Scuba Diving – September 2019

PICTURE PERFECT

From our hearts to your hands, one of our favorite issues of the year

FOLLOWING

CAMERA TESTING
ALEXANDER SPRINGS, FLORIDA

Senior editor Andy Zunz scrutinizes an
Olympus Tough TG-Tracker (reviewed
page 29) as ScubaLab director Roger Roy
attaches a Paralenz+ (page 30) to an Un-
derwater Kinetics Aqualite Pro eLED on a
travel grip at Alexander Springs Recreation
Area, a favorite gear-testing ground in the
Ocala National Forest in central Florida.
Five staff members spent six months
working with nine different cameras at
home and abroad, trekking with them from
Mexico’s Revillagigedos to the Red Sea, the
Bahamas, Bonaire, Hawaii, and even the
“Shark Reef” aquarium dive at Las Vegas’
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Follow us at scubadiving.com and fi nd us
on Facebook and Instagram at @scuba
divingmag to see camera-test images and
video from around the world.



12 / SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 SCUBADIVING.COM

EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief

Mary Frances Emmons

Senior Editor

Andy Zunz

ScubaLab Director

Roger Roy

Art Director

Monica Rodriguez

Digital Editor

Becca Hurley

Associate Gear Editor

Robby Myers

Associate Editor

Dave Carriere

Copy Editor

T.L. Favors

Staff Photographer

Jon Whittle

CONTRIBUTORS

Tanya G. Burnett, Eric Douglas, Brent

Durand, Jennifer Idol, Bing Lin, Eric Michael, Brooke

Morton, Alex Mustard, Terry Ward

BONNIER MEDIA

CONTRACT PUBLISHING

Executive Vice President

Gregory D. Gatto

Vice President, Managing Director

Glenn Sandridge

Financial Director

Tara Bisciello

Editorial Director

Shawn Bean

Creative Director

Dave Weaver

Editorial Operations Director

Stephanie Pancratz

Copy Chief

Cindy Martin

Advertising Sales Manager

Lauren Brown

Group Marketing Director

Haley Bischof

Senior Marketing Manager

Kelly Sheldon

Marketing Manager

Franki Giordano

Marketing Project Manager

Annie Darby

Production Director

Rina Viray Murray

Associate Production Director

Kelly Weekley

Senior Production Manager

Stephanie Northcutt

Production Artist

Peter Coffi n

Digital Strategy Director

Mike Staley

Digital Content Director

Mark MacKenzie

Custom Audience Manager

Jackie Fry

Digital Content Production and Presentation

Director

Michellina Jones

Digital Producer

Daniel McSwain

Christmas morning, 1971. A little girl creeps out in the wee hours and pokes the packages,

sad not to fi nd her heart’s desire. Of course, Santa is smarter than the average third-grad-

er: A Kodak Girl Scout Instamatic was indeed under the tree, sparking my lifelong love affair

with photography.

Several decades passed between learning basic darkroom techniques from my scuba

diving dad—with fi lm shot on an ancient (and heavy) Nikkormat—and picking up my fi rst

underwater camera in 2009, a knockoff of the Flip Video camera in an Ikelite housing. Since

then I’ve learned a thing or two, on a Jim Church School of Underwater Photography expe-

dition (“Back to School,” page 86), and at a Little Cayman DSLR and Lightroom immersive

(“Surviving a Wide-Angle Photography Bootcamp,” scubadiving.com). ScubaLab’s fi rst-

ever action-cam test (“Catching the Action,” page 27)—which offered the chance to play

with nine action video cameras for months—was lots of work, but also loads of fun for me

and the staffers who made up our camera-test team.

But the fun didn’t stop there: Working on our photo contest (“Through Your Lens,” page

38), now in its 15th year, is an annual treat. This year more than 2,500 images were en-

tered—our highest number ever—portraying nearly that many different ways to appreci-

ate the underwater world. For us, this issue is pure pleasure. We hope you’ll fi nd the same.

Happy reading, and happy shooting.

MARY FRANCES EMMONS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MARY FRANCES EMMONS joined Sport

Diver in 2009 and Scuba Diving in

2012, serving as features, senior and

deputy editor. A diver since 2006, she

was named editor-in-chief in 2018.

Scuba Diving (ISSN 1060-9563) is published 10 times per year (J/F, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, S/O, Nov and Dec) by PADI Worldwide, 30151 Tomas, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688. Vol. 28,
No. 8, SeptOct 2019. Periodicals postage paid in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, and additional offices. Subscription rate for one year (10 issues): U.S. $21.97; Canada $30.97; all other foreign coun-
tries $39.97. U.S. funds only. Contents copyright 2019 by PADI Worldwide. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Scuba Diving, P.O. Box 6364, Harlan, IA 51593-1864. CANADA POST: Publications
Mail Agreement Number: 40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: IMEX, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. For subscription questions, email: SCDcustserv@ cdsfulfillment.com. ROB

BY

MY

ER

(S

) 2

scubadiving.com ∂[email protected]