We got some news this week - I can't really say if it is good news or bad news or maybe even false alarm news. Basically, we were told that it looked like our Wakatobi trip might have just disintegrated. At first, you might think that is terrible news, but not necessarily.

I also received my copy of Scuba Diving magazine, and it had an article about locations for good whale shark diving.

Sorry - again, I'm using a photo that was not taken while diving, but rather from the dry side of an aquarium. This particular one is from the Geogia Aquarium where Anya and I have indeed dived.

So this got me thinking - I'd really love to see a whale shark in the wild. Fortunately, the article pointed out a place where whale shark diving is good in the January/February time frame - Mozambique. And some quick searching came up with some packages with Scuba Mozambique that look absolutely awesome.

The one package includes plenty of diving, but also a visit to Kruger National Park - which for someone like me who loves wildlife photography would be a vacation combination of lifetime!

So what seemed like bad new might end being transformed into good news. Then again, we went out to dinner with our dive instructor and learned that the Indonesia trip might re-materialize, which means it might be false alarm news. So we're just taking it in stride and know that one way or another we'll get to go on an incredible dive trip.

In the meantime, I'm taking the opportunity to browse through these old aquarium photos...

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 37mm, 1/30 sec at f/5, ISO 400. No post production. Geogia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA.

What Works: The vertical format works perfect here with this orientation of the whale shark, and the diagonal placement is very pleasing. The shark's head rests right on one of those hot-spots where the thirds rest in the shot, and the shape of the shark easily draws your eye along its body to its head. And though the shark's belly is pretty well featureless, this shot from below does place the shark in a position where you would encounter it in the wild as they are surface-swimming filter feeders, and so the placement of the shark in the upper two-thirds of the shot works nicely.

What Doesn't Work: The focus is a tad soft, which isn't exactly surprising with a constantly moving subject in dim lighting through water and acrylic.

That desire to go diving just keeps increasing every minute!

- Bill