X-Ray Mag #95

Feature articles in this issue with stand-alone pdfs

Rico Besserdich   Rico Besserdich
Photo of octopus after postproduction adjustments for exposure, contrast and curves. Photo by Rico Besserdich.

As always, the best thing to do is to get the proper exposure of your underwater images while shooting them. But sometimes this is easier said than done, and there are shots with insufficient exposure, which we, for whatever reasons, simply want to keep and “rescue.”

Simon Pridmore  

In his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, historian Yuval Noah Harari traces the path left by Homo sapiens as our species spread over the world, causing the extinction of other human species and sub-species, and half of the planet’s big beasts. He describes the extinctions as happening in three waves.

Martin Voeller   Martin Voeller , Masayuki Agawa (Hammerheads)
Hammerhead sharks at Mikomoto, Izu, Japan. Photo by Masayuki Agawa

In just five years, Japan has seen its number of tourists grow by 20 million, and most of them visit the country to see the ancient temples, to experience the onsen hot springs, or to walk through the labyrinth of neon skyscrapers in its urban cities.

Japan is an island country surrounded by the ocean, and it should be no surprise that the country offers excellent scuba diving opportunities along its vast coastlines—it is an archipelagic country with islands spanning over 3,000km. And not far away from Tokyo lies Izu, which is Tokyo’s backyard of diving, accessible by car in just two to three hours from the city.

Andreas Klocker and Steve Lambert   Adam Haydock and Teddy Garlock

What a resurgence! I first saw this amazing resurgence in 2017. Fellow explorer Zeb Lilly and I had organized an expedition to the Huautla Resurgence that year, and, after we finished our expedition, drove towards the town of Huautla to help out on the American PESH (Proyecto Espeleológico Sistema Huautla) expedition, which focused on exploring the upper dry parts of Sistema Huautla that were the source of water emerging at the Huautla Resurgence.

Brandi Mueller   Brandi Mueller

Being an avid wreck diver, Coron in the Philippines has been on my bucket list for ages. Having followed the underwater remains of the Pacific Theater World War II battles, I have found myself in some of the most beautiful places on earth, from the Solomon Islands to Truk Lagoon and many others. Coron is no exception. Arriving on the island of Busuanga after a short, one-hour flight from Manila, I was picked up and escorted by van and boat to Sangat Island. As we departed the dock, there were dense mangroves on either side, green foliage encroaching on the small waterway, hardly big enough for two boats to pass in some areas.

Matt Jevon  

We (humans, psychologists and divers) love to be able to put things into neat and tidy boxes. Even if we have a “freeform” mind and emotions, we still like to have something upon which we can ground ourselves—a base, if you like, that gives us just enough stability to cope with the stresses life throws at us.

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