Photography Home
My primary interest in photography resides primarily in the underwater realm, and the first 20 sections contain images taken from this very special world. I also find land-based nature and travel images very appealing and the last 4 sections contain photographs from the world above water. Some of my pictures have appeared in calendars and won awards, and several are to be found in my travel articles (see travel writing).
Most of the underwater photographs were taken using the Nikonos V camera system. While difficult to master, this system was able to produce great photographs. It has been discontinued for several years now along with most other non-digital systems. The images were captured on 35 mm slide film—Fuji Velvia 50 for macro (close-up) shots and Fuji Provia 100F for wide-angle shots. One of the tricks of underwater photography with slide film is selecting the right subject and composing it properly, given that you are limited to 36 exposures per dive. Another interesting challenge is trying to save one shot in case a special subject appears on the way back to the dive boat; an occurrence seemingly guaranteed if an exposure is not saved.
Digital systems capable of providing many more shots per dive reduce the need for selectivity. Although this affords more flexibility it can inadvertently result in less emphasis on composition, the rationale being that if enough shots are taken of a given subject at least one should be good. The ability to digitally manipulate photographs after the fact further reduces the need for selectivity and composition skill in the shooting phase of the process. The slide film photographs presented here have not been manipulated other than for cropping in a few instances—They are as they were taken. Digital photographs only have fairly limited modifications applied to them. I have arranged the images by subject with some of the marine species organized by phylum. Although the purpose of this site is not primarily commercial, high-resolution copies of the images are available at a reasonable cost (email by going to contact form). Please enjoy the pictures as much as I have.