This year marks my 35th as an underwater photographer and author. It has been an enjoyable and memorable career, and this seems to be a particularly good time to look back and reminisce about where I am, and how I got here.
It all started during the summer of 1977 when I arrived in Berkeley, began my graduate studies, and immediately enrolled in a scuba class. This turned out to be the first of three events that dramatically changed my life. Back then most of us were hunters, and we enjoyed the bounty of the Pacific Ocean – abalone, fish, lobsters and scallops. We had a lot of fun in the ocean and established lifelong friendships.
Upon graduation, I had a bit of time before starting my first “real” job and headed to Grand Cayman for my first warm water experience. The leader of the trip was Carl Roessler, the owner of See & Sea Travel. Carl convinced me that I would not like diving with him unless I had a camera. So I purchased a Nikonos, and he showed me how to use it. I went from never having taken pictures to getting my images published and winning contests. Diving with Carl was the second of my life changing moments, and I dedicated my first book to him.
The third moment occurred at the Seaviews scuba show in 1988. There I met Dale Sheckler and Darren Douglass at the California Diving News (CDN) booth. I, of course, was interested in writing for the magazine. Back then my work was published in a number of magazines, including Skin Diver and Ocean Realm, but I was looking for a regular gig. This started one of the longest relationships of my life, and CDN has used my work monthly ever since. CDN has given me the opportunity to explore new sites, and to capture images of sharks, curious seals, and outrageously colored invertebrates. In addition to my regular site reviews, the magazine has allowed me to express my views on environmental and conservation issues.
Over the years I have watched the ocean and diving change — some for the better, some not. Diving equipment has dramatically improved and made diving safer and more comfortable. Reliable computers replaced the Navy Tables and the infamous “bend-o-matic” — a mechanical devise that kinda, sorta mimicked the Navy Tables. Comfortable BCs replaced the old Mae West vests, regulators came with a backup second stage, and dry suits became popular.