Well, I'm home. I'm pretty good at changing gears but I found it impossible to get excited about all the snow in Vancouver. I'm about to go out and walk in it, so maybe that will change my mind, but my head is still underwater.

Here are some shots from my Christmas Vacation. I hope you like them.


Anessa and Barry watch the sun set from the Reef Gliders dock

One of the millions of Sharpnose Pufferfish that are all over the reef

lil buddy

Brendan clowning around with a bottle he found.

Spotted moray eel.

A giant anenome in front of the blue on the reef wall.

T checks out a preoccupied turtle. He was munching on a sponge for about 5 minutes.

T checks out a lobster on the wall.

This Peacock flounder was showing off his blue spots for me.

Reef Gliders moved into a huge new shop with its own beach and dock. Nice!


And now for the real world. I'm actually excited to see all of the entrants in the Deep Winter Photo contest going on this week. I'll be judging the event and I'm not really looking forward to that. Judging photography is like deciding which puppy is cuter, everyone has an opinion and they are all correct. However, someone has to win and I'll contribute as best I can to make sure it is the right person.

Unfortunately, saying yes to this event means that I am going to miss the Greg Todds Memorial in Trout Lake this weekend. I'm really bummed about that. I hope all my friends out there have a good time, and be safe. I look forward to seeing the photos.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that is the last time you al have to hear it. On with the show...

D.

Tags: Roatan, Travel, Transitions, diving

In between power cuts and with extremely inconsistent internet, I'd like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and New Years from Roatan. Diving with Reef Gliders again and they have a new, much bigger and better spot in the West End. I've seen all sorts of old friends and met some new ones too. Saw a seahorse on my second dive, of course I never dive with my camera the first couple times after time off. Of course.

Here is a turtle. I'm already counting the days before I have to come home.

Tags: Roatan, Travel, underwater, diving

I'm having a really hard time transitioning from the warm water and beaches of Maui to the grey cold of Vancouver. It's that time of year that is always really challenging, too early to snowboard, but already cold and wet. Roatan is sounding better all the time. Reef Gliders is moving and I can't wait to check out the new shop. I miss my friends down there and the fun times. Shooting diving photos underwater again in Maui has got me all amped on that again. It's a shame that it is so bloody expensive to get into and a tough place to sell photos. I figure it will take about another season before I have some really good underwater stuff. Not that I'm not happy with some of the things that I get down there, but I'm not as consistent as I am shooting people, or snow or whatever.

Ok, time to write a chapter for the book.

Tags: Photography, diving, Life

A year ago today, I left Roatan after living there for 3 and a half months. I expected to be back there around June, but life is always interesting and you never know what is around the next corner, so instead it has now been a year since I've seen some of my friends down there. I've booked a flight back for Christmas, which makes me extremely happy, but I miss the place. No Roatan has also meant, no diving, which I miss terribly. People have asked me what the appeal is lately and my response is this; scuba diving is everything that snowboarding isn't. It's warm (at least where I like to do it), it's no impact, it's quiet and calm (which snowboarding actually can be too, but not sledding or crowded mountains, etc.).

Diving to me is like a forced meditation. You slow down your breathing, clear your mind, and look at pretty fishes. It calms me.

So in the year since I've been home, a lot has happened. I've made big strides professionally, and am very proud of the work I'm doing these days. Between that, the new apartment, and impending wedding, life has kept me very, very busy. I feel fortunate, considering the state of the global economy and how tough it is out there to make it as a photographer, to still be getting work, selling pictures, and interesting new clients.

Now if I can just figure out how to do it all of that from the beach...



This is a typical view off the wall in Roatan. No sharks or seahorses or barracuda, just a squirrel fish and lots of coral. Aaaah.

Tags: Roatan, diving, work, Life