Archive for the ‘Underwater Attractions’ Category
Underwater photography tips for reduced visibility
Friday, August 3rd, 2012
Underwater photography tips for reduced visibility
Following a move from Yorkshire to Brighton, Photographer Maria Munn decided that Chepstow’s National Diving & Activity Centre would be the best place to carry out her first UK dive in about a year. Maria also felt that it would be a good opportunity to get some tips on how to great underwater photos in rainy conditions and reduced vis for her popular column on the Sport Diver website.
Maria offers a great description of the NDAC site, its attractions and offers some helpful tips and tricks on how to capture great shots of the NDAC’s wealth of underwater attractions.
Moving further on I almost bumped into an amphibious armoured vehicle. Marc was already ahead and dived into it with his torch. And straight away, that was where I saw some amazing photo opportunities of his torch shining through the window of the vehicle.
I increased my ISO to 400 to let in enough available light to keep the picture sharp. I got as close to the vehicle as possible with my fisheye lens so that I was almost touching the front wheel.
My flash was switched off so as not to cause dreaded backscatter and I used the Vivid mode in my Canon S95 to enhance the colour of the water. Then it was just a matter of waiting for Marc to point his torch in the right direction.
Read the full article on the Sport Diver Website>
Maria launched PADI’s Digital Underwater Photography Speciality some six years ago and has helped 16 course guests win prizes with their compact cameras. She offers personal camera set-up guides for just £9.95 as well as her award-winning book, Underwater Photography for Compact Camera Users
Maria will be running a weekend photography workshop at the National Diving & Activity Centre in September. Dates and details are yet to be confirmed, but to receive the latest information direct to your inbox suscribe below, follow us on Twitter @NDAC_co_uk or join our Facebook page.
Underwater Video at the NDAC
Sunday, January 8th, 2012Some great footage of our underwater attractions that has recently been published on our NDAC Facebook Page.
The first is a Test of Underwater Video Light for GOPRO camera in and around the NDAC underwater buses by light-for-me.com
Test of Underwater Video Light for GOPRO camera from light-for-me.com on Vimeo.
This second video shows the GOPRO camera being used inside the NDAC BAE 146 aircraft.
TEST GOPRO in the aircraft from light-for-me.com on Vimeo.
This last video is titled NDAC Chepstow our best Dive Site. It shows some videos of our Wigwam Village before the new Wigwams were installed.
NDAC Chepstow Our best Dive Site from light-for-me.com on Vimeo.
The Light for me video page is well worth a look for some other footage>
Thorpe Park Rangers retire to Dive Centre
Monday, October 31st, 2011
We have three new attractions that have just arrived at the National Diving and Activity Centre.
Kindly donated by the Merlin Group, these three park rangers have retired from Thorpe Park after many years of service and will be keeping an eye on things in the Gnome Garden.
The three new underwater attractions are going to have a new lick of paint and some TLC before being placed underwater.
We expect them to be in place in the next month.
If you have any ideas of names for the three Thorpe Park Rangers, please make your suggestions below in the comments field below . . .
Four new underwater attractions at NDAC dive site
Friday, July 29th, 2011
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It has been a very busy week at the National Diving & Activity Centre with the installation of four new underwater attractions. We now have a new addition to Land Rover Lagoon, a Double Decker Bus, a Single Deck Bus and a 16 tonne Abbott Self Propelled Gun. All the attractions are ready to dive now, so why not pop down and have a look yourself – with so many new attractions you might want to book a weekend with us in one of our Wooden Wigwams. The Busses The second vehicle is an impressive Double-deck bus; she seats around 60 to 80 passengers, It is around 10 meters in length, 4.5 meters high and her gross weight is around 12 tonnes. We believe these underwater busses will not only provide a stable, safe and exciting training platform but also to act as a swim through attraction for the more confident divers amongst you. So whilst our students are conducting their skills and drills above you could be swimming through underneath them – You won’t even need a ticket! The FV433 Field Artillery Abbot SPG In its day the Abbot FV433 was able to swim across water due to having a flotation screen fixed around the hull, which would be raised to provide buoyancy. The action of the tracks was sufficient to drive it forward at about 3 knots. Each swimming Abbot would of been supported by a fully amphibious Stalwart Mk 2 High Mobility Load Carrier that carried additional ammunition. This Abbot’s floating days are long over and it now is retiring happily at the NDAC quarry, reunited with it’s old friend the Stalwart ‘Stolly’. Both buses are under 20 meters and the Abbot is sitting around 30 metres. The new landrover is situated around 10 metres. None of this would of been possible without the help from the Corps of Royal Engineers and our thanks goes out to them. The Corps of Royal Engineers are unique with all their "Sappers" being multi skilled soldiers, combat engineers and tradesmen working alongside all parts of the Army they play a vital role in the effectiveness of the British Army and the United Kingdom in both peacetime and on Opertations. Read more about the Royal Engineers>
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Busses to be sunk in NDAC quarry
Sunday, July 17th, 2011
Back in 2008 Cardiff Bus & NDAC linked up to obtain two new impressive attractions in the form of one single deck and one double deck bus. Since then we have been working to make the buses fit for purpose and looking at the logistics of physically getting them in the water!
We are pleased to announce that the new underwater attractions will be installed at the end of the month.
We believe these underwater busses will not only provide a stable, safe and exciting training platform but also to act as a swim through attraction for the more confident divers amongst you. So whilst our students are conducting their skills and drills above you could be swimming through underneath them – You won’t even need a ticket!
The first bus is a traditional 56-seater single deck bus that weighs in at an impressive 6.5 tonnes and has been used in active service throughout Cardiff over the past 15 years. She has clocked up an impressive 500,000 km so I’m sure some of you may have even traveled on her at some stage!
The second vehicle is an impressive Double-deck bus; she seats around 60 to 80 passengers, It is around 10 meters in length, 4.5 meters high and her gross weight is around 12 tonnes!
Watch this space for updates and the story of their installation, or subscribe to our news feed>
Click here for further information on some of our other underwater attractions >
