I became an open water diver on my honeymoon when my wife and I were in Fiji in 2014. However, it wasn’t until a few years later, in 2019, when we went to Bonaire and completed our Advanced Open Water that my wife and I became hooked on the activity.
Wanting to pursue the hobby further, I went to Tempe’s No Limits Scuba to become a Dive Master as I had plans to become a diving instructor. During my early dives, I realized I wanted to create memories of everywhere I went and everything I had seen, so taking a camera with me became a necessity.
I bought my first camera in 2021, an Olympus TG6 in the Olympus polycarbonate housing, taking it on two trips. Almost immediately, I realized that my visions of what I wanted to capture underwater were more than the camera could handle, and I upgraded to an Olympus EM1 Mark 3 in a Nauticam housing. All the images in my gallery were taken with this camera. I have recently upgraded to the OM1 Mark II in a Nauticam housing but have yet to put the camera to use underwater.
I took classes, did workshops, read books, and began building my skills. Slowly, my images are improving. So far, my favorite places to shoot have been the Red Sea, Bali and Fiji, because these areas offer so much biodiversity and interesting subjects to shoot. Planned for later in 2025 is another trip to the Red Sea, and then a second trip to Tulamben in Bali and finally in November my first trip to Lembeh, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Time underwater is limited, I research the dive site and the creatures I may encounter as I believe this is paramount to creating good images. I try to have an idea about the image I am hoping to create before the dive, because I cannot change my lens underwater. I also try to be ready for the unexpected, as you never know what you may encounter. My amazing wife, Jen, helps me scout for macro subjects and is also often the model in the background of my wide-angle images, this is a work in progress as communication is difficult underwater.
I live in Phoenix Arizona and enjoy being a member of SFUPS. I hope to attend an in-person meeting in Florida one day and put some faces to the names.