Inside Scuba Issue #30

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Byron Conroy & Andy Deitsch
March 23, 2025

Welcome to Issue #30 of Inside Scuba

Welcome to the latest edition of Inside Scuba! In this issue, we dive into some essential diving skills that will help you elevate your underwater experience, from mastering buoyancy and trim to perfecting macro photography techniques. Whether you're a seasoned diver or just starting your underwater journey, there's something for everyone. Plus, we explore the exciting new release 52 Assignments: Underwater Photography by Alex Mustard, and showcase this week's Instagram spotlight. Read on for more insights and tips to take your diving and photography skills to the next level!

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What’s happening in this edition?

Scuba Diving Skills You’re Probably Missing: Buoyancy and Trim Explained

I have just returned from a trip to Lembeh, Indonesia, where a group of us spent 11 days photographing small macro subjects. This type of diving, known as “muck” diving, typically involves shooting subjects on a sandy or muddy bottom. It’s easy to kick up sediment, creating a sandstorm in the water column, which can make shooting conditions difficult and disturb the marine life.

On the trip, we had a diverse group of divers, ranging from those with just a few hundred dives to others with many thousands. Over dinner, the topic of buoyancy and trim frequently came up, as everyone was committed to diving in a way that protected the environment while ensuring the best conditions for photography.

I’ve done extensive technical training, including Advanced Trimix with up to eight scuba tanks, rebreather training, wreck penetration, and cavern diving. These courses have helped me develop solid “trim” and “buoyancy” skills in the water. But what do these terms actually mean? Don’t all experienced divers already have these skills? And should seasoned divers still consider additional buoyancy and trim training?

When the world’s largest dive agency have images similar to this to describe buoyancy and trim it is a sorry state of affairs for recreational dive training

In each issue of our newsletter, we will curate some top dive news from around the world. Links to each of the original articles are available.

Dive Magazine: “Popular liveaboard Emperor Seven Seas has been destroyed by fire in Port Ghalib marina. All passengers and crew have been safely evacuated. Emperor Divers released a statement shortly after the fire was first reported: ‘In the early hours of Thursday, March 13th, Emperor Seven Seas was moored in Port Ghalib when a fire broke out that could unfortunately not be contained.’”

Scuba Diver Magazine: “A 26-year-old British backpacker has died after a fire ripped through a dive boat some six miles off the coast of Koh Tao in Thailand. Alexandra Clarke had asked the guides on the boat if she could use the bathroom shortly before the blaze broke out in the engine room on the Davy Jones Locker vessel at around 9.15am on Sunday 16th March….”

Daily Mail: “Horror as diver dies in notorious underwater cave while his two companions make it out alive. Police were called to Twin Caves in the Blue Springs Recreation Area in Florida on Tuesday after three people failed to return to the surface on time.”

News Moris: “A young man’s life was tragically taken on Thursday, 20 March, at the Hotel Meridien in Pointe-aux-Piments [Mauritius]. At around 9:25 AM, Brian Dorine, a 27-year-old diver and assistant with Blue World Explorer, lost his life in an explosion involving a scuba tank. Witnesses described the scene as chaotic when the blast occurred while Mr. Dorine, a resident of Curepipe, was refilling a tank using a compressor.”

Dive Magazine: “A great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has put in a rare appearance around Nusa Penida, a large island located off the southeast coast of Bali, Indonesia. The large and heavily scarred shark was spotted at the dive site known as Pura Ped, on Penida’s northern shore – famous for its extensive coral reef and strong, drift diving currents.”

Beneath the Sea 2025: For those of you in the Northeast of the USA, the annual dive show will take place in Secaucus, NJ at the Meadowlands Exhibition Center, March 28-30th. Some A-List speakers will be there including Jonathan Bird, David Doubilet & Jennifer Hayes, and Cristina Zenato among many others. Check out the link for more details.

NBC News 4: “EAGLE PASS, Texas - Two undocumented immigrants wearing wetsuits and carrying scuba diving equipment were arrested after police say they were attempting to cross the Rio Grande unlawfully on Thursday.”

Clownfish: The Ultimate Subject for Learning Macro Techniques

Often, on macro photography trips, people chase unicorns—they seek out rare and unusual subjects, spending so much time searching that they either overlook the more common and obvious ones or end up photographing the rarities in uninspired ways due to a lack of refined techniques. One of the secrets to mastering macro photography is having an arsenal of well-practiced techniques ready to deploy the moment you encounter a rare subject. The best way to develop these skills is by practicing on common species or even static subjects like corals. But who wants to return home with a portfolio full of coral shots taken in different ways? That’s why the subject I turn to most for honing my skills and refining my precision is the clownfish. It’s probably the macro subject I’ve photographed the most, and on a macro trip, I’ll typically shoot at least one every other dive.

Clownfish are emotive creatures living in a colorful anemone backdrop

Clownfish are instantly recognizable to any diver. They are commonly found and present on nearly every dive in a macro destination. However, they come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors—not to mention that each anemone they inhabit is unique, from bubble-tip and carpet anemones to an array of vibrant hues. This makes photographing them far more versatile than you might initially expect. But beyond all of that, clownfish remain captivating subjects because they are instantly recognizable to virtually everyone. In fact, they are arguably the most well-known fish species in the world—thanks, in no small part, to a certain film from the early 2000s.

So what techniques can we practice and perfect on the incredible clownfish species?

Exploring New Creative Frontiers with 52 Assignments: Underwater Photography

For underwater photographers looking to push their creative boundaries, Alex Mustard’s newest book, 52 Assignments: Underwater Photography, is an excellent resource. Originally released in the UK in Autumn 2024, it is set to be available in the US on April 1, 2025. The book provides a structured and engaging way to refine your skills, making it an ideal companion for divers both between and during trips.

At its core, 52 Assignments is designed to inspire photographers to experiment with different techniques and expand their underwater portfolios. The book is part of a series by Ammonite Press that challenges photographers with practical assignments. Within its pages, Mustard covers a diverse range of techniques, from classic approaches like Wide Angle Blues (Assignment #11) and Snell’s Window (Assignment #20) to more niche methods such as Photogrammetry (Assignment #46) and Macro Flashlight (Assignment #47). Whether you are a beginner or an experienced shooter, the structured nature of these assignments offers fresh perspectives and new ways to approach underwater scenes.

One of the most appealing aspects of the book is its portability and affordability. Given its compact size, divers can easily bring it along on dive trips and reference specific assignments between dives. The assignments are crafted to be actionable, allowing divers to immediately apply new techniques underwater. Mustard also encourages engagement by inviting readers to share their results on social media using the hashtags #UWAssignments and #UnderwaterAssignmentXX, where XX corresponds to the assignment number.

This week’s Instagram Spotlight features British underwater photographer, Laura Storm. Laura is a passionate wildlife and nature photographer specializing in the underwater realm. Quietly ambitious but nevertheless in hot pursuit of that perfectly captured moment, she spends as much time as possible diving or freediving the Big Blue. Laura grew up in Kenya, a land of incredible contrasts, where her love for adventure, extremes and wildlife flourished. It was in Africa that she first learned to dive at the age of 12.

Now a Trimix diver, she led the Angels Technical Dive Team through seven years of challenges, supporting a number of major International and National Freediving events, before disbanding in 2010 to pursue other dreams. She was awarded Diver Magazine’s ‘Buddy of the Year’ in 2006 for her contribution as a support diver.

Summary

As always, we hope this edition of Inside Scuba inspires you to improve your diving skills and discover new ways to capture the wonders of the underwater world. Whether you're refining your buoyancy or experimenting with new photographic techniques, there's always room to grow. Don’t forget to share this newsletter with fellow divers and photographers, and keep an eye out for our next issue. Until then, keep diving, stay safe, and continue exploring the depths!

Andy & Byron

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