True Reef: the real reef inspiration.

[mitten_reef]

The “edge of the reef” - love this pic, it looks like the sand just kept going forever beyond this edge  

 

[Ratvan]

I love using photos of large colonies as inspiration. Particularly Lambeh Straits, gorgeous examples of Euphyllia corals iin huge formations

[Ratvan]

Also while not photographic representation I find these morphological sketches of reefs facinating. Really liking the idea of attempting something like this zonal graduation in a long shallow tank one day

 

 

[DNR88]

Nice picture as well.

 

[Gill11]

On 4/20/2020 at 1:49 PM, hinnenkm said:

Wow, this thread is incredible and not being able to travel just makes me want to get in the water that much more!

Haven’t gone diving since December , I’m dying 😭😭😭😭😭

[hinnenkm]

On 6/15/2020 at 2:17 AM, Gill11 said:

Haven’t gone diving since December , I’m dying 😭😭😭😭😭

Exactly.... for me it's been longer and I just want to be by the ocean!

[mitten_reef]

Acroporas as far as the eyes can see. 
 

 

[DNR88]

Found some more inspiration from nature, Saxon Reef Australia:

 

 

 

[Lerequin]

Hi, I just came across this film shot in Raja Ampat.

I’m replaying it frame by frame

 

[DNR88]

Great footage, Raja Ampat is unbelievable! 😁

[DNR88]

Some of the best shallow reef/bommie footage I've seen in a long time! So clear, vivid and bright! 😎

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See it for yourself: 

 

[DNR88]

Some more great footage, this time from Komodo and Anilao.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video from Anilao is especially very nice: 

 

[SaltyTanks]

On 2/3/2021 at 9:29 AM, DNR88 said:

Some more great footage, this time from Komodo and Anilao.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video from Anilao is especially very nice: 

 

This video pretty much just gave me the worst FOMO ever. I want to be there right now, diving that shallow reef, so bad! 

[DNR88]

This one is beautiful! Like you could simply pick it up and put it in a tank.

[Brandonmw]

It’s unbelievable how much reefs and formations vary from all over the world. Here are a few of the photos I’ve taken in my travels. I have hundreds if not thousands more for any one interested lol. 

[mcarroll]

love that worm photo!!

[LazyFish]

That worm!

[DNR88]

This one seems easy to imitate in a tank..

[DNR88]

This one isn't bad either.

[filefishfinatic]

i saw this one awesome photo of piorites sarcophyton gorgoians and tunicates but i dont remember where. when i am trying to understand a idea for a reef, i usually will google something like "sarcophyton and piorites on a reef" and it shows good inspiration

[DevilDuck]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:41 PM, Brandonmw said:

It’s unbelievable how much reefs and formations vary from all over the world. Here are a few of the photos I’ve taken in my travels. I have hundreds if not thousands more for any one interested lol. 

Incredible photos! What do you use to take these pictures? I am getting my PADI scuba certification next month in Belize and would love to know!

 

 

[filefishfinatic]

how much does it cost to get scuba certification, i might try to get a certification so i can dive in alaska or dive in florida. 

[DevilDuck]

3 hours ago, filefishfinatic said:

how much does it cost to get scuba certification, i might try to get a certification so i can dive in alaska or dive in florida. 

It depends on your location. You may want to call around some dive shops to get some quotes. In the middle of Texas, I think it is around $800 to get the PADI recreational diver certification. I also needed to learn how to swim, which cost me a little bit more in coaching and practice time.  

 

There are two major worldwide-recognized diving associations, PADI and SSI. 

Basic certification are largely the same between them. There is an online course which you can complete on your own time, there is an instructor lead pool portion, and an open water portion which you can complete in a freshwater lake or in the ocean. 

 

Note that diving in extreme conditions (colder/deeper) requires more courses as the equipment is different. 

 

The bulk of the expenses of diving comes from the travel, boat and equipment rental/purchase. Therefore, it is far cheaper to dive outside the US, Southern Mexico and Central America being the closest and most reasonable. Southeast Asia is also cheap to dive, albeit with much longer more expensive flights if you're stateside.

 

[Brandonmw]

9 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

Incredible photos! What do you use to take these pictures? I am getting my PADI scuba certification next month in Belize and would love to know!

 

 

I’ve used a few different cameras and housings, some of the posted photos where taken with a Panasonic TZ1 camera in underwater housing mounted to a camera tray with a light and motion 800 dive camera light. The newest really bright photos where taken with a Canon t6i slr camera in an underwater housing on a tray with 2 light and motion 1200 lights one in wide beam white and the other a red spectrum. Honestly, If you get a camera that you can manually white balance or one that has a red filter you can generally take some pretty good photos. I would say a large memory card is important because I know for myself anyway I take anywheres from 5-25 photos of the subject I want to shoot and pick out the best at the end of the day. Not unusual for me to come back from a day of diving with 400+ photos. 

[Brandonmw]

9 hours ago, filefishfinatic said:

how much does it cost to get scuba certification, i might try to get a certification so i can dive in alaska or dive in florida. 

As stated prices can really vary. Your basic open water scuba course can run anywhere from 400-800 give or take. Really all depends on where you do your open water dives. The courses run about $300 and up, then equipment rental for a day is usually $100, dives average $60-80 usd per dive and you will need to do 2 of them for the open water course.  If you want to do cold water diving you need to get your advanced certification as well as a dry suit certification on top of your open water. So the cost can add up. The majority of recreational divers generally don’t go past open water or open water advanced. 
If you really get hooked then be ready to spend a lot lol. Your own equipment, travel expenses, training and additional course, specializations. I try not to remember how much I have spent on diving lol.  But I absolutely love it. Certainly what brought me into the saltwater hobby.