ENRIQUE JARAMILLO

Enrique Jaramillo – aka EJ was born in Cali, Colombia (not Columbia) in 1969. As the son of a farmer and school teacher Mom, we would always spend weekends & summers at my dad’s farms where my parents taught me the value of hard work, enjoying the outdoors and learning about nature. From early years, I have enjoyed all water activities, water skiing, sailing, swimming, free diving and now scuba diving. In the early 1980’s I had the opportunity of visiting Gorgona off the coast of Colombia where my love for the water never subsided even though the island at the time was a jail.

In 2009 due to a job loss in California I moved to Florida and aggressively started my diving career. I had been certified in 1999 but sporadically dove here & there. My other (aka real) jobs have given me the opportunity to go diving in multiple parts around the world, but I have found out that Florida and West Palm Beach has one of the best and most diverse dive sites in the world. From the big sharks (lemons, hammerheads, spinners that we find during the winter months to tigers that appear in numbers around April), to 5 of the 7 species of turtles, cuddly manatees, and of course the colossal Atlantic Goliath grouper. This does not include any of the “above water” photography that is available throughout the state, or the world renown Blue Heron Bridge.

Through my underwater photography I strive to capture the essence of what I perceive and hopefully share with my non-diving friends and family. Nature offers us so much diversity and beauty that I will hopefully continue to make the greatest effort to capture these images for many more decades.