"I'm moving gently forward over the wild and beautiful unexplored world below me.
Above me, there is nothing but shimmery light; the place where I come from and will go back to when I am done here.
I am diving."
Bridge to Terabithia
Philosophy
Even prior to scuba certification in 1995, I was fascinated with the beauty of the marine world. It's been a privilege for me to spend as much free time as possible trying to capture that beauty with photography. As I spend my workdays as a geek at Intel's ultra mobility group, I dream of the weird, wacky, and jeweled creatures of the ocean. I've been carrying a camera with me underwater since 1997, and take great pleasure in sharing some of these magical moments on my website. I believe that the ocean is making a precarious transition, and the marine world as we know it may not exist a relative few years from now. Please treasure it as I do, and consider the ways in which we influence and impact this precious world.
Everyone wants to know about equipment, so here it is in gory detail. I started out with a Nikonos V and a single SB105 strobe in 1997, which I merely carried around with me for a couple of years. After an inspiring trip to the Solomon Islands in 1998, I began to get serious about photography, and purchased a Nikon RS in 1999. This was a breakthrough for me into the world of macro. I loved my RS, but it was a heavy beast and had a limited selection of lenses. I also wanted to have a backup, and having two systems would allow me to have wide angle and macro setups available to me at all times, facilitating choices based on the dive conditions. I acquired a Nikon F100, and Subal housing, as well as a Subeye Reflex camera. The Subeye accomodates RS lenses, with the advantages of their impeccable water contact optics. I've dabbled with digital SLRs since 2003, first with a D100, then the D2X, D300 and D700. I'm currently using a D800, and have used digital for most of my shooting since accessibility to E6 film processing in remote locations became scarce.
We have a Canon 5D DSLR, and I also briefly owned a Canon 7D DSLR, both of which I used underwater on trips, but I found that I did not like using them as well as the Nikons I've been using for underwater use, for various reasons, though I did find the 5D worked adequately well for my topside use.
I've migrated through several different kinds of strobes and now primarily use Inon strobes, though I'm experimenting with borrowed Sea&Sea YS250 strobes, and want to try the YSD1. I'm a convert to optical sync for strobe control and only use electrical strobe sync these days when forced.
Current equipment:
Nikon D800, Nauticam housing with Nauticam and Subal ports
Nikon D300, Seatool housing with Subal port adapter, Subal ports
Canon 5D for some topside shooting
Subeye Reflex, RS 20-35mm, 28mm lenses, Nikon land lenses, macro and wide angle ports
Nikon F100, Subal housing, macro and fisheye ports
Nikonos V, 20mm, 15mm, 35mm, macro extension tubes and framers
Nikon SLR lenses include Nikon 105mm VR, 60mm, 17-35mm, 20mm, Sigma 15mm FE, Tamron 2X teleconverters, Tokina 10-17mm FE. Nikon 28-300mm, 28-105mm, 24-120mm and 70-300mm for topside use, as well as a Lensbaby.
Canon SLR lenses include Canon 100-400mm, 24-105mm, 100mm
Inon Z240 strobes (used with electical connectors for film cameras, electrical or optical connectors for Seatool housing)
Light & Motion Sola 600, Hartenberger Nano and Fisheye FIX spotting lights
Heinreichs external TTL adapter
Subeye, handmade, and ULCS trays, ULCS arms, locline handmade arms
Ikelite digital and Sekonic light meters
Films I use include Fuji Velvia, Velvia 100, 100F, and Provia 100F, Kodak E100VS, TMax B/W 100 and 400, and Agfa Scala B/W
Various filters (warming, ND, polarizing filters, as well as Magic, green and magenta CC filters for digital use with WA underwater)
I also play with Mamiya 6, Holga 120N, Diana medium format and Lomo cameras, as well as a tiny Canon SD300 digital, for shooting while cycling. I just discovered my dad's old Minolta Autocord TLR in a storage box, and had it cleaned and repaired. And I love playing with a Lensbaby lens, which gives similar effects to the toy cameras.
Past equipment, gone but not forgotten:
Canon 5D with (borrowed) Subal housing
Canon 7D with (rented) Nauticam housing
Sea and Sea YS250 strobes (borrowed)
Nikon D700, Sea and Sea housing
Nikon D2X, Subal ND2 housing
Nikon D100, Light and Motion Titan housing, Subal port adapter
Nikon RS, 50mm, Aumann teleconverter, and many marine floats :)
Ikelite SS200 and SS50 strobes
Nikonos SB105 strobes
Sea and Sea YS120 strobes
Nikon N90s (topside)
Pentax Superprogram (topside)
Olympus OM2S (topside)
Canon AE-1 (topside)
Inon Z220 and Z220s strobes
Ikelite DS125 strobes
Light and Motion Mod Light
Awards and publications
I stopped submitting images to contests a few years ago, due to lack of time, and also after not being able to make use of several of the trips I had won as prizes. I will still fulfill requests for image use as I have time, and may yet enter the contest circuit again, if circumstances change.
2009 Underwater Images International Photo Competition - First Place Wide Angle
2009 Nature's Best Ocean Views - Winner
2009 Scubadiving Magazine Photo Contest - 2nd Place Wide Angle, Finalist Macro, Finalist Marine Life
2009 Wetpixel/OWU International Photo Competition - Honorable Mention Macro Unrestricted
2008 Bilikiki Cruises Slideshow Contest - Winner
2008 LAUPS International Photo Competition - Honorable Mention Macro
NCUPS SEA 2008 International Photo Competition - Third Place Advanced Macro
2008 Beneath the Sea International Photo Competition - Honorable Mention Macro/Close-up
NCUPS SEA 2007 International Photo Competition - First Place Open Digital Macro
