Hosts of The Surface Interval Show - Andrew Bowie, Bear and Des Paroz


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About BlueBeyond.com.au

BlueBeyond Concepts operates the BlueBeyond.com.au website. We focus on providing information regarding the underwater world, through articles, photography and courses and workshops regarding scuba diving and photography.

The People of BlueBeyond

Des Paroz is an avid scuba diver and underwater photographer. Des is a PADI Course Director and an Instructor Trainer with PADI TecRec, EFR, DAN and AUSI. In 15 years of diving, Des has been fortunate to have dived in such exotic places as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Thailand, Malaysia, Queensland’s Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef, the Florida Gulf Coasts and the quarries and lakes of Ohio and Indiana. The temperate water diving of NSW holds a special place for Des, and he and Belinda dive most weeks around Sydney, the Illawarra and beyond. Des is also producer and co-host on the scuba diving podcast The Surface Interval.  Des holds a masters degree in marketing, a degree in Economics, a Diploma of Outdoor Recreation and a  Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.

Belinda Briggs has been diving for more than 10 years, and is a PADI Master Scuba Diver and EFR Instructor. Belinda has dived extensively around Sydney, the Illawarra and Nelson Bay, and has tropical diving experience in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Belinda has also had the unique experience of snorkelling in Antarctica. Belinda holds a degree in linguistics and a masters in criminology and Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.

Photographic Equipment

Currently, most of our photography is done with a Nikon D200 SLR in an Aquatica housing. Lenses used include wide angle (10.5mm Fisheye), macro (60mm) and zoom (12-24mm, 24-85mm and 70-300mm). Lighting is provided by a range of strobes, including a pair of Inon Z220S’s, a Sea & Sea YS-60/N and a Sea & Sea YS-30/Duo.

Over the years we have used a variety of camera equipment, including the ever-popular Nikonos V. For SLRs we have used housings from Ikelite, Sea and Sea and most recently Aquatica. The Ikelite housing is a terrific product, but the lack of a superwide dome port proved to be a limitation now that I am trying to improve my wreck and under/over photography, both using a fisheye lens requiring the superwide dome. The Sea & Sea is lovely product for the Nikon F80, but for the D100, we felt that the Sea & Sea product was too bulky and expensive. So we changed over to Aquatica, a product we have found to be both excellent and affordable. We have stayed with the Aquatica product as we’ve migrated to the Nikon D200.

About BlueBeyond.com.au

What you see is the 5th Generation version of the BlueBeyond.com.au website. This version is built using ModX , which makes it easy to manage and operate, through a web interface. The photo galleries are currently hosted at Flickr, a Web 2.0 style service that allows you to easily upload and manage your images, and to retrieve them to display on your own site. I will be rebuilding the galleries in this site shortly.

Images have been prepared for the site using Apple Aperture, Apple iPhoto, Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Environmental Statement

As avid divers, we believe we have a role to play in being ambassadors for the marine environment.  It is a misnomer that our planet is called Earth - we really should be called "Ocean".  It is becoming clearer everyday that the survival of our species (and those around us) is dependent on the health of the planet - particularly its oceans and its atmosphere.  

There is scientific consensus that our planet is under severe threat brought on by Global Climate Change.  The Greenhouse Gases we're releasing into the atmosphere are a major cause of global warming, and are also causing acidification of our oceans.

If we don't do something about it, the long term viability of our society and the environment may be threatened.

We believe that every individual can be part of the solution.  To this end, we have made the following changes as part of our efforts

  1. We practice responsible diving on every dive.  We don't aggravate marine life, and we practice proper buoyancy control.
  2. We participate in beach and underwater clean up activities
  3. As a dive instructor, Des promotes awareness in all courses, and actively promotes Project AWARE activities
  4. We purchase carbon offsets for our household electricity usage, vehicle usage and airline flights.
  5. We have changed to energy efficient lighting and water usage at home, and make an effort to switch lights and other electrical outlets off when not in use
  6. We have decided that we have bought our last petrol cars.  Des is driving a clean diesel vehicle, and future car purchases will be clean diesel or hybrid vehicles.
These are just some steps.  We hope you'll also take steps to do your bit!

Mailing Address

Blue Beyond Concepts
PO Box 3202
Bangor, NSW 2234
Australia

Phone: (02) 91149226
Fax: (02) 42530052