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I've just turned 40 and feeling older than all the youngsters joining the ranks in this wonderful diving industry, but I guess I can tell a few stories of 'way back when we did things differently'... I started diving in 1989 and in my early diving life I worked as a graphic designer for Barry Andrewartha at DIVE Log and Sportdiving.
My work gave me lots of time off without the high income so for about 3 years from 1990 I would drive from Melbourne to Merimbula every month and stay at the Divers Lodge, which was then purchased by Dave Warth (abalone diver) who turned a derelict block of units into the Divers Lodge of today. Dave was also a highly accomplished underwater photographer and soon he taught me the ways of the old timers... FILM.... light meters, manual strobes, get closer, get closer, he would say.
I dived Merimbula Wharf more than most people ever would have liked to... and eventually learnt the skills using a Nikonos 3 and a wide angle lens, and went thru hundreds of rolls of 36 exposure 100ASA Fuji slide film... golly, I just looked at those slides the other day, piles and piles of images, great memories but none of which really mean anything any more. Now it's all too easy with Digital.
Since 2002 I've used an Olypus 5050, Inon wide lens, AquaSea manual strobe with manual synch... what a great little system, and just recently, my 5050 worked just well enough to give me first prize, in the 'compact' category... I now use a D90 in Ikelite Housing. Yippee!!
Looking back over the last 20 years, who would have thought a trout fishermen would have become a diver, let alone an underwater photographer, but with it has brought many challenges and many wonderful friends. One such success story is the creation of SWAMP, our Melbourne-based underwater photography club... we started way back in 1992, sort of dwindled away a few years later and since 2007 have been going once again with 30+ underwater digital photographers. A great bunch of people who love their diving.
The amount of dive buddies I've had the opportunity to meet over the years is awesome, diving has taken me around the globe, seeing things most people think I've been crazy to even contemplate getting in the water with... without a cage!!
I've dived the Bahamas, southern California, most of Australia, Vanuatu, Solomons and Merimbula wharf I reckon 200 times.
My favorite dive sites are Tathra Wharf, Byron Bay and Port Phillip Bay.
My partner Miranda (also a diver) and I are off to Bali to dive Tulamben in 2009 and I hope we get to see many other fantastic dive destinations in the years to come. Everywhere I go I take a camera and most overseas destinations I also shoot a Canon MV1 video as well as stills, just in case that once-in-a-lifetime critter pops into frame!
I love my diving and the people I meet as I continue discovering the world that is 'Underwater'... if you ever see a fella wearing pink force fins... well, that'll be me!
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