Alert Diver Category: Imaging

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.

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.

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.

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, […]

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.

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 […]

Michael Aw’s early life while growing up in Singapore — he didn’t see the ocean until age 17 — gave few clues that he would one day become one of the most influential print journalists in destination diving and ocean conservation. The author of or major contributor to 43 books, Aw created Ocean Geographic magazine in 2007 and also leads expeditions, often to exotic regions. He now hopes to raise awareness of the folly of shark-finning and the overexploitation of our marine resources.

AS I FLOAT IN THE SOFT DARKNESS of a flooded cave, a tunnel leading away from me catches my eye. Like a mountain trail, the passageway offers spectacular views, physical challenges, and exhilaration. As I exhale into the water, I feel a dissolution of self. My goal as a photographer is to convey that sensation in a photo.

Action cameras are a common compact solution for capturing great video and occasionally stills. With multiple camera brands and plenty of available accessories — including filters, lenses, and lights — it has never been easier to get great footage.

Underwater photographers usually evolve a specialty, but the first fork in their road typically involves defining an interest in either photographing natural history — marine life in particular — or concentrating on editorial and commercial work that inevitably involves photographing people underwater. Photos of charismatic marine life help tell the story of a dive destination or might be used for photo décor or stock photography. Compositions that illustrate people interacting with marine life bridge both disciplines and combine each approach’s rewards and challenges.