Welcome to Michael’s blog. Michael Andrew, (aka Michael The Maven) is a freelance producer, photography instructor, tech innovator, and when needed, disaster aid specialist. Disclaimer: Michael is a participant in Bhphoto & Amazon affiliate programs that provides an advertising commission if you purchase through links on this website.
Many of you have probably have heard of the Magic Lantern Firmware you can use with most of the new Canon DSLRs. Some might even be a little hesitant to do so as on Magic Lantern’s website says “Do so at your own risk”. Messing with the manufacturer’s firmware can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing and could void any warranty you might have. Having said that, the Magic Lantern Firmware is pretty awesome from what the spec sheet shows. HDR video is probably the most sought after feature for many 5D owners. It does have some limitations like filming fast moving subjects, but the video above was filmed with the new firmware for the 5DMKiii and the results look very good.
Photographer Rob Witworth has put together an amazing timelapse of Malaysia. From the videos description: “5 months. 400 hours of solid work. 4 cameras. 40 shoots. 640 gigabytes of data. 19,997 photographs.” TimeLapse photography is very time consuming and if your subject matter doesn’t move a lot, the end result will not be very interesting. Busy streets and cloudy skies both are good subject matter for TimeLapse photography.
The movie Cloud Atlas feels like you are watching six different movies at the same time, but somehow it really works. This movie was directed by the Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer. Cloud Atlas follows the lives of several different characters in six different time periods spanning thousands of years. There really wasn’t a dull moment in the film. Its really hard to explain the plot of the movie because its all over the place, but the main focus point of the film is that everything is connected. One interesting thing about the film is that the actors play different people in the different time periods through out the film. If you are a fan of the Matrix series you will probably enjoy this film.
If I do a Dive Master Certification, Ill basically be doing a 3-5 week internship with a local Dive company. I love Maui Dreams Dive Co- they are always my #1 recommendation, and I also hear so many good things about B&B Dive Co.
So I went on an early morning scuba dive this morning with B&B Scuba as I wanted to see their boat and meet their crew before deciding between them and Maui Dreams. I see it as a chance to make some new friends.
I also wanted to try out my new Canon 20mm 2.8 . Thats a very unusual, unheard of lens, simply because there are other options, but my Canon 16-35mm 2.8 L II wont fit into my housing, so it’s either this or a fisheye. So far I am pretty happy with it.
First stop was Molokini Crater…The conditions and visibility were not that great, but it was still a great dive. I wasn’t paying attention and found myself at 94 feet at which depth I just go through air like nothing. Always seem to find these guys under rocks. This was at about 90 feet. Notice how dark the water gets at that depth. This was at the second site. This coral head was full of crabs, but they are hard to see until you get closeCan you find the Frog Fish below? not easy to find these guys. (Hint…he has a frowny face). I got with 5 inches of him and he just did not move. The conditions were murky today, (poor visibility) but that Canon 20mm 2.8 seems to help me get the shot because it is so wide and I can get so close. Anything beyond 3-4 feet had a lot of backscatter. Was glad to capture this, our Dive Master decided to have his teeth cleaned my cleaner shrimp. I still can’t get them to work on me. Underneath the boat….Shortly after taking this shot, I exited the water, because once again I ran out of air before everyone else. Lo and Behold, the spotted a “massively girthy” 13+ foot Tiger Shark. It was seen by at least 6 of the other divers. Our dive master said he was “wider than at least 4 Michael The Mavens” (aka Man Eater Size). Apparently it cruised literally in between 2 divers swimming above and 2 swimming below. One of the divers below it didnt even see it. Totally uninterested in and unafraid of humans
I was SO ticked off I missed it!! Seeing any Tiger Shark is rare, seeing one that big is extremely rare for where we were. I would have loved to have gotten some pictures of it. I have a feeling though, someday I will get my Tiger Shark image! When you first start diving, its natural to be afraid of sharks, now I cant wait to see one.
It was quite entertaining to watch another boat anchored not too far away get our Captain’s warning about it, and then watch all 30+ of their snorkelers swim with great urgency to their boat! 🙂
The movie Cloud Atlas feels like you are watching six different movies at the same time, but somehow it really works. This movie was directed by the Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer. Cloud Atlas follows the lives of several different characters in six different time periods spanning thousands of years. There really wasn’t a dull moment in the film. Its really hard to explain the plot of the movie because its all over the place, but the main focus point of the film is that everything is connected. One interesting thing about the film is that the actors play different people in the different time periods through out the film. If you are a fan of the Matrix series you will probably enjoy this film.
The conditions and visibility were not that great, but it was still a great dive. I wasn’t paying attention and found myself at 94 feet at which depth I just go through air like nothing. 
Always seem to find these guys under rocks. 
This was at about 90 feet. Notice how dark the water gets at that depth. 
This was at the second site. This coral head was full of crabs, but they are hard to see until you get close
Can you find the Frog Fish below? not easy to find these guys. (Hint…he has a frowny face). I got with 5 inches of him and he just did not move. 
The conditions were murky today, (poor visibility) but that 
Was glad to capture this, our Dive Master decided to have his teeth cleaned my cleaner shrimp. I still can’t get them to work on me. 
Underneath the boat….Shortly after taking this shot, I exited the water, because once again I ran out of air before everyone else. Lo and Behold, the spotted a “massively girthy” 13+ foot Tiger Shark. It was seen by at least 6 of the other divers. Our dive master said he was “wider than at least 4 Michael The Mavens” (aka Man Eater Size). Apparently it cruised literally in between 2 divers swimming above and 2 swimming below. One of the divers below it didnt even see it. Totally uninterested in and unafraid of humans