When your boss asks “Want to go to St. Lucia and try out the new SeaLife camera?” the answer is always “Yes!” Lucky me, I was going to the beautiful Caribbean island with a brand-new camera! Not only did I have the opportunity to try the new SeaLife DC2000, but I spent a week with the in-house photo pro at Scuba St. Lucia and Anse Chastanet resort to get one-on-one underwater photography tips and critiques.

The week began with a couple of shore dives off the Anse Chastanet house reef to get familiar with the camera and underwater scenery of St. Lucia. On the first dive alone, we were greeted with plenty of underwater subjects from lobster to curious eels. Each day after consisted of two morning boat dives and an afternoon classroom session of photo critiques and a specific photography lesson for the day ahead. This structure allowed me to take on a new underwater challenge each day, with time to focus on macro photography, wide-angle photography, model photography and night-diving photography.

Rather than just go diving with a camera, every day had a purpose and allowed me to explore the full capabilities of the DC2000. From the macro-focus option to the custom white balance, I was impressed with the wide range of settings for such a compact camera.

For the photographer who relies on a preset point-and-shoot mode, the DC2000 features an underwater setting that doesn’t require adjusting. But for the more advanced photographer, there is still the option to shoot Manual and adjust shutter speed, ISO and aperture. There are also preset white balancing options for green water and deep water, as well as the option to create a custom setting. The DC2000 shoots in both RAW and JPEG modes, so for the shooter who is looking for more advanced capabilities, the ability to shoot in RAW allows for more fine-tuning in post-production.

As someone who has been interested in underwater photography for a while now, I am always eager for the opportunity to expand my skills. What I found most helpful about the photo instruction each day was that after reviewing the day’s photos, we made a plan for the style of photography we would be shooting the next day and talked about potential shot setups and ideas.

Diving with Scuba St. Lucia from the Anse Chastanet resort couldn’t have been more simple. It was just a short walk from my room to the dive shop, where and I was met by the boat crew and captain on the resort beach each day. I carried the camera, they carried my gear and we were off to the dive site, which was never more than a 15-minute boat ride away. In true Caribbean style, the calm, warm waters make for the ideal setting to pick up underwater photography or enhance skills. With sites like the wreck of the Lesleen M perfect for wide-angle shooting — and many shallow reef sites like Fairy Land, full of macro critters — there was a variety of photography subjects for the budding underwater photographer to choose from.

Most surface intervals were full of Piton photo-ops, and because the DC2000 camera is waterproof up to 60 feet out of its housing, it’s easy and convenient to use one camera for topside and underwater shooting.

SeaLife Cameras will be hosting two photo instructional weeks at the Anse Chastanet resort in 2017— those dates are listed below. Find out more about the event weeks here.

• The remaining 2017 event weeks are November 11-18 and December 9-16.