X-Ray Mag #95
Features in this issue
-
Exposure, Contrast & Curves
ImagesRico Besserdich
Photo of octopus after postproduction adjustments for exposure, contrast and curves. Photo by Rico Besserdich.As always, the best thing to do is to get the proper exposure of your underwater images while shooting them. But sometimes this is easier said than done, and there are shots with insufficient exposure, which we, for whatever reasons, simply want to keep and “rescue.”
-
For the Love of Diving: Interview with Marissa Eckert
ImagesMarissa Eckert
Marissa Eckert, starting a diveThirty-four-year-old Marissa Eckert is a passionate full-time cave and technical diving instructor who co-owns Hidden Worlds Diving in Fort White, Florida, USA, with her partner, James Draker. When she is not teaching, Eckert enjoys traveling all over the world, exploring new places, hiking through the jungle and doing challenging new dives that help her grow and learn as a diver.
-
Front Row Seats for the Third Wave
In his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, historian Yuval Noah Harari traces the path left by Homo sapiens as our species spread over the world, causing the extinction of other human species and sub-species, and half of the planet’s big beasts. He describes the extinctions as happening in three waves.
-
Japan's Izu Peninsula: Diving the Southern & Western Coasts
ImagesMartin VoellerMasayuki Agawa (Hammerheads)
Hammerhead sharks at Mikomoto, Izu, Japan. Photo by Masayuki AgawaIn just five years, Japan has seen its number of tourists grow by 20 million, and most of them visit the country to see the ancient temples, to experience the onsen hot springs, or to walk through the labyrinth of neon skyscrapers in its urban cities.
-
Kim & Kay Vaudin Portfolio
ImagesKim & Kay Vaudin
Mewstone Ledges by Kim Vaudin, acrylic on canvas, 23 x 16 inchesMother-and-daughter team, Kay and Kim Vaudin, who are both divers and fine artists, often work together on canvases at their studio, Deep Impressions in the United Kingdom, to capture the dynamic effervescence and minute details of marine life as well as the sublime light and delicate ecosystems of the underwater world. X-Ray Mag interviewed Kim Vaudin to learn more about their artwork and their perspectives.
-
Land of the Sumps: Cave Exploration in the Cerro RabĂłn
What a resurgence! I first saw this amazing resurgence in 2017.
-
Philippines: Wrecks of Coron
ImagesBrandi MuellerBeing an avid wreck diver, Coron in the Philippines has been on my bucket list for ages. Having followed the underwater remains of the Pacific Theater World War II battles, I have found myself in some of the most beautiful places on earth, from the Solomon Islands to Truk Lagoon and many others. Coron is no exception.
-
Psych Skills for Diving
We (humans, psychologists and divers) love to be able to put things into neat and tidy boxes. Even if we have a “freeform” mind and emotions, we still like to have something upon which we can ground ourselves—a base, if you like, that gives us just enough stability to cope with the stresses life throws at us.
-
Shark Fishing: Can commercial shark fishing be sustainable?
ImagesPeter Symes
Lemon sharksWith the loss of at least 90 percent of sharks worldwide, it would seem to be urgent to protect the ones that remain. Every global study of their status has reported a more dire situation than the last, and that the targeted hunt for the shark fin trade is responsible for their catastrophic depletion.
-
Socorro Islands on Socorro Vortex
ImagesMatthew MeierGo, go, go! At our skiff driver’s urging, we slipped into the water as quickly and quietly as possible, in hopes of snorkeling with the pod of false killer whales that was hunting in the bay. Again and again, we attempted to intersect their path, but our timing or positioning resulted in views of them in the fleeting distance or not at all.
