is a photo of my stingray! The beautiful turtle shot was also taken by George with his old Sony Cybershot with a red filter, just shows that gorgeous shots can be achieved with these older point & shoots. It's a real cracker of a shot!

Happy Snapping Everyone :)

London Diving Chamber Lectures - Royal Geographical Society

2009-02-07T02:31:00.000-08:00

Every year the London Diving Chamber holds a fantastic evening of talks at the Royal Geographical Society. This year they had 460 year's worth of diving combined with Alex Hildred, archaeologist on the Mary Rose and tales of Tim Ecott's adventures, the author of Neutral Buoyancy. This event is held in support of the Scuba Trust - a charity devoted to giving people with physical disabilities an equal opportunity to experience the pleasure and excitement of scuba diving and the underwater world.

Last Thursday the place was packed, keenly listening to the tales and adventures of two fantastic speakers and seeing some wonderful video and photographs. Jules Eden from EMed gave a fantastic introduction as always and it was great to see all of the London Diving Chamber Team there and The Scuba Trust. £775 was raised for a brilliant cause and thank you to everyone who came that evening. It was great seeing you all and hope that you all got home safely in the snow.

My First Success in an Underwater Photography Competition

2009-02-02T14:48:00.001-08:00

And it was with my 2 year old Fuji Finepix compact camera with an Inon Fisheye Lens on Automatic Underwater Mode which won the Bronze Medal in the hugely popular competition run by Underwater Photography.com competing with over 12,500 entries to scoop the third place in the Natural Light Category. The photograph was taken in Nuweiba (shown below of the pier) on last year's Photo Workshop with Emperor Divers, which is where David Kittos' photograph was also taken.

The date has just been confirmed for my next Photo Workshop there to help all of you take award winning photographs which is 22nd June for 7 nights on an all-inclusive basis at the Coral Hilton Hotel, so if you fancy lots of fantastic photo opportunities for a week as well as a day's diving in Dahab at their famous sites, just let me know. Have a peek on the Gallery Page for an insight as to the photo opportunities that await you. The trip is run in association with Emperor Divers and the Travel Agent for whom to book with is the award winning Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel. Drop me an email for more information.

Sport Diver Magazine - February 2009

2009-02-02T14:44:00.001-08:00

Yes, it arrived on my doorstep and it seemed really strange opening it and seeing my cookie jar with a stuffed leopard shark on top being featured in an article by Martin Bruce and Patrick Shier from Sport Diver Magazine. I really don't like reading about myself in articles, but it was lovely to see how well Patrick has been doing with his photography on his recent trips to the Red Sea. The evening courses have proved particularly popular since the article came out, and my brownies and famous lemon cake are proving even more popular! :)

Talk for the Metropolitan Police, New Scotland Yard, London

2009-02-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

I was extremely touched (and very nervous) at being asked to give a talk where I used to work for the Metropolitan Police at their Headquarters in London on 7th January. There was a really great turnout and after a few hiccups with my new laptop, all ran very smoothly. It was absolutely superb to be back and made me miss my old job there :(

Many thanks to Ian, Chanon, Steve, Jane, Kim, Zoe & Ben for their help in making this event so special and a special thanks to David for the invitation to go diving with the Met down in Portland. Just need the weather to warm up first!!! :)

David Kittos is Another Winner!

2009-02-02T14:31:00.001-08:00

So, huge apologies for not keep up-to-date with my blog, I came down with that horrid bug that was flying around and as much as us girls can be good multi-taskers, there has simply been too much going on. So here is a huge rundown of what has been going on over the past few weeks.

First I was extremely proud that David Kittos won January's Photo of the Month in Sport Diver magazine with this beautiful shot of a lionfish. He worked extremely hard throughout the week to improve his photography and even said that the Photo Workshop which I ran in September in Nuweiba, Egypt was the best one that he had been on! A very well-deserved winner and look forward to seeing how he gets on in the future.

Underwater Photography Competition Winner!

2008-11-18T15:39:00.001-08:00

I was really touched to find out that one of my guests Jason Starmer had come second in the Newcomber's Section in last month's BSAC Travel Club Photo Competition. I was even more astonished to find out that I had also come second in the same monthly competition, but in the Professional Category. Not only this, but the very same picture of this beautiful pier also won the 'Underwater Photography' Monthly Competition with UnderwaterPhotography.com. And the icing on the cake was that another one of my guests, Dave Hayden's photograph of a beautiful whale shark in the Galapagos was on BSAC's website last month as well. Well done Dave and Jason! As for me, well I'm completely speechless ......

Greenwich Market 8/9 November

2008-11-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

What a lovely weekend it was down at Greenwich Market in London, despite the raindrops. It was a real inspiration to see all my friends from the Artists Section down there, Maria, Jimmy, Charlie, John, Claire, Claire, Kim and Michael. And we even had Margaritas - thanks John for those! I'll be down there every Sunday from now until Christmas, so if you are free and in the area, do pop down and say hello - it will be great to see you :)

Dive Show NEC, 1/2 November 2008

2008-11-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Phew, what a fabtastic time we all had! It was really, really lovely to see lots of lovely guests who had already been on the courses, together with lots of new ones that couldn't wait to sign up! I just wish that I had more time to spend chatting to everyone - definitely time to clone myself! I'm really sorry for those who wanted to talk more, and promise for those that did, just let me know and I'll call you right back and help you with your underwater adventures. Many thanks to Beverley, Janette and Rachel here from Divequest who helped me out on Saturday. Well done on all of you who entered the competition to guess which photo was taken with a compact camera. It was a very tough one and the results will be announced very shortly ......