SEAFANZ Tonga 2009 Underwater Photography Workshop
OceanBlue Adventures together with SEAFANZ are offering a unique opportunity to join three of New Zealand’s top underwater photographers for a week in the stunning Ha’apai Islands of Tonga.
Colin Gans, Glenn Edney and Tobias Bernhard have many years of experience in underwater photography between them, have all been published and are highly regarded in their field. Their workshop is aimed at amateur photographers who want to learn tips and techniques that will dramatically improve their photography skills.
Location
The Ha’apai Islands are Tonga’s best kept secret! They offer superb opportunities for photography – from sheltered lagoons to vertical drop offs, deep water pinnacles to stunning swim-throughs. The coral reefs of Ha’apai are the ideal place to progress your photographic journey. In addition to the pristine reefs there is also the potential to swim with, and photograph humpback whales who visit Tonga in the winter months to breed.
Course Content
The aim of this week long workshop is to help you build your skill base, gain a greater understanding of your equipment and what it is capable of and to develop your creative technique.
The evening workshops will introduce you to technical and creative skills that you can then put into practice the following day under the guidance of Colin, Glenn and Tobi.
Each evening will also include analysis and feedback on your photos taken during the day.
At the end of the week you will get the opportunity to choose your ten best images for the photo-shoot-out competition.
Colin, Glenn and Tobi will judge the images and choose winners in several categories, but you will also get to vote for your favourite images from the week.
Profiles
Colin Gans www.underwaterdisplay.net has been passionate about the ocean since childhood and his underwater photographic travels have taken him to many remote locations. In 2001 he won a gold medal at the OCEANZ international photographic competition and has since won several other international awards.
Colin founded and chairs SEAFANZ, New Zealand’s largest photographic society www.seafanz.net. For the past 2 years he has been involved in judging the bi-monthly SEAFANZ Shades of Colour Underwater Photo Competition in Dive New Zealand Magazine. As a photojournalist he has published articles in Nature’s Playground, Dive New Zealand, Sport Diving, UWPMag and Wetpixel.com.
Glenn Edney www.tonga-dive.com has been taking underwater photos since 1993. He has won several international awards, is the author of Poor Knights Wonderland (a Field Guide to the Poor Knights Marine Reserve), has contributed photographs to several other marine life books and has been published in various dive magazines.
For the past five years he has been based in Tonga where he has specialized in photographing humpback whales.
Tobias Bernhard www.tobibernhard.com is originally from Germany where he worked and trained as a graphic designer. He has been a full time underwater photographer since 1996. Since then he has won numerous international awards, including the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2001, the Antibes Underwater Festival and Nature’s Best.
Tobi is highly respected amongst the world’s top underwater photographers for his technical expertise as well as his creative abilities.
When?
Monday 6th July – Monday 13th July 2009. The course will start with an introductory workshop on Monday evening and finish on Sunday 12th. Suggested international flight bookings are – Monday 6th dep Auckland, arr Tongatapu late morning, transfer to domestic terminal for early afternoon flight to Ha’apai. Dep Ha’apai Monday 13th early morning to catch mid-day flight to Auckland.
Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue both fly to Tonga and you can book on-line. Of course you are welcome to stay longer if you wish.
Where?
The week long workshop will be run from the OceanBlue Adventures dive base www.tonga-dive.com on the island of Foa, owned and operated by Glenn Edney. Foa is in the Northern Ha’apai group, just 45 mins by plane from the main island of Tongatapu.
Accommodation
Matafonua Lodge is 300m from the dive base at the northern tip of Foa. There are ten traditional style fales with a shared ablution block and a relaxed and friendly café / bar. www.matafonua.com
| Costs $1550.00 NZ – |
includes accommodation (twin share / double) domestic airfares and airport transfers five days diving / whale watching / photographic tuition including tanks, weights and lunch evening photographic workshops photo-shoot-out competition with sponsored prizes |
Package does not include – international airfares, food and drinks at Matafonua Lodge.
Places are limited to 8.
Contact:
