WetPixel Magic

by Erik Olsen on

I said I would get around to posting about this site
and now I am. Wetpixel is the brain child of underwater photographer / musician
/ tech genius Eric Cheng, whose skills as a photographer and passion for wet photography
are, to say the least, impressive.

 

The Wetpixel site is a bonanza for photography buffs. I just spent 20 minutes browsing around and hardly scratched
the surface of what’s there. There are tech notes for the budding underwater photographer, and mind-blowing pictures
shot by Eric and other members of the Wetpixel team. I liked the site so much, I am seriously thinking about finding a
class in underwater photography, and will post what I come up with here.

Homage to Oman

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a novel destination idea. News Interactive has an interesting
little peice on traveling to Oman, where
medieval and modern mix to create a unique blend of internet cafes and Bedouin camel merchants. Oman is apparently
making a push for tourism out of concern that the oil dollars that have sustained it for years are running out.
Smart move, perhaps. I understand that it is a relatively safe place to travel. There is still no democracy there, but
the Sultan, whose picture hangs “in offices, hotel foyers, even roadside cafes”, is loved and adored by his 2.5 million
subjects.

What to do there? Oman is a mecca for birdwatchers, a major stopover during the spring and autumn migrations between
Africa, Asia and Europe. But also there is diving, dolphin-watching,
caving, trekking, and bicycling. Not a bad way to while away a holiday.

Kayaking LaJolla

by Erik Olsen on

So Cal beaches have a good rep for surfing and sun bathing, but what is not so well-known is how good they are for sea kayaking. Down south in San Diego, the La Jolla cove (I used to live about five minutes from there) is a great place to dive and swim, but also, as this article suggests, to kayak.

In particular, the La Jolla Cove Ecological Reserve is a legally protected area with a high concentration of sea life including tribes of sea lions who will swarm around you looking very faux menacing like a fight scene from West Side Story. Anyway, if you know California, the cove will be well known to you.

If you do not, put it on your itinerary.

Diving Photography

by Erik Olsen on

I had a jones earlier this evening to see some great diving pictures. It’s getting colder
here now and I am thinking a lot about my next trip somewhere warm…somewhere where the diving is good.

Check out Eric Cheng’s travel photography site. Well, check out his entire
personal site. Cheng runs wetpixel, a site that is so good it deserves (and will get)
it’s own post. But for now spend some time browsing Eric’s amazing underwater pics and thinking hard about what you
might do to escape the winter doldrums.

WWII Wreck Found in Lake Washington

by Erik Olsen on

Well whaddayaknow. 

Sixty-two years after it crashed into the frigid waters of Lake Washington, and some twenty-plus years after the
birth of Bill Gates Jr., divers have found the
wreckage of a WWII era TBF-1 Avenger torpedo-bomber in the lake. The
Avenger is the same type of aircraft that former
President George Bush Sr. was shot down in 1944. But this is NOT the plane he was shot down in. Get it? This is a
different plane.

The discovery was made last month using high-resolution sonar technology by members of the
Innerspace Exploration Team (no, Martin Short is not a
member), a nonprofit group based in suburban Mill Creek.  The plane crashed on Aug. 17, 1942, when it had a
mid-air collision with a Grumman F4F Wildcat during a training exercise. Both planes were based at Sand
Point.