Beyond Black

OUR UNDERWATER WORLD IS FULL OF VIBRANT COLORS, interesting patterns and textures, and fascinating creatures. It’s a wild place that is unpredictable and simultaneously harsh and harmonious. Taking a camera into that world allows us to record snippets of beauty in ways that help us tell various stories. Learning to use your camera effectively takes […]

colorful sealife

Masters of Blackwater

Most blackwater divers agree it only takes one good dive to hook you. The idea of jumping off a boat at night, miles from shore, with only a few lights to guide your way might sound terrifying, but the experience is unlike anything our imaginations could conjure.

Mike Bartick: Blackwater Beckons

My catering business in California was going well, but the more it grew, the more I was stressed and wanted to be underwater. Diving and photography were cathartic, and I kept coming back to Anilao in my mind.

Photographing Cetaceans 

Capturing good pictures of whales is among the most rewarding photographic experiences an underwater photographer can have. These majestic and charismatic creatures evoke wonder, and the time spent with them will likely be unforgettable. The environments where you find them, however, along with their sheer size and elusive nature present challenges.

Humpback whales

Snapping Turtles

THE ANCESTORS OF MODERN SEA TURTLES shared the oceans with ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs during the late Jurassic period 150 million years ago. Their descendants now inhabit reefs and oceans around the world.

Transforming Ocean to Art

David Doubilet said it first and best. “He uses boundless imagination and a keen eye to peel back the surface and expose a world that is beautiful, bizarre, and wonderfully unexpected,” Doubilet said about Alex Kirkbride’s remarkable underwater photographic journey through all 50 states for his book American Waters.

leopard seal

Teamwork in the Depths

Imagine yourself aboard a dive skiff on a tropical blue sea, getting ready to dive with legendary underwater photo pros Marty Snyderman and Michael Aw and extremely talented masters of the genre Tanya Griffin Houppermans and Vijay Raman.

green sea turtle off Dumaguete in the Philippines

Close-Focus Wide-Angle Photography

Most of our experiences in digital photography are somewhere between one end of a spectrum and the other. Underwater photographers often make an either/or distinction when describing how we shoot, […]

Banggai cardinalfish in Lembeh, Indonesia

Chuck Davis: The Blue in Black and White

I knew Chuck Davis’ photography long before I met the man, so interviewing him revealed a wealth of fascinating information. One of the most surprising things I learned is that Chuck shot on film all the black-and-white images featured here and processed and printed them in his darkroom.

A school of blue rockfish

No Plan B

Van Morrison dropped his 34th album, Born to Sing: No Plan B, in 2012. David Fleetham, now 48 years into his career as a professional underwater photographer, reflects on that […]

manatee