(3-minute read)
I left the country for the first time! My first stop, Dumaguete, Philippines. I was invited by Marty Synderman to join the Atlantis ImageMakers and stay at the Atlantis Dumaguete Dive Resort to focus on developing my underwater photography skills.
Here I was able to enjoy unique dive sites, meet amazing divers and staff, get bitten by clownfish a few times, and finally get my camera gear in the water. It was the perfect way to start my scholarship year!
After numerous delayed flights, gate changes, and hours of travel (and an outrageous lack of sleep) I found myself in a tropical haven. I arrived at the resort at night and when I woke up in the morning, I experienced gentle greetings and my favorite color green everywhere!
The following day I was eager to get into the water because I knew it would be so warm and full of life. I didn’t even know the names of most of the sea life on this side of the Pacific but it didn’t matter. I took out my camera and I was ready to go..sort of…kind of…not really.
Prior to the scholarship, I had little to no experience with underwater photography. The main goal of this trip was for me to develop my skills and essentially be a sponge, soaking up knowledge from the professional photographers within the Atlantis ImageMakers, and I did exactly that!
Using such a big camera system was a bit intimidating at first but I slowly, but surely, began getting the hang of it and actually got a lot of pictures I am proud of!
It is a bit of a learning curve with exposure, aperture, shutter speed, and a whole bunch of other camera lingo in consideration, but I had a lot of fun exploring all the different ways to take a photo. I even experimented with different video settings!
The days here were busy with 2-4 dives a day and I got to see a mind-blowing amount of marine life. So many different species of coral, fish, nudibranchs, shrimps, and more! I loved how brightly colored all the animals were and was constantly swimming over to the dive guide to ask what something was. I finally understand all the hype about coral reefs– the ones here are so vibrant and healthy!
On the last day before everyone went their separate ways, we all got to visit Oslob, Cebu and snorkel with whale sharks! This was my first time ever seeing whale sharks and it was amazing!!!! I am really interested in shark-human interactions, especially when it comes to ecotourism, so it was really cool to participate in it. However, it definitely left me with a lot of questions. Before going, I read a National Geographic article about this island specifically and you can read the article here.
It was an interesting read and had me thinking about all the pros and cons of shark ecotourism. I am hoping this year I can see or experience more instances like this so I can learn more about it and better understand.
As I am off to my next adventure, I know that the Philippines covered a lot of my firsts when it came to traveling and exploring the underwater world, and it will always have a special place in my heart because of that.
Thank you so much to Marty Snyderman for inviting me to this beautiful place and providing me with the opportunity to learn more about underwater photography. The 2023 Atlantis ImageMakers really appreciate it!
Thank you to the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and our sponsor Rolex for making this scholarship experience a possibility. I would also like to thank Reef Photo and Video, Nauticam and Light and Motion for my underwater camera setup as well as Aqualung, Fourth Element, Suunto, Halcyon, and DUI for my diving equipment.
