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This is the first of a series of articles I will be writing covering various aspects of underwater photography and digital image post processing. The first three articles will cover how to get more magnification from your lens. The first article will cover the use of close-up lenses (also called dioptres/diopters or supplementary lenses). The second two articles will look at teleconverters and extension tubes.

Selayar is a hidden paradise and as most of these places long and almost impossible to get to. Once you have reached Sulawesi, a 4 to 5 hour ride by car brings you from Makasar to Bira, a small port south east where a ferry boat leaves daily to Selayar island, 80 km long, thin, covered in thick forest. Most of the people live on the west coast which offers unbelievable sunsets. Benteng the main town lies as well on the sunset side.

The Selayar Dive Resort, on the other hand lies on the east coast at the southern tip of the island admist a lush forest on a beautiful 1 km white sandy beach. No roads bring you there. The fast resort speedboat awaits the guests in Bira and rushes along the hillside eastern coast down to the resort within 2 hours.

I heard quite a lot of different opinions on dive guides. Some people don’t want them around, seeing them as policemen watching them. Others don’t care about them or worse ignore them. Others again want them around to show them the way back to the boat. Sometimes people are surprised when I tell them that the guide makes the dive. Of course it depends on the person. How can you define a dive guide?

Koh Lipe (Paper Island) is a small island of the Tarutao National Marine Park, located in the south west of Thailand. Lipe is the only one, among the fifty Islands in the National Park to be developed for tourism, the remainder are not inhabited. White sandy beaches, turquoise waters, sun and blue sky, the place is particularly attractive !