X-Ray Mag #102
Cover image by Kate Jonker | Coral nudibranch (Phyllodesmium horridum), Coral Gardens, Rooi Els, Cape Town, South Africa
Main features in this issue include:
Black Sea Wrecks
The distant Black Sea is a legend for all times. Tender and harsh, calm and violent, lukewarm and ice-cold—much can be said about this marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, which has enchanted sailors from all over the world since ancient times.
Throughout its long history, this inland sea has been called by different names. The ancient Georgians called it Spersky, the ancient Greek name was Pont Aksinsky, and even its Scythian name has survived to this day, but when and why the sea became “Black” is not certain.
Bonito Caves: Cave Diving in Brazil
Did you say, “Bonito”? I had never heard of this place. A Brazilian diver I met in the Galapagos Islands referred to it as the capital of cave diving in Brazil, located south of the Pantanal wetlands in Mato Grosso do Sul—a state bordering Bolivia and Paraguay.
— “Moro num país tropical, abençoado por Deus e bonito por natureza …” (“I am born in a tropical country, blessed by God and beautiful by nature…”) So goes the famous song by the popular Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor.
Branding Videos & Digital Media Marketing
Branding videos, sponsored posts, social media marketing... confused? We interviewed digital media marketing consultant and underwater photographer Brent Durand to get the scoop on what these services are and how they can benefit your dive business and increase your sales.
What exactly is digital media marketing? Durand says, digital media marketing encompasses all aspects of a company’s online sales and promotions efforts:
Dive Watch Microbrands
These days microbrand watches are all the rage. In the age of e-commerce, independent watchmakers that produce limited editions of around 500 to a couple thousand watches per year are able to sell direct to their customers, thereby bypassing the usual overhead and marketing costs. This means that microbrand watch prices may be significantly lower than luxury-tier watches, even though they may be similarly manufactured.1
Here, we feature five intriguing dive watches from unique microbrands: The Abingdon Co. and Farr + Swit in the United States, Momentum in Canada, Baltic in France and Reverie in Singapore.
Diving in Bodrum, Turkey
As the novel coronavirus spread around the world, dive operators in all corners of the globe had to adjust to a new normal. One dive operator, Farfat Jah, made unique changes. Here, he takes an honest look at a destination forced upon him by the global pandemic.
The global pandemic affected the travel industry like no other. As it spread across the globe, our world started to implode.
Elyse Fournier Portfolio
Originally from Quebec, Canadian self-taught multidisciplinary artist and horticulturist Elyse Fournier creates fantastic worlds within worlds, using a combination of techniques from painting by brush to fluid acrylic pouring on canvas, bringing to life surreal and abstract underwater scenes mixing vivid color and wandering imagination.
"Contemplating the waves from the shore is impressive, but actually taking the time and effort to look below the water’s surface changes you forever. "
—Elyse Fournier
X-RAY MAG: Tell us about yourself, your background and how you became an artist.
Look After Your People
In the book Into Thin Air, journalist Jon Krakauer tells the story of five people who died near the summit of Mount Everest in 1996. Two were expedition leaders, one was a professional guide and two were their clients.
The clients, like most people who sign up for Everest expeditions, were not mountaineers or hard-core climbers. They were folk with little advanced climbing experience, but plenty of money, plenty of guts and a dream.
Ming Pottery Wreck: Exploratory Expedition in the Gulf of Thailand
There are many benefits to living in Asia. One advantage is that the waters around Asia still have countless numbers of unexplored shipwrecks. As a certified technical diver and an explorer at heart, the Gulf of Thailand has been my playground.
During my stay in Thailand, I have had the opportunity to meet and dive with some of the nicest people. I have fond memories working with members of the Thailand Underwater Archaeology Division, also known as the UAD.
My Favorite Shore Dive: Contributors' Picks
We asked our contributors what their favorite shore or shallow dive was and they came back with stories and images of a diverse range of dives from around the world with easy to not-so-easy access off rocky to sandy shores as well as shallow dives under piers.
X-Ray Mag contributors reveal intriguing underwater life and landscapes—from a freshwater lake in Yellowstone to the topical waters of Bonaire and Fiji, to the subtropical waters of the Mediterranean, Florida, Southern California and South Australia, to the temperate waters off Cape Town i
Sharpening Underwater Images in Postproduction
The sharpness of a photograph depends on the camera in use, the lens and the camera settings. Every lens has an optimal range in respect to its sharpness performance.
As a basic rule, most lenses provide their optimal sharpness with an aperture setting that is two full stops higher than the widest possible aperture of the lens.
The Fabulous Spawning Ritual of Striated Surgeonfish
During a seven-year study of reef sharks in Tahiti, ethologist Ila France Porcher also observed the behaviours of various fish species. Here, she offers a detailed description and insights into the dynamic and mesmerising spawning events of the striated surgeonfish, which take place every year in the South Pacific.
One evening in late December, fish were splashing in the glowing surface at the western edge of the fringe lagoon.
Underwater Model Shoots: Conducting Sessions for Beginners
After the coronavirus lockdown was imposed in my country in March 2020 and all my dive trips were cancelled, I only had one event left on my calendar—an underwater model shoot.
I had offered this kind of event before, and a lot of young aspiring models were really interested, but the expenses for them were much too high, some of them being students or not earning much money.