JUDY TOWNSEND

Growing up in Miami, FL, I was around the ocean from a very young age. I learned to scuba dive in 1973 and soon after had a Nikonos II in my hand. My life took me to California for 10 years where I dove in Monterey and Carmel and fell in love with photographing the beautifully colored nudibranchs and other macro life. After moving back to Florida, I bought a Nikonos V which I used for many years before moving on to a digital point and shoot and then to my current camera, a Nikon D7000.

Over the years, I have traveled to many places around the world, photographing the diverse and beautiful animals of the sea. But some of my favorite dive sites and photo subjects are right here in South Florida. My current passion is blackwater diving where we travel by boat out to 400-600 feet of water at night and photograph the many bizarre and fascinating larval fish and critters that travel up in the water column every night to feed and avoid predators.