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[iamjohnbamber]

What’s it like traveling during the pandemic?

Honestly, it’s quite pleasant. Here are my observations thus far:

- Apart from some people not taking it seriously, just about everyone was wearing a mask and maintaining distance. 

- Delta had ample hand sanitizer available, and required masks during the whole flight apart from eating/drinking

- Last Vegas itself doesn’t have all the usual stuff going on; no shows, certain things aren’t working (like the tram between Excalibur/Luxor/Mandalay Bay). 

- There seem to be a great deal of people here despite the pandemic. Checkin took a little while. 

- Delta had people scattered so everyone had an empty seat next to them, which was really nice. Plenty of room in the overhead bin too. 

- Apart from first class boarding first, Delta boarded the plane starting from the rear and proceeding forward. 

[iamjohnbamber]

Highlights from Dives in the ABC Islands

New #blog Post: Highlights from Dives in the ABC Islands - #scuba @padi @royalcaribbean #comeseek #freedomoftheseas #aruba #bonaire #curacao #diving #travel #vacation

I’ve just returned from a fabulous cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. We visited the islands of St Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. I’d been looking forward to diving in those islands, and am thrilled to share some of my pictures here.

I was shooting with a Google Pixel 4 XL in a Kraken Smart Housing Pro, and in general I think the pictures came out pretty well. There…

[iamjohnbamber]

New Years Resolutions & A Look Ahead

New #blog entry: New Years Resolutions & A Look Ahead - @wordpress #blog #life #newyear #happynewyear2020

Normally around this time of year I’d be putting together a slideshow of highlights from the past year. Usually it would involve vacation or diving pictures, and fun events that’d happened throughout the year. This year, I’m going to do something a bit different. Instead of looking back, I’d like to look ahead. But first, let’s just take a quick moment to look back.

2019 was an important year…

[iamjohnbamber]

My Decade Challenge 2009-2019

New Blog Post: My Decade Challenge 2009-2019 - #blog #decadechallenge #pictures #thenandnow

I had to get in on the “Decade Challenge” while I’ve still got some time this year. Instead of just showing one picture, I’m going to show a few… and, by a few, I mean…10!

So, without further ado, from 2009:

And now, from 2019:

A lot’s happened in 10 years!! Here’s to another 10!

[iamjohnbamber]

A finely-crafted cocktail to end another work day. #atx #moviehouseandeatery #tequilasunrise (at Moviehouse & Eatery) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5EQnVopvLY/?igshid=z562j2puxtpi

[iamjohnbamber]

Out & About: Downtown Austin

New Blog Post: Out & About: Downtown Austin - #atx #texas #photographer #lumixg9 #austin #shoplocal #supportlocalartists

It was a beautiful day in Austin today, so my friend Justin and I decided to go out and about with our cameras and find things to take pictures of. Since we weren’t interested in the ACL (Austin City Limits) festival, and most of those in Austin were, downtown wasn’t crazy busy. We started out on the Congress Ave. bridge where I got a nice shot of Lady Bird Lake.

We then headed up toward the…

[iamjohnbamber]

New Blog Post: Photographers Are People Too - check out my newest blog entry just hit the #linkinbio to read about #photography #scuba #technology and other #life stuff I write about over on my #blog https://www.instagram.com/p/B3NAufYpZpH/?igshid=cv1lbzhm9shs

[iamjohnbamber]

Photographers Are People Too

New Blog Post: #Photographers Are People Too - #atx #nikon #canon #lumix #pentax #shutterbugs

Photographers… we all love ’em, or we all hate ’em. Sometimes useful for capturing a moment in an often beautifully artistic way, sometimes a pain when on vacation and trying to snap a photo for a few (or a lot) of cash. At the end of the day, they’re still people too, and have feelings. I was thinking about some of the most common phrases said to me as a photographer that either shouldn’t be…

[iamjohnbamber]

Just got the first two rolls of #kodakportra400 film back from the lab. First shots with the new old #pentaxk1000 I picked up some time ago and they definitely came out great. Huge thanks to @precisioncamera for the swift developing. More pictures on my #blog just click on the #linkinbio - . . #filmphotography #photographersofinstagram #atx #pentax #filmcamera #kodak #fujifilm #ilford #notshotoniphone #picoftheday https://www.instagram.com/p/B3GEywSpHgs/?igshid=1o5o9lvcrdfp9

[iamjohnbamber]

First Pictures from the K-1000

New Blog Post: First Pictures from the Pentax K-1000 - #filmphotography #photography #pentax #k1000 #analog

A little over a month ago, I picked up a camera I hadn’t used in many years. I wrote about it in this post. It’s a Pentax K-1000, and it was the first camera I’d ever shot with when I was first learning photography as a kid. I shot two rolls of Kodak Portra 400 film, and finally have the developed pictures.

Here are some of the highlights!

There’s something really special about the look…

[iamjohnbamber]

Trying Out A New Camera

New Blog Post: Trying Out A New Camera - #atx #blog #photography #panasonic #lumix #lx100ii

For my serious underwater camera rig, I had based it around a SeaLife DC2000 camera, and the strobes it came with. Sadly, this rig has, for lack of any other words, “fallen apart.”

First, the camera went. Literally. It sank to the bottom of a deep part of Lake Travis, never to be seen again. It happened while I was out on a boat taking some casual pictures, without the strobes. I just had the…

[iamjohnbamber]

Diver + Pedicure = Self Care

New Blog Post: Self Care - #atx #blog #pedicure #pampering #treatyoself

My best friend Tina said “Self care is manditory”, and I couldn’t agree more. Who says it has to be boring?

Tina and I went for pedicures today, and I decided to go for something a bit different than my usual garden-variety blue toes. I let the diver in me have a little say… and I’m quite happy with how they came out!!

It was fun trying to explain this to the nail tech, whose English wasn’t as…

[iamjohnbamber]

2 Great Dives With Not-So-Great Visibility

New #blog post: 2 Great Dives With Not-So-Great Visibility - #scuba #diving #atx #laketravis #fish #scubadiving

I went for a few dives this morning with my good friend Mark, with whom I did my Open Water and Advanced Open Water certifications.  I brought the same camera setup with me as my previous dives, but silly me seems to have misplaced his dive light. I had to go without, which explains the overly-green hue of most of these images. I’ve learned one of the great things about underwater photography is…

[iamjohnbamber]

Aug 25th 2019 - Evening/Night Dive Pix

New Blog Post: Aug 25th 2019 - Evening/Night Dive Pix #scuba #underwaterphotography #diving @padi

Tina and I went for a few nice evening dives yesterday and decided the theme of the dives would be photography. Specifically, she said she needed some pictures of the zebra mussels for a project she’s working on. It’s a shame how bad the infestation is, but they do make for interesting subjects and backgrounds for existing fish. A lot of the fish were hiding, or weren’t feeling overly social on…

[iamjohnbamber]

Picked Up A New/Old Camera

Picked Up A New/Old Camera

Super excited to see how my first few rolls of pictures will come out!

View this post on Instagram

Found this classic at @precisioncamera in #atx – this #pentaxk1000 was my very first camera. Saw this and the price was right, picked it up and have already done some shooting with it. Will publish my film pix on my blog at iamjohnbamber.com once I have some to show. I’m super…

[iamjohnbamber]

I Actually Went Out on a Saturday Night

New Blog Post: I Actually Went Out on a Saturday Night

I had a fun time tonight.

One of my friends was going to a gay bar tonight with his friends for his birthday and he invited me to join. He knows I’m not into the bars/clubs scene but also knows I want to do things to get out of my comfort zone, so I graciously accepted the invite and went out, because it was his birthday. That, and he’s a busy guy so I hasn’t seen him in ages.

I was very nervous…

[iamjohnbamber]

Master Scuba Diver

New Blog Post: Master Scuba Diver - @padi @paditv #scubadiver #scuba #diving #scubadiving

I’m thrilled to announce that as of July 25th, 2019, I have earned the highest rating for recreational divers offered by PADI: Master Scuba Diver.

In order to attain this, one must have logged 50 dives, earned 5 specialty certifications, and also completed the certification of Rescue Diver. I did that…and then some.

I wrote about my journey thus far in an earlier blog post, aptly named “H…