Egypt: Hamata - Red Sea - November 2011
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text:
Français I've just returned from Egypt. A vacation interlude, in the south of the country, by the Red Sea, far from the troubles of the Tahrir Square... A whole trip dedicated to underwater photography!
Underwater photo
For once, I, the fan of the solo tripI went in a group! But be careful, not just any group : divers photographers, like me. The trip was organized by the P'tit forum of the photo-subI have been using it more and more since I invested in a waterproof housing for my Canon Eos 7D.
We met on November 26, shortly before dawn, at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport.
For once, I wasn't the only one to trick the check-in counters, to get cameras, lenses, domes and portholes out of the dreaded hand luggage weighing... In a group, solidarity plays a big role! We quickly organized discreetly our small traffic of heavy objects towards the back of the line, in order to present a lighter bag to the scale... Hey, hey!
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The plane took off over Paris in the glowing sky. Five hours later, we landed in Marsa Alam. We had to endure another two hours of minibus ride, before reaching our goal: Hamata.
Cape Hamata
I came back enchanted from this little one week stay in Hamata, between the azure of the Red Sea and the ochre expanses of the desert.
On the program, two dives per day, under the radiant Egyptian sun. A pleasure that I fully enjoyed, too happy to escape the winter greyness installed in our countries...
From Egypt, I would have seen only the underwater area called Fury Shoals. Superb coral reefs, off the resort Wadi Lahmy Azur, where our little band was housed.
I'm sorting out my photos... I've just unveiled my brand new fisheye lens, the Tokina 10-17, and its brand new mini-dome.
Thanks to these additions, I brought back images that are different from the ones I usually make while diving. As a foretaste, I'm proud to show you, opposite, my first half-air half-water picture !!!
I really appreciated the philosophy of this diving trip, focused on photography. Non-divers don't realize it, but underwater, nothing is more pleasant than to be in a homogeneous group, moving at the same pace, with the same desires.
So I found myself with people who like long, quiet, contemplative dives as much as I do, where you can dawdle at your leisure to adjust the settings of your camera... In short, happiness!!! And then, back on the boat, we exchange tips and tricks, we see each other's pictures, we glean ideas... It makes you progress!
I'll be back very soon to tell you about the rest of this little Egyptian trip, and, above all, to show you some pictures of the incredible underwater landscapes of Hamata...
😉
