STACY GROFF

I learned to dive in 1994, in a cold quarry in southern Pennsylvania. My father was a divemaster with the Baltimore Police, and he put me through the certification course with his police officer friends. I spent my teenage years diving on vacation with dad recreationally. I took a break, but found myself in West Palm Beach after college and got back into diving. My husband is also a diver.

I really got bit by the diving bug in 2013 and immediately started travelling and taking every class we could. I am now a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (working on IDC Staff), certified through tec45, a TDI Full Cave diver, but above all I have fallen in love with underwater photography. I dove a compact Sealife DC2000 camera happily until going to Lembeh in 2017. After that trip I jumped off of the photography cliff and now dive a D500, Nauticam housing, and Inon Z330 strobes. Mostly I shoot with a 60mm and a Tokina 10-17, but recently have added a 105mm to my toolbox along with some diopters and a homemade flashlight snoot.

By “day” I work in hospice administration. UW Photo has been my zen place where the normal world disappears. I love sharing images of the underwater world with those who cannot see it, and with students to have them appreciate the macro critters that exist through a magnifier so that they may truly understand the need for good buoyancy and bottom awareness. I currently reside in Sarasota, FL, but make frequent trips to the BHB and worldwide for travel.