Freediving Introduction

I have many people ask me what they can do to better their breath hold, and or get deeper. I am often a bit nervous explaining techniques without having the time to fully explain safety procedures. This is the first of a three part series on freediving. 1.Intro 2.Anatomy of a breath hold 3.Going Deep. Enjoy

My foray into freediving began with fun trips around the Island with my best childhood friend Evan. We knew nothing of freediving except how to equalize our ears, but in no time, we were holding our breathe in excess of 2 minutes, getting to depths of 60 ft. and swimming through lava tubes and other overhead environments. Looking back on those early dives with a friend, I have nothing but joy, but I now realize the danger we put ourselves in repeatedly.

Fortunately I survived those early days of my diving career and went on to meet Micheal Morris. He was working on his dive master with our dive shop and I played an active roll in his training. He was a fast learner, as he was already a very accomplished freediver and spear fisherman. Listening to his feats revitalized my excitement in freediving, and I soon found myself diving with him and pushing my own limits again. Shortly after completing his dive master certification, Michael died during a freedive while spearfishing with friends at a familiar dive site. His death came as a shock to me and the rest of the diving community. He was found at some 80 ft. by his dive buddies after they realized they had not seen him for a while. Though the exact reason why he didn't come back from this fishing trip may never be known, the most likely culprit was a shallow water blackout. Shallow water blackout is the sudden loss of consciousness of a diver at the end of a dive in the last few feet of water before reaching the surface. Though it is well documented and the steps to avoid it are simple, shallow water blackout kills many divers around the world every year.

Michael's death immediately changed my freediving habits: I stopped. It was a few years and another job later when I took it up again. I had quit my job as a dive master and started work on a snorkel cruise as a life guard. Without my scuba gear to retrieve lost snorkels, masks and other belongings that found their way from my customers' ownership to the sea floor, I turned to freediving.

Immediately, I remembered the silent world of freediving, the mobility, the accomplishment, the fish that come closer, the dolphins that play longer, the freedom. Scuba quickly became a burden to me, and freediving was my passion once again. With the sting of Micheal's death fading in my mind, my fear of pushing the limits began to fade as well. I once again found myself comfortable at 60 ft, then 80, then 100.

Fortunately a friend of mine, Byron, began dating the wonderful and accomplished freediver, Jesse Edwards. She and her mother Annabel have set national and world records and were teaching Byron the ropes. After a conversation about the depths I was hitting, Byron urged that I train with them so I'd have proper safety divers. I agreed.

On my first day with the crew, I made a 143-foot freedive on my first target attempt. They warned me against attempting anything deeper that day, but I pushed to 150 on the next dive anyway only to blackout 10 ft. from the surface. The quick reaction of trained professionals around me saved my life that day. I went home with a headache, but no worse for wear.

Soon after I decided I need formal training and enrolled in a local FII freediving course. The course is designed by world champion Martin Stepaneck. It was an awesome experience, because I learned how little I actually knew. It filled me with a true respect for freediving, and now I only dive with trained buddies who follow strict safety precautions. I don't recommend that anyone attempt my underwater shenanigans without proper training and assistance.

Check Back next week where I explain in detail the anatomy of a breath hold.

Surf Finally!!!

It's Been a pretty mellow winter so far here in Kona. We had one good bump a few weeks ago but nothing again until 2 days ago. I've been playing in the water and doing some shooting with incredible surf photographer Sarah Lee. Check out her website at Viviantvie.com  We've had a couple of the Odina Girls to use as muses along with the fleeting surf. We ended up with some really fun shot as well as some fun video. It got a bit heavy and meant losing a few boards, and me getting caught on the inside with a fun fight for my life. But it's all in the name of the sport. And let's face it, it's not everyday we get to have such visceral life experiences. SO for your viewing pleasure my first video post in a while. We also now have prints available online at http://www.jlambus.com

Mermaids are real

So after swearing off modeling photography some time ago, I’m back at it again. But with a new twist this time around. Underwater. Now, this poses a few unique challenges. First is location. The ocean can often be treacherous, and make it difficult or nearly impossible to enter and exit the water safely. A pool however may not be big enough, or the chlorine poses too caustic to your models eyes. The model of course is a huge issue as well. Above water, a lot of models can look good, but underwater this task can be a bit much for some folks to handle. Keeping their eyes open under water without looking squinty or too wide. Letting the mouth and nose fill with water as to avoid unsightly bubbles whilst smiling and looking up. Keeping themselves underwater , but maintaining their grace and pose. And of course holding their breath up to a minute at a time while doing all of this and remaining looking calm and relaxed. Many of my usual models would have a hard time with this. And many of the people I know who could do this aren't exactly model-type if you know what I mean. This past weekend I met with a local surf goddess, Donica. She got married some time ago and has decided to do some underwater photos in her wedding dress. After her first few photographer options fell through a mutual friend recommended me to her. And thus became our underwater photo shoot. I had seen other underwater dress shoots and I immediately decided I wanted something completely different. I finally decided upon shooting against a backdrop. I went to the fabric store in search of the perfect background. I settled on some very shiny satin, hoping the shine would remain once we entered the water. The next task was to figure out how I would hold the fabric agape. I made a large PVC rectangle and fitted the large piece of fabric over it. Seemed like it would work and be easy, alas there were some things I hadn't thought of. I met Donica and her husband Abraham at Kealekua bay one day when the dolphins weren't there to bother us and we began shooting. We had her go with a bikini instead of the full dress to start just to test it. The bikini was actually made by her, out of the left over materials from her wedding dress, so it was the perfect test outfit for exposures of the dress. Once we got into the water we realized our follies. Fabric sinks. Not fast, but it sinks. We had thought ahead and brought an Imagine Surf paddle board with us for flotation as a resting platform as well as something we could hang the pvc frame from. I also had my girlfriend accompany us to help in carrying props and fabric. If we had had even one less person this shoot would have been a disaster. As we opened up my backdrop and fitted the pvc together we realized the nature of our contraption. In the water the thing essentially became a drouge chute and drug our photo shoot all over the place. Every ten minutes or so we would have to stop shooting pull it out of the water, swim 100 yards and redeploy it. After about an hour of shooting we were becoming winded. More the model than me of course …. wink, wink. All and all I'd say it went well and we came back with some promising shots. Still a long ways to go but it's a start. More to come.

Fledgling

I recently got an email from a budding young photographer asking how my career started.  As I have gotten this question from many people in the past asking for advice, I thought I would post our email conversation for anyone who might have a similar interest in the way things started out for me.  Enjoy!

Also this is from an email correspondence so to read it in chronilogical order you'll have to start at the bottom of the post.

 Thank you so much! I'll definitely keep this all in mind as I set out on starting a career. And hey, who knows, maybe!

-Dylan

-----Original Message-----

From: Joshua lambus <jlambusphotography@yahoo.com>

To: Dylan -------------------@aol.com>

Sent: Sat, Jul 23, 2011 12:05 pm

Subject: Re: Question from a high school student

Well my first advice is don't do it! Ha, just kidding.... kinda. It can be very difficult to make a living doing photography, especially if you specialize in underwater photography. However, though I may not be a millionaire, I love being underwater, and I love showing people things they've never seen before.  And for that, I'll never quit doing what it is I do because I love it My real advice is to find a niche, and perfect it. At one time underwater photography was a niche, but with the onset of digital photography everyone and their mothers have an underwater camera. Now it's not enough just to be underwater, you have to specialize in something: Chris fallows... Great whites breaching, Eric cheng.... extreme macro, Howard shatz.... underwater modeling. Me..... night time pelagic plankton, The more obscure the better. You want to show people things they've never seen before, which all the above photographers have done. Find yours and run with it.  Anyway to answer your questions.... 1. Did you go to college? If so, what did you major in? No I did not. Well I did one semester... then dropped out and moved to Hawaii, thought I was going to major in education, (wanted to be a teacher). Not going to school worked for me but I do recommend school. Not only does formal training give you the technical skills needed to use your creativity efficiently, it also gives you the chance to meet some great connections that may help you later in your career. 2. Do you work freelance? This is how I started. I only recently moved to retail, selling fine art prints.  Free lance is what's going to pay the bills (maybe)  and allow you to travel. Sometimes you'll be doing things you don't want to do but it's worth it (maybe). I've shot for National Geographic, Sport diver Mag, LA times, Chicago Tribune, BBC,  etc..... If it doesnt make the money it's at least worth the exposure. 3. When you first started working as a photographer, where did you start working? I started in Houston, TX as a concert photographer.  I was too young to get into shows, so I got a press pass and started faking photographer. Turns out I was pretty good at it, and not only did I get to go to the shows, but i got to go backstage with artists, and get paid for it. I worked with a lot of free press newspapers before getting gigs with big magazines like Rolling stone. Hope that answers everything you needed. Take care and good luck in your career! Hey who knows maybe one day we'll be on assignment together. -Joshua Joshua Lambus J.Lambus Photography 74-5540 Kaiwi St. #283 Kailua Kona, HI 96740 808-989-9560 ><(((º>`·., A Submersed¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((º>¸.·´¯`·.View¸. , . ><(((º>`·.¸Of Life¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((º> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This e-mail message is intended only for the named recipient(s) above. It may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail and any attachment(s) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by replying to this e-mail and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your system. Thank you. --- On Sat, 7/23/11, Dylan -----------------@aol.com> wrote: From: Dylan------------------ @aol.com> Subject: Question from a high school student To: joshua@jlambusphoto.com Date: Saturday, July 23, 2011, 4:48 AM Mr. Lambus,  Hello! My name is Dylan ------------, and I'm a high school student from Los Angeles, CA. I found your work online and I think your work is breathtaking. I really want to pursue undersea photography and film in college and as a career and I was wondering if I could ask you a few really brief questions about what you do. 1. Did you go to college? If so, what did you major in? 2. Do you work freelance? 3. When you first started working as a photographer, where did you start working? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this; I really appreciate it!  Best, Dylan

Manta Madness!!!!!

I thought this was an interesting conversation on the manta report, I'd like to share with my followers: Emails have been excluded for privacy issues. Names are left to incriminate the "innocent".









On Sat, May 21, 2011 at 10:49 AM, John Haut wrote:



Aloha All,


Big manta counts lately. Lots of $$, boats, divers, and snorkelers!,
Is there any concern in the manta community/dive industry
with supplying an artificially high level of food to and possibly
contributing to an overpopulation of mantas? Could we see starving

mantas if /when the "manta ray night dive" ends and/or the plankton

populations are depleted?




However spectacular and marketable $$ this activity is, it seens to be an
unchecked and unnatural dependence on human interaction. What if some
legislator rightly or wrongly ruled that diving with mantas was verboten?
Would the current manta population survive without the "manta ray
night dive"?




John Haut












From: Keller Laros
To: John Haut
Cc: Manta Pacific . Org
Sent: Sat, May 21, 2011 10:56:22 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Friday May 13, 2011, Twenty Five Mantas @ Garden Eel Cove

Mantas also feed in the lights in front of hotels and restaurants like

Huggos, Four Seasons, Mauna Kea, Kona Surf. I've seen mantas feeding

at the light at Kailua Pier too. Hopefully some one wouldn't also

want all shore line lights turned out too. That could be hard for

business, navigation, safety. You name it.

Good point John.











_______________________________________






Me:






I have long pondered this exact same question, and was assured during a personal night dive at Two Step. We entered the water and surface swam out to the "aloha" where we dropped down. We saw 3 mantas feeding already in the area. Upon hitting the bottom I began having trouble with my lights, they were flickering on and off.... after a moment I realized that it was not my lights at all, but the amount of plankton converging in front of them blocking out the light. Before long I couldn't see anything. I've seen nights we call a 5 at the manta site, and this trumped that. These mantas were in a complete smorgasbord . We eventually had to call off the dive because the plankton was too thick. Point of my story is that we aren't "over feeding" the mantas. There is more than enough plankton elsewhere on the reefs they can be feeding on, and do for that matter, without our help. I'm confident these animals could survive our absence without much ado. With that said, certainly we are causing some kind of affect on the environment by becoming a part of it, whether it's a good or bad one, is yet to be absolutely determined. But think of the ramifications that could be caused by the abolishing of the manta dive, which is nearly the entirety of which our dive industry in Kona is based on. Without it, we lose not only the manta dive itself and the revenue it generates, but also the money these divers spend on subsequent day dives, hotels, food, groceries, rental cars, entertainment, and many more businesses on Island. How many of us, or our loved ones have jobs as purveyors, bartenders, resort workers, cooks etc. Without the mantas many of these divers would opt to dive the Caribbean and never get to see the wonders our island has to offer. This could lead to a lack of interest in conservation areas, marine management, and national underwater monuments. I think the attention the Manta dive brings to Kona helps not only it's people but also its underwater environment. Let's keep it up. Just my 2 cents.






-Joshua


Joshua Lambus
J.Lambus Photography
74-5540 Kaiwi St. #283
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
808-989-9560

><(((º>`·., A Submersed¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((º>¸.·´¯`·.View¸. , . ><(((º>`·.¸Of Life¸.·´¯`·.¸><(((º>
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This e-mail message is intended only for the named recipient(s) above. It may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail and any attachment(s) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the sender by replying to this e-mail and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your system. Thank you.

Keep the Country Country.

Today I head back home to Kona. It has been an exciting past few days, but I am very ready to be relaxing back on my quaint little island. It's been a few days since i've written because I've been running non stop. I graduated from my AFF class with flying colors. Get it? Sorry. And got in three jumps afterward putting my number of jumps up to 12 and my flight time at just under 10 minutes of free fall. It amazes me that there are guys that have literally spent over a week of their life falling through the sky. I hope to one day have attained such freedom and skill in the air. But for now I'll have to keep chipping away at it. I also ran the gauntlet of friends around the island. And stopped at a number of beaches bodysurfing and freediving all along the way. I'll be honest, This was my first real trip to Oahu. I didn't think I would like it very much, and while Waikikki was ridiculous, I felt very at home on the north shore. It's like a bigger Kona. Still country still laid back. And thank god for waikkiki. If it wasnt there all those tourist might spill over into the north areas of the Island.I spoke with a number of gallery owners about putting my work in the Galleries, and think I got  a few that are interested. I'll definately be making it back here more often now that I know I can handle it. But home is still Kona. And I suspect it always will be.

Carlin's not Dead!!!

Today I continue ground class with Clarence. Though I thought this the first time, I'm now convinced that he is george carlin in disguise hiding out in Hawaii teaching skydiving. I did my 3 tandem jumps over the past couple of days with only minor hitches. The first jump I lost my goggles and glasses and had a hard time finding the ripcord at pull time, which apparently is important. The instructor passed me though. And I went through the class with Clarence where he told us of all the ways we were going to die.... I'm paying to do this why? Tonight I got back to the hostel and met a fun group of guys that work in waikki at the beachside hostel, and were on a weekend vacation to the north shore. We are now heading across the street to bonfire on the beach and I'm taking my sweet time writing this blog entry but, i'm supposed to bring more beer, so I need to go.