Scuba Diving Palau: Photography Inspiration

Hey Everyone! 

I told you I'd have some awesome stuff to be showing you! 

So I had the amazing opportunity to go to Palau Micronesia (1 hour plane ride east of the Philippines for those without a map handy) for a week of my most favorite things in life... SCUBA DIVING!

Seriously, I am a little bit obsessed with it. Just ask my poor husband who had to fend for himself for 2 weeks. :) I love it WAY more than I probably should. There is nothing more awe-inspiring then gliding over a reef with thousands of fish around you, or being suspended in the blue ocean as a manta ray or reef shark swims around you. 

If I'm really honest with myself, it is probably my favorite thing to photograph as well. It is also the thing I am not as good at, but I try my best to inspire that feeling of awe in the people that look at my underwater photography. I hope you get a little sample of how it is to dive with these amazing animals when you look at these! 

Ps, I'm sorry there are SO many photos (no I'm not) I have a very difficult time narrowing it down! 

*Lion Fish (Poisonous and highly photogenic) 

*Clown Fish (Or anemone fish if you want to be technical) 

*Scorpion Fish (Also poisonous) 

*Jellyfish (These guys don't sting) 

*Napoleon Wrasse (He was our buddy on one of our dives. We even got to pet him a little bit!)

One of my favorite parts about dive trips is who I get to spend it with. I've been scuba diving with my dad for almost 10 years now and we are definitely kindred spirits when it comes to our love of all things in the ocean. My dad is kind of awesome if you didn't know. :)

My uncle Neil started coming on dive trips with us a few years after we got certified and we've been dive buddies ever since! This time, we talked my uncle David into coming too and we had such an awesome time (if you can't tell) They make some pretty good models... 

*Mandarin Fish (This little guy is about an inch long!)

*Grey Reef Shark (one of my favorite things to see!)

*Scorpion Fish #2

*A couple Clams (LOVE the different colors!) 

*Coral Grouper (Did not want me to take his picture) 

*Fan Coral & Cuttle Fish (another one of my favorites!)

*Napoleon Wrasse again

*Spotted Lion Fish

*School of Bump-Headed Parrot Fish

*Manta Ray! 

K these guys are one of my most favorite things! 14ft across, so graceful, and they don't mind hanging out with a bunch of divers for a half hour or so. We even saw them breach out of the water! (Yah, I'm a little bit of a nerd. And I love it) 

*Coral Close Up

*Another Clown Fish

*School of Big Eyed Scad 

*Cuttle Fish

Loved all the angles this guy was giving me

*Part of our group! 

*Green Sea Turtle

*Peacock Grouper (apparently all groupers hate having their picture taken) 

*Wrasse with my Uncle Neil

I liked this one since you can see how well the cuttle fish can camouflage themselves. They can change color and texture! If you have time, you should definitely youtube it. :)

(Told you they got close) 

Lots of little baby clown fish in this one :) 

*Zebra Shark (which should probably be called a leopard shark) 

*Green Moray Eel

*Soft Corals 

*Tiny Flame Hawkfish

*Crocodile Fish (Go figure :) ) 

 One of the things I appreciated about this trip was how it took me back to my roots. When I was 16 my dad handed me the camera on my first big scuba trip and I fell in love with taking photos!

It definitely got me thinking about the direction I want to go with my photography and I've decided I'm going to try my best to sneak some shoots in that are just for me (especially if they involve animals) so hopefully there will be more photography inspiration posts coming soon! 

Until then, I have some fantastic winter weddings coming up that I'm SO excited about! Keep checking back for more!