Dates
for 2005 with New Digital
(Film welcome) SuperCourse with guest instructors Jack and Sue
Drafahl (for courses 1, 2 & 3) $1695.00 Tuition plus Hotel/Dive
Package. Course 4 is tentative, depending on demand and will not
have guest instructors. Cost for course #4 will be $1495.00.
1. June 18 - 26,
2. July 9 - 17
3. July 23 - 31
4. August 13 - 21(tentative, subject to demand)
With Cathy Church
teaching you how to take wonderful photos, and Jack and Sue teaching
you how to work with your digital files, you will have the best
of two worlds.
Who Should Take
a Photo Course?
Anyone who wants to take U/W pictures and enjoys learning
more will enjoy these courses. Many students
come back year after year because they enjoy developing
their skills, with our help, and they love the exceptional services.
Beginners
We love teaching beginners—they
have no bad habits to break! We start with our popular talk “This
is the front of the camera, and this...”
Intermediate and Advanced U/W photographers
Even advanced photographers enjoy our courses because
they like improving
and growing. They like the extensive services
and the camaraderie of
being with an exclusive group of photographers. Since each person
sets his or her own goals, possibilities
expand with your unlimited imagination.
If you have already taken a photo course at your local dive shop,
you will learn even more quickly with Cathy’s direction.
Above water professional photographer
U/W photography is surprisingly different from above
water photography! Even the most experienced,
famous professional becomes a beginner again underwater.
While advanced photo knowledge makes learning faster, we make
the transition to U/W photography much easier.
Housed SLR users, digital and Sea &
Sea cameras
We teach all camera systems including: digital, SLRs,
Nikonos, Sea & Sea Systems and anything else that will take
a picture underwater. I use and teach
with all camera systems. We have had students
learn with everything from the MX10 to Hasselblad, from simple
digital to a Nikon D70 system. Check the equipment section on
renting.
We Personally Help
You Underwater
This is a practical, hands-on course, with help
in the water where it counts. We’ll
help you with camera menu settings, measuring distances, finding
subjects, posing—whatever is needed. If you run out of battery
power, we will keep that critter while you go to the boat to get
your battery changed. We stress diving skills as well, so our
groups kick up a lot less sand than regular tourist groups who
tear along the bottom with no regard for photographers.
You Set the Goals
While we provide a structured learning environment,
each person sets their own goals. Beginners
may just want to come back with the camera in one piece, while
more advanced photographers want to produce the most beautiful
image ever seen. With two dive staff, and three
photo staff to help you, we can handle your individual needs.
SuperCourse Schedule/Topics for film
and digital
In 2005, we are offering our new combo digital
SuperCourse with film cameras welcome.
Digital attendees should have
their own camera, or arrange for rental or purchase here in advance.
You should bring your own laptop computer
with a viewing and catalogue program or arrange in advance
to use our computers as we have only three available for the class.
We can advise you in all of this if you are just getting started
with digital. Most people arrive the day before the class starts.
Day
1: (We highly recommend
that you arrive the day before the class starts.) We will be available
all day in the classroom to help students individually. Those
who have arrived the day before will be able to join a morning
group session at 9:00 am to review photo
basics and menus,
as well as maintenance.
For those arriving in the afternoon of day 1, we will work with
you as soon as you can get unpacked and down to the classroom.
Beginners should arrive no later than 2 pm on Day 1. At 3:30,
we have orientation and a short slide lecture on composition,
followed by a presentation on the Cayman Islands. Our first group
dinner is at 6:15 pm at Neptune's, one of Cayman’s fine restaurants.
Day 2: Classroom opens at
6:30 am for those who still need extra time to get cameras ready.
At 8 am, we will discuss metering, white
balance, using wide angle lenses and the morning dive.
The dive boat leaves at 10 am for a three-hour dive where you
will take wide-angle natural light photographs and get used to
making menu adjustments with digital
cameras underwater.
The afternoon includes downloading digital
images and viewing the days photos and a lecture on how
to use strobes.
Day 3: 6:30-10 am gear up
and look at yesterday’s film photos. Don’t worry—our
critiques never make anyone cry. We’ll help you plan your
strobe photos for today’s three-hour dive at a west shore
reef. The afternoon lecture covers close-up
photography and zoom lens photography.
Day 4: The dive boat leaves
at 10 am for another shallow dive site where you will love close-up
and zoom lens photography.
We’ll show you our pet fish, and help you with interesting
critters such as arrow crabs and plume
worms. The afternoon talk covers photo
shop techniques. We will start discussions of
image management. Tonight we’ll dine at Cayman’s famous
“Lone Star Bar & Grill."
Day 5: If the
sky is clear and sunny, we will put on our wide angle lenses and
ports for a wall dive followed by a two hour dive at Devil’s
Grotto. The scenes are spectacular. You have the afternoon to
look at your photos, rest or tour before the night
dive.
Day 6: Great diving continues.
The afternoon lecture covers wide-angle
lenses.
Day 7: Another
wonderful day of diving comes next to
get more terrific close ups. We will photograph angelfish, the
elusive yellowtail snapper, and more. (No lecture this afternoon!
Lots of individual help with photo manipulation.)
Day 8: We will enjoy another
wall dive followed by a dive at Stingray
City in twelve feet of water. We’ll eat lunch
on the boat. After the final group dinner at 6:15, the student
photo presentation and secret rites of graduation will be unveiled
at
8:30 pm.
Departure day: No
formal meetings, so you can schedule your departure
for any time of the morning (unless, of course, you extend your
stay for more fun.)
PADI Certification
Upon completion of any Super Course you have the option
of requesting PADI photo specialty certification (not included
in tuition).Click here for more information
on Super Course For a Reservation
Form - Please click here.
