Raffy Paredes
When I heard of their team up with Olympus to do an environmental clean up while testing the new Mju 790 SW underwater camera, I thought it was a project worth endorsing that others may follow.
Today’s article is written by Giselle Ordinario of 3di Photo Club. This is an instance of promoting a product through an advocacy. Hopefully, photo clubs and camera manufacturers will work together more often for the common good. Regular readers should know by now my preference for committed photography.
On Discovering Wonders
By Giselle Ordinario of 3di Photo Club
Nearing the waters
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| Blue starfish | |
A mounting surge of excitement and anticipation was felt by each 3di Photo Club member as we neared the shores of a marine sanctuary in Anilao, Batangas. It was definitely one of the club’s most memorable weekends to date. The opportunity to clean the marine environment and to discover the wonders it held, was indeed an experience everyone would cherish. And experiencing it together with friends was an added bonus.
After being briefed by our dive master, the group readily headed to the snorkeling and diving site with all our gears ready: life vests, snorkels, goggles, scuba tanks, and also sacks for the garbage we would be collecting. We just couldn’t wait to get wet.
Into the blue
Marine life was already bustling even at just three feet of water. Schools of fishes were literally swimming around our ankles. Corals of different shapes, sizes, and colors were only within an arm’s reach. It was as surreal as being inside the most beautiful aquarium ever assembled. Simply breathtaking!
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| A denizen of the deep | | Capturing the moment
The 3di Photo club is grateful to have the support of Olympus and encouraged us on this worthwhile endeavor. While doing our part in cleaning up the sea, we were also given the chance to capture the marine life we witnessed with the Olympus Underwater Digital Camera, Mju 790 SW. This new digicam model allowed us to get crisp images even under 10 feet deep of water. Its automatic scene modes made it easier to take pictures in varying environmental conditions. However, being the SLR photographers that we are, we couldn’t help but manually tinker with the ISO setting, white balance, and exposure compensation features.
Even after a month since the activity, we still get the thrill of that experience just by looking at the clear images that we captured.
Joining the advocacy
For someone who rarely goes to the beach and who is not really keen on doing aquatic activities, I was mesmerized by the beauty that I discovered underwater. I cannot imagine how some people can thoughtlessly continue to destroy the sea by dumping their garbage into it. Now I understand why more and more Filipinos are becoming passionate in protecting the country’s numerous marine sanctuaries, and in helping to restore their natural balance.
Anilao may just be a small portion of the aquatic environment, but the experience that each of us in 3di Photo Club went through created a big impact on our drive to discover more natural wonders and to take on the bigger responsibility of guarding our environment – that we may always have the stunning beauty of Mother Nature to capture in our photographs.
Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Olympus and 2nd Avenue for being one with the 3di Photo Club in this cause.
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