Take a breath

For my 200. post I wanted to choose something I haven`t posted before… I`ve found these selfportraits I`ve taken last september in the Red Sea.

Guide for underwater selfportraits:
1. Make sure you`re left behind the rest of the group to avoid other divers thinking you are crazy (a diver without mask and regulator looks pretty weird) and stay close to boat or reef, in case you loose mask you can ascend safely
2. Lay on your knees carefully on the sandy bottom at a depth about 12 m to avoid stirring up the sand
3. Make sure your BCD is empty of air (you should be slightly negativ buoyant) otherwise later when you have to hold your breath you might ascend off the bottom
4. Make a few test shots with your diving mask on to see light conditions
5. Set your camera aperture priority or fully manual (prefer) and turn on your strobe
6. Remove your mask slowly (now you will see only blurred shapes, nothing more), but make sure you don’t use it, as once dropped, without mask you will not find it anymore… than stay calm and breath slowly to get used to breath without mask
7. Strech you arms with the camera as far as you can to avoid distorsion caused by the wide angle lens (you don’t want to have a nose as big as a house)
8. Now take a very very deep breath (you will need to hold it for about or over a minute) and remove your regulator with your left free hand.
9. Now try to smile and look normal inspite of the salt water burning your eyes and the urge for breath :))
10. Take several shots while bracketing with the strobe light (it is hard to find the right amount of light for human skin, when too much, you look like dead)
11. Replace your regulator first… than place the camera on the sandy bottom and replace your mask too (you need both hand for this)
12. Make your safety stop and ascend to surface… than see what you did mess up (I`ve forgotten to clear my face off the little air bubbles which make me look unshaved :)))