Kirk Kilfoyle

I have been diving for about 15 years in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.  A few years ago I left the freshwater lakes and offshore oil rigs of the Texas gulf coast and headed to Fort Lauderdale to begin graduate school at the NSU Oceanographic Center.  As my PhD field research activities began taking me further abroad, I decided it was time to begin documenting some of the incredible experiences I was having underwater.  About 4 years ago I started out with a Sony DSC-N1, which served me well for a time, but I soon realized the need for something with more versatility and better performance.  A couple of years ago I upgraded to a Nikon P5000 with an Ikelite housing and DS-125 sub-strobes.   I would say that I really “cut my teeth” as an underwater photographer with that rig.  Last year I took the plunge and acquired a Nikon D200 and Subal housing.  To say this has changed the game and enabled me to take my photography to a new level would be a vast understatement.  

While most of my diving experience has been closer to home, in recent years my career has enabled me to travel to Australia, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Hawaii, Palau, the Philippines, Tanzania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands with my rig.  And I must say, as much as I love our backyard here in Florida and the rest of the Caribbean, the Indo-Pacific is definitely opening up new worlds for me! 

Since joining SFUPS I have been inspired to keep shooting as often as possible and improve my skill level.  As far as subject matter goes, I love shooting whatever I come across.  From macro to wide angle, there is virtually an endless supply of great subjects to shoot out there.    I really enjoy the feeling of anticipation while downloading my images following a great dive…wondering if I got the shot and thinking about how I could improve upon it on the next dive.   Now whenever I go diving without my camera, I feel a bit incomplete…like there’s something missing!

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