The Latest from Raak Bottom Imaging

Captain’s Report: October 5th 2018

Posted on by Andrew

Captain’s Report: October 5th 2018

Watch the latest Captain’s Report to hear all about the latest diving news, conditions, and events going on offshore of South Carolina…

If you’re interested in diving the newest wreck offshore South Carolina then contact Express Watersports for more information.  We hope to have this ship wreck prepared and sunk early next spring just in time for the Summer Dive Season of 2019.

You can help support this Project by donating to the GoFundMe account and help us reach our goal of $20,000

Click Here to connect with the Chris Chong Memorial Reef Fund

Tips and Tricks: Understanding Aperture and Depth of Field

Posted on by Andrew

What is Aperture?

Aperture can easily be explained as the size of the shutter that opens on the camera.  Even easier to understand, how big the “hole” opens that lets light into the camera.  The camera’s digital display expresses aperture in numbers prefaced with the letter “f”.  A large aperture is expressed with a small number like f/2.8, where a small aperture is expressed with a large number such as f/22.  Using different apertures will allow a shooter to gain creative control over their images.  Many inexpensive point and shoot cameras have limited ranges of apertures, which is why photographers will graduate to DSLRs to gain a wider use of camera functionality.

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Read about this Week’s Creature Feature: Mandarinfish

Posted on by Andrew

Creature Feature: Mandarinfish

This week’s Creature Feature is on the popular Indo-Pacific fish, the Mandarinfish. These fish stand out as a highlight on many diver’s wish lists, and never disappoint when discovered. My favorite time to interact and photograph these fish is right before sunset. At dusk these animals pair off and preform a quick dash/dance above the reef before mating.  One of the best photographic dives I have ever been to was in the Lembeh Straits of Indonesia, diving with Critters@Lembeh.

Photography Tip:

When photographing a small shy critter at night I find it best to have a red focus light to improve the cameras ability at obtaining a crisp sharp image. Many marine creatures are unable to see the red wavelength of light, so when used to allow you camera to focus, the creature will not be startled. The camera’s strobes will wash away the red light, so no need to worry about having a red image.

Gear Recommendation:

Kraken 3500 WSRU, Kraken 5000 WSRU, Sola 1200 Photo

Want to improve your underwater Digital Development?  Try Adobe Lightroom and enroll in my next tutorial course!

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Saba: Pound for Pound a Great Destination

Posted on by Andrew

Don’t Read So Good?! Click Here to Watch a Video to See What Your Missing

Come Dive Saba with Raak Bottom Imaging September 26th – October 3rd 2020 – Click Here to Sign Up!

Sports enthusiasts are always debating on whom the best athletes are of all time. Basketball has their great stars such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal. Boxing enthusiasts have their favorite fighters Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather. Even more complex are baseball arguments attempting to compare greats players of today vs. the athletes prior to the “steroid era.” Often arguments are flawed when comparisons are made from athlete to athlete, simply because they played their sports in different eras, different positions, or under different rules. However, greatness can never be ignored, and champions are remembered throughout time. Diving is not much different. We have our greats, our legendary dive locations, top live a boards vessels, one of a kind wrecks, and still we debate over where the best diving is in the world. After diving many places around the globe, Saba is pound for pound the best dive island in the Caribbean.

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