I had a dream. It was something I have wanted to do for many, many years and it recently came true through a wonderful series of events. Back in 1993 when I was attaining my SCUBA certification, I had a dream to one day explore underwater photography. I had loved looking through ocean image books at the bookstore, and because I come from a marine background, I had an entire library of marine books showcasing fabulous underwater photography. As I would page through the books, I used to think to myself, “Hey, that would be pretty cool to do some day!” And as the years passed, it was always in the back of my mind as a goal I would like to acheive some day.
So that brings us to more recent times where I made the jump into “top-side” photography, capturing portraits, weddings, families, kids, you name it. But it wasn't until earlier this summer that I was introduced to a wonderful lady named Angelina Galindo. This glowing individual attended one of the SmugMug meetups that I help organize, and then we together attended the photography conference Skip's Summer School. As Angelina and I spent time together, I soon learned she was a fellow SCUBA diver. Not only a diver, but an instructor, egads! So without hesitation, I practically bombarded her one evening with emails asking questions about attaining my certification in underwater photography. Little did I know at the time, she had just participated in an underwater photography competition in Monterey and won a trip to Indonesia! So we secured a date for the classroom time, and then a day out at Lake Mead on her boat for the open water dives.
Now, I have to say to please excuse my novice attempt, but I'm pleased with what I attained on my first underwater photography adventure into murky Lake Mead, just outside of Las Vegas. Of course this is a warm-up to a masterfully orchestrated dive in pristine Caribbean waters where sharks, manta rays, yellow tangs and schools of clown fish will practically dance in front of my camera, but hey, a girl can dream can't she? I was very fortunate to utilize Angelina's top of the line equipment housing her Canon 5d. Thousands upon thousands of dollars of equipment were in my hands and I was not only shaking from the shear weight of the equipment in addition to all my SCUBA gear, but shaking out of fear of dropping her precious camera equipment into the deep abyss. Luckliy it was securly tethered to my BCD.
So here is an image I was able to capture on my first adventure with underwater photography. I have some big plans for some underwater shoots to take place in the near future, so stay tuned!
My instructor and dear friend, Angelina.
