No 6 “Inspiring Shooters” December 02 2015

 Cover by David Doubilet

FROM THE PUBLISHER

I have been working in publishing for the past 25 years and in the dive industry, as part of the media, for over 15 years, and I’ve always been closely involved in the editorial content of our publications.

Underwater images from around the world were my greatest inspiration for this amazing journey, and I now work with incredible photographers and their extraordinary art, every day.

I believe these images tell stories, every one different. Each image also addresses the ocean from a different angle. Some are purely artistic, some concern science or history, and some, most importantly, hold a conservation message.

What I love about these images is that wherever in the world they were taken, they were all shot underwater, reminding us that we are all connected – we all inhabit the same Ocean Planet, sharing the same love for the ocean and its creatures. 

In putting together this Through The Lens Special Edition, we wanted to celebrate the underwater photographers that have created just some of these breathtaking images – our pick of 122 inspiring shooters you should know.

But what an impossibly difficult task! First, we came to the decision to focus exclusively on photographers rather than videographers (though we couldn’t help including one or two of the latter). Second, we realised that we wouldn’t be able to include images for everyone – there simply wasn’t space in the magazine – so we aimed to provide a varied range of styles and subjects instead.

There’s no question that there are many incredibly talented people whose names could also be included here. Our final selection was the result of a very difficult process, and we are sure that many of you might have made different choices. But the list is not intended to be definitive, or some kind of ranking of talent (it is organised alphabetically). We simply wanted to showcase as many inspiring underwater photographers from around the world as we could, based on our experience.

Here we present you 122 photographers, featuring 17 legends. From old school to new school, from east to west, these are people who have inspired others, who pioneered techniques or styles, pushed boundaries, or simply consistently produced incredible work. We should know about the great photographers behind the pictures, to inspire the next generation of great shooters, and to celebrate the ocean through images.

John Thet (Publisher)

 

CONTENTS

10 LEGENDS AND PIONEERS
Presenting 17 shooters that have changed the game for underwater photography

1–2. Hans & Lotte Hass 3. Bruce Mozert 4. Luis Marden 5. Jacques-Yves Cousteau 6. Charles Martin 7. Ernie Brooks 8. Stan Waterman 9. David Doubilet 10. Bates Littlehales 11–12. Ron & Valerie Taylor 13–14. Michele & Howard Hall 15. Paul Nicklen 16. Brian Skerry 17. Akira Tateishi

22 INSPIRING SHOOTERS
A showcase of 105 inspirational underwater photographers that should be on your radar

1. Eduardo Acevedo 2. Imran Ahmad 3. Kurt Amsler 4. Michael Aw 5. Roland Bach 6. Laurent Ballesta 7. Franco Banfi 8. Mike Bartick 9. Rico Besserdich 10. Daniel Botelho 11. Todd Bretl 12. Jett Britnell 13. Fred Buyle 14. Seth Casteel 15. Giorgio Cavallaro 16. Eric Cheng 17. Cathy Church 18. Brandon Cole 19. Amanda Cotton 20. Bill Curtsinger 21. Ellen Cuylaerts 22. Ethan Daniels 23. Jacques De Vos 24–25. Anna & Ned DeLoach 26. Christian Dimitrius 27. Matt Doggett 28. Todd Essick 29. David Fleetham 30. Jürgen Freund 31. Tobias Friedrich 32. Stephen Frink 33. Lynn Funkhouser 34. Mauricio Handler 35. Jennifer Hayes 36. Jill Heinerth 37. Shawn Heinrichs 38. Paul Hilton 39. Yoshi Hirata 40. Tim Ho 41. Zena Holloway 42. Jason Isley 43. Henry Jager 44. Darren Jew 45. Steve Jones 46–47. Burt Jones & Maurine Shimlock 48. Elena Kalis 49. Alex Kirkbride 50. Noam Kortler 51. Emory Kristof 52. Gregory Lecoeur 53. René Lippmann 54. Viktor Lyagushkin 55. Robert Margaillan 56. Richard Meng 57. Todd Mintz 58. Adriano Morettin 59. Alex Mustard 60. Amos Nachoum 61. Chris Newbert 62. Flip Nicklin 63. Chuck Nicklin 64. Gianni Pecchiar 65. Doug Perrine 66. Thomas Peschak 67. Wolfgang Poelzer 68. Scott Portelli 69. Norbert Probst 70. Tim Rock 71. Nuno Sá 72. Anders Salesjö 73. Andrew Sallmon 74. Nicholas Samaras 75. Howard Schatz 76. Douglas David Seifert 77. Christian Skauge 78. Michaela Skovranova 79. Harald Slauschek 80. Matthew Smith 81. Marty Snyderman 82. Mark Strickland 83. Bartosz Stróżyński 84. Yorko Summer 85. Indra Swari 86. William Tan 87. Werner Thiele 88. Vincent Truchet 89. Scott Tuason 90. Takako Uno 91. Pasquale Vassallo 92. Mike Veitch 93. Carlos Villoch 94. Allison Vitsky 95. Christian Vizl 96. Michele Westmoorland 97. Berkley White 98. Keri Wilk 99. Todd Winner 100. Aaron Wong 101. Stephen Wong 102. Wu Lixin 103. Norbert Wu 104. Tony Wu 105. Alexey Zaitsev

(This list is not intended to be definitive, nor is it a ranking. This is simply presented as a selection of inspiring underwater shooters, from around the world, arranged alphabetically by surname.)

89 PHOTO CLINIC
Jason Madsen

93 NOVICE
GETTING GREAT WIDE-ANGLE BLUE
By Joel and Jennifer Penner
Learn how to get great blue water backgrounds by using manual settings

98 INTERMEDIATE
MASTERING COLOUR
By Alex Mustard
Get the colours in your image to “pop” by working with filters and gels

102 PRO
PERFECT UNDERWATER PANORAMAS
By Justin Gilligan
Stitch your images together to create stunning underwater panoramas