When it's raining.....

It's raining and dive conditions really bite right now, so all I can do is look at pictures of my favorite places.....then I see this......I think I will enter... Deadline Approaching For Prestigious International Underwater Photo & Video Competitions Over $80,000 in Combined Prizes! New York, NY (December 6, 2007) -- For the second year, two international competitions associated with dive expos on opposite sides of the world are collaborating to produce a complementary series of categories and prizing opportunities. The competitions at Our World Underwater and DEEP Indonesia have become “the Super Bowl” of underwater imagery events. With a combined prize pool of over $80,000, there are plenty of opportunities for photographers and videographers of all levels, both amateur and professional, to walk away with fantastic prizes and the glory of placing in a prestigious international competition. Photographers will compete in 7 technical categories in Our World Underwater and 7 themed categories in DEEP Indonesia, to win premium dive travel packages to some of the top photo destinations in the world, photo equipment, dive gear, and more! Dive packages for the Our World Underwater competition include trips to Socorro, Wakatobi, Papua New Guinea, Ambon, the Red Sea, Grand Cayman, the Solomon Islands and Vietnam! DEEP Indonesia packages include some of the top photo destinations in Indonesia and beyond such as Komodo, Raja Empat, Lembeh Bali, Manado, Fak Fak, and Ambon. Additional dive packages include trips to the pristine reefs of Papua New Guinea and shark diving in the BahamasOther prizes include camera housings, strobes, lighting systems, and other valuable items. The competitions include a category for images that focus on conservation and the marine environment, one specifically for entries taken by compact digital cameras, one Indonesian resident category, and two video categories. Esteemed judges Eric Cheng, David Espinosa, Ric Frazier, Steven Frink, Chuck Nicklin, Mary Lynn Price, Berkeley White and Tony Wu, will select winners. All compact camera category entrants will receive one free underwater photography lesson courtesy of Marty Snyderman and TheUnderwaterPhotographer.com Winners will be announced online and displayed during the Our World Underwater and DEEP Indonesia Expos in Chicago and Jakarta, Indonesia respectively in Feb and March 2008 and will be published by supporting media publications worldwide. Winning videos will be broadcast via podcast as episodes of the iTunes-featured DiveFilm Podcast Video and DiveFilm High Definition Podcast Video As with all UnderwaterCompetition.com events, 15% of entry proceeds will be donated to marine conservation efforts. For more information, please contact: contest@divephotoguide.com.

Fun picture

Was just editing some images today and ran across this one. I thought it was cool so I'm sharing it with you.

Sometimes

Sometimes I feel just like this guy looks!

Dreaming of the Tropics

The colder it gets, the more my mind wanders...

20 Years

As I walked into work today it hit me...next month I'll have been working at PADI for 20 years! And I still love it! Over 30 years in diving and it still excites me... How lucky am I!!!

Budd

No Diving this Weekend

The weather was supposed to be bad and the surf high, but I had to go see for myself. Conditions looked great, but then I saw this golf ball on the beach (there is no course anywhere near this beach) I took it as a sign and my buddy and I went to breakfast.... Budd

Bubble Rings

How good are you at blowing bubble rings? Email photos and I'll post them.

Budd

Gotta have fuel...

My Starbucks keeps me going! Budd

The Umbilical Cord!

This, my friends, is what keeps me from diving more often. Sometimes I think 'mobility' is the scourge of the free spirit!!! Oh well, got to pay the bills somehow. Better count my blessings!

Budd

DEMA Coverage

Whew!!! Since I was overwhelmed at the PADI booth and didn't get out much, I thought I would link to Jason Heller's DivePhotoGuide link. He has good coverage, especially from a photo point of view. Have a look! http://www.divephotoguide.com/articles/dema_2007__complete_coverage_2 Budd

DEMA Wednesday, Oct 31

Happy Halloween! The DEMA show officially opened at 10am Florida time. It was an energy filled day! The PADI booth was humming with activity as dive store owners and instructors dropped by to see what's new and to re-connect with old friends. I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of friends I had not seen for a few years, including Roberto Diaz from Aquaworld in Cancun, Thomas Sabotta from PADI Europe and Harry Friedman (you look great, Harry) from Friedman Consulting.

PADI sponsored many seminars on a wide range of dive business topics, including eLearning, eMarketing, new products, Dive Travel, environmental awareness and much more.....

I was not able to cruise the show to see what's new, hope to do that tomorrow. Til then....

DEMA Tuesday, Oct 30

Today was PADI Dive Fuel day. Several speakers from the Action Sports industry spoke about their impressions of diving and the industry. Most interesting were Magnus Lindvquist, a trend spotter and Holly Beck, a pro surfer. The program was co-hosted by PADI and SSI and the MCs were Drew Richardson, COO of PADI and Doug McNeese, VP of SSI. It was an enlightening program and quite entertaining as well. The day concluded with the PADI Member Social. This annual party featured the presentation of the 5 "Why I am a Diving Pro" video entries with the voting being done by the PADI Members in attendance. The videos were all great, but the $10,000 grand prize went to Trux Terkla from Seattle, WA. It was a great party and the whole day was a great way to kick off DEMA 07. More later from the show floor..... Budd

PADI Fuel 2007

First images from PADI Dive Fuel. Rob Campbell of Transworld talks about the Board Sports industry and the synergies with diving. Great stuff. More later.... Budd

DEMA 2007

I am now in Orlando, Florida for my 30th DEMA (Dive Equipment and Marketing Association) Show. Yesterday, PADI conducted its annual Course Director Update and an Instructor Update. Focusining on eLearning and all the cool new things for 2008 from PADI. Today, its Dive Fuel 2008, cohosted by PADI and SSI (yes, thats what I said). Dive Fuel is aimed at recharging the Dive Industry, and it is sure to do just that. Doug McNeese of SSI and Drew Richardson of PADI will be hosting a cadre of speakers discussing topics like marketing, trends, lifestyle activites and much more. Watch for pictures to be posted from Dive Fuel 2008. Welcome to Orlando!!!

Santa Barbara Beach

This was taken with my phone camera. It is one of my favorite beaches in California. It is called Hendry's Beach. Budd

Where Will You Be Diving?

So, the weekend is coming, its summertime in North America and the weather will be great (or at least we all hope it will be)! Where will you be diving this weekend? Post a comment and let us know. It will be fun to see how many places will be visited by divers this weekend. I'll start things off by saying that I will be diving at Santa Cruz island off of Santa Barbara, CA. Have the cameras cleaned up, loaded and ready to capture the great underwater color there.

Where will you  be diving?

Budd

Belize it....or not!

Just got back from a great PADI Diving Society trip to Ambergris Caye in Belize. 29 customers and staff met at Ramon's Village resort and enjoyed great diving, great company and the wonderful culture of this quaint, South American destination. We saw lots of Nurse sharks, Loggerhead turtles, Spotted Eagle Rays and even a pod of dolphins!

The trip was led by Theresa from the PADI Diving Society and Ty Sawyer, editor Sport Diver Magazine also joined the group! The group also enjoyed activites like photo scavenger hunts, sand sculpture contests and bacchi ball contests!!! You shoulda been there!!!! Don't miss the next great trip with the PADI Diving Society.

Budd