In November 2010 a group of Ikelite shooters traveled with professional underwater photographer and Ikelite dealer David Haas to the Philippines, a country of over 7,000 islands spread across the Pacific.

The Philippines was an ally of the United States during World War II and its people warmly welcome visitors. This paradise has incredible vistas above water and especially underwater!

The beautiful Atlantis resorts on Mindoro and Negros offered 5 boat dives a day to photograph incredible creatures on sites only a few minutes from shore.

The world-savvy staff of Deep Blue Adventures made sure all my Ikelite shooters had everything covered from checked luggage to carry on details and transfers. Seamless traveling for the underwater photographer!

Both resorts had secure underwater photo rooms with dry spaces and pull out lights, charging stations, air nozzles plus storage. In addition the staff was the highest trained in handling of underwater systems I've ever experienced! Ikelite systems were stored out of the sun and on padded areas of the boats and handled with the utmost care.

Editor's Note: We would like to comment on the common practice of leaving equipment unattended in a rinse tank on or off of a boat. Photo gear can be seriously damaged when other divers' equipment is set on top of yours and the tank starts bumping around with the movements of the boat. PLEASE do a quick rinse and then set your gear in a shady setting or cover it with a towel!

I put my Canon S90IS camera and housing aside and was back to using a Canon T1i DSLR with a Tokina 10-17mm wide angle lens plus Canon 60mm macro lens for this trip. Dual DS51 Substrobes in TTL mode allowed me to concentrate on composition instead of worrying about exposures. This is the BEST reason using Ikelite housings for digital SLRs and several mid-size cameras featuring a hard wire connection are so popular.

One shooter was able to bring TWO complete systems in a regulation size carry-on: a JVC Picsio HD video camera with housing and PRO-V8 Light for beautiful videos PLUS a Canon S90 digital still with wireless TTL AF35 AutoFlash System. Both were easy to travel with and easy to shoot!

All came home with images to astound their family and friends.

I can't wait to go back!

- David Haas, Haas Images

For more information on David Haas please visit: www.HaasImages.com

For more information on Deep Blue Adventures please visit: www.deepblueadventures.com