After the Digital Shootout, I will be heading to the National Aquarium in Baltimore! There I will be completing my DAN First Aid for Divers training. As a part of this, I have to complete online modules to be prepared for the in classroom portion of the class. With 32 chapters ahead of me, I had to take a decent amount of time on my last two days here to complete that. On Friday night, we had the much awaited competition. I felt proud of my submissions, but understood I was the least experienced photographer and still had much to learn in order to get on the podium of a photography competition one day. Russel, on the other hand, did so well in the competition! He got first in both macro categories, a second in a wide angle category, and the best in show image. It felt great to be surrounded by someone who is thriving in this industry, and I am happy that I was able to dive and learn from him this week. 
T
he video that Jim and Karin made where I was the subject for some shots, got second in the video category! That was super cool to be a part of. A lot of people won trips, cameras, and gift cards in the raffle at the end of the competition. My friend Bishoy won a $250 dollar gift card to ultralight in that raffle. He came up to me and told me he didn’t need anything else from their company as he already had a lot of arms and strobes and the pieces in between, and that I would get better use out of the giftcard. So, now I have money to go towards my own gear!! Thank you Bishoy! Below is the video that Jim made that I was a part of.
My time in Bonaire at the Digital Shootout was unmatched. The knowledge I gained here is priceless and I am so glad it was the first part of my internship. Now I can take these skills and apply them to all the other opportunities that arise. I am immensely grateful to everyone at Backscatter for providing me this opportunity. To Berkeley White for inviting me to the shootout and being a wonderful mentor to look up to. To Becca Boring for getting in contact with me prior to the shootout and always making sure I was set up with gear. And to James, Robin, and Thomas in the demo room for helping me switch out my lens everyday as I wanted to try something new. You are all tremendous people!
