"I'm moving gently forward over the wild and beautiful unexplored world below me.
Above me, there is nothing but shimmery light; the place from where I come and where I will go back when I am done here.
I am diving."
Adapted from Bridge to Terabithia
Philosophy
Even prior to scuba certification in 1995, I was fascinated with the seductive beauty of the marine world. It's been a privilege for me to spend much of my free time attempting to capture that beauty with photography. When I spent my workdays as a geek in a cubicle at Intel's mobile communications group, I would 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 affect this precious world.
Everyone wants to know about equipment, so the following, in gory detail, describes what I use and have used in the past. I began with a Nikonos V and a single SB105 strobe in 1997, which I would merely carry around with me on dives. After an inspiring trip to the Solomon Islands in 1998, I decided to get serious about photography, and started using a Nikon RS in 1999. This system was a breakthrough for me into the world of macro without framers. I did love my RS, but it was a heavy beast (7 lbs negative in the water!) and had a limited selection of lenses. Having two systems would provide some redundancy in case of floods or equipment failures, and would also allow me to have wide angle and macro setups available to me at all times, which would facilitate choices based on the dive conditions at the moment. Thus I acquired a Nikon F100, and Subal housing, as well as a Subeye Reflex amphibious camera. The Subeye accomodates RS lenses, with the advantages of their superior water contact optics, and could also use Nikon land lenses along with a port. I started dabbling with Nikon digital SLRs in 2003, first with a D100, and progressing through the D2X, D300, D700 and D800. I'm currently using a D810, and have used digital for most of my shooting since accessibility to E6 film processing evaporated in remote locations around 2008. My current second system is a D7200, but I've also started migrating to use of Sony mirrorless, as in the A7RIII, as the mirrorless camera capabilities continue to become on par with DSLRs.
I have taken Canon 5D and 7D DSLR underwater systems on dive trips, but I found that they did not work as well for me as the Nikons I've been using for underwater, for various performance reasons. I did find the 5D worked adequately well for my topside use, on a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
I've migrated through several different models of strobes and now primarily use Inon strobes, though I do also currently own Sea&Sea YSD1 strobes. I have some interest in the new Retra strobes as well as the Inon 330, both of which are more powerful strobes than the ones I'm currently using. Additional power can be an advantage in some wide angle lighting situations. I'm a convert to optical sync for strobe control and no longer use electrical strobe sync these days. Optical sync has been working so reliably for me that I no longer bother to add electrical sync bulkheads to my housings.
Current equipment:
Nikon D810, Nauticam housing with Nauticam and Subal ports
Nikon D7200, Nauticam housing with Nauticam and Subal ports
Sony A7RIII, Nauticam housing with Nauticam and Subal ports
Nikonos 15mm lens can be used with the A7RIII housing with an adapter
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, 14-24mm and 70-300mm for topside use, as well as an array of Lensbaby lenses.
Sony FE lenses include Sony 90mm macro, 24-105mm, 12-24mm
Inon Z240 and Sea&Sea YS-D1 strobes
Light & Motion Sola 800 and 1200 spotting lights
Handmade and ULCS trays and handles, ULCS arms, locline handmade arms
Various filters (warming, ND, polarizing filters, as well as Magic, green and magenta CC filters for digital use with WA underwater)
For topside, an Olympus OM-D EM-1 with various lenses and lensbabies, which I've recently had LifePixel convert to IR
I also play with vintage Russian lenses, Mamiya 6, Holga 120N, Diana medium format and Lomo cameras, as well as add on lenses for my iPhones. I discovered my dad's old Minolta Autocord TLR in a storage box, and had it cleaned and repaired. And I love playing with Lensbaby lenses, and own almost the complete line of current and past lensbabies.
Older equipment that I still own but rarely or never use anymore:
Nikon F100
Subeye Reflex, RS 20-35mm, 28mm lenses, Nikon land lenses, macro and wide angle ports
Nikonos V, 20mm, 15mm, 35mm, macro extension tubes and framers
Hartenberger Nano and Fisheye FIX spotting lights
Heinreichs external TTL adapter
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
Past equipment, gone but not forgotten:
Nikon D800, Nauticam housing with Nauticam and Subal ports
Nikon D300, Seatool housing with Subal port adapter, Subal ports
Canon 5D with (borrowed) Subal housing
Canon 7D with (rented) Nauticam housing
Canon SLR lenses include Canon 100-400mm, 24-105mm, 100mm
Sea and Sea YS250 strobes (borrowed)
Olympus OM-D EM-5 (topside only)
Nikon D700, Sea and Sea housing
Nikon D2X, Subal ND2 housing
Nikon D100, Light and Motion Titan housing, Subal port adapter
Nikon F100, Subal housing, macro and fisheye ports
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
Keeping this list here, although I became somewhat disillusioned with the value of entering photography competitions, and so I stopped submitting images to contests in 2009. I do still fulfill queries for image use upon request.
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
