December 2011
3 posts
Squid run at La Jolla Shores
The squid run in December, 2011 was the best many of us have seen in 10 years. It was back to the “old days” for me. Taking a tank out of the trunk of my vehicle, then making the long surface swim with my camera out to the edge of the canyon in the La Jolla Marine Preserve.
November 2011
5 posts
Fin and Blue whales feeding on krill
On November 3rd, we found blue whales and fin whales “busting through” krill at the surface off the San Diego coast. What a show!! At one point a fin whale and two blues punched through the krill together.
October 2011
2 posts
Torpedo Ray at the Cortez Bank
The Cortez Bank is known for giant waves that are ridden by the world’s greates big wave riders. It’s about 100 miles off San Diego. The top of the reef comes to within 21 feet of the surface. I spent 7 days there with a Nat Geo crew in late October, 2011.
September 2011
2 posts
Blue Whale Face
On August 7th we found blue whales doing mating behavior. That’s 2 males chasing one female. It’s frenetic and violent, with the animals changing directions often and swimming 25 knots at times! The activity involves lots of spashing and some breeching. It is very difficult to position a boat to get a shot. I did manage to get this image of one of the animals sticking its face out...
August 2011
6 posts
Costa Rica to San Diego in 15 days!
On July 24th I helped a couple friends skipper the 63 foot Mikelson yacht, “Destiny” from northern Costa Rica to San Diego in just 15 days! We ran pretty much 24/7, with a fuel stop in Acapulco and one in Cabo San Lucas. I had time to stop on some mating olive Ridley sea turtles along the way. I found one pair off northern Costa Rica, and another off Puerta Vallarta.
April 2011
2 posts
Mojave & Amargosa Deserts - March / April 2011
These are sample images from my California deserts shoot for The Nature Conservancy. Although it was a bit of a tough year for flowers, the desert gave up some nice opportunities for me! The Nature Conservancy preserves sensitive species and water resources in these areas.
March 2011
2 posts
Snow in the Anza-Borrego Desert
Rare San Diego County snowfall, carpeted Scissor’s Crossing in February, 2011.
October 2010
3 posts
Washington, DC and the Smithsonian
During the week of October 18th, I did some work for the French Embassy in DC, where I gave a series of presentations on marine life and photography as part of the “Kids Euro Festival”. Most of my presentations were at the Embassy’s large theater. I also introduced the film “Oceans” with Olli Barbe and Yvette Mallet of Galatee Films at the Smithsonian on the 19th. ...
Blue Whale feeding on Krill
I shot this image off the San Diego coast in early October, 2010. I have been waiting since 1988 for an opportunity like this. Although I did get a couple of very nice shots of blue whales underwater during the “Oceans” shoot, I did not get a “feeding” shot. This animal came under me, and I saw the krill ball it was going to eat. I kicked like mad to get in position for...
September 2010
5 posts
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
I shot these in a “tow pen” off the coast of Turkey in the Mediterranean. There were hundreds of fish in the net and a few were over 500 pounds. Two fish were between 900 and 1,000 pounds! Fish this large are rare now and most in this net were under 50 pounds. The eastern Atlantic strain of the bluefin tuna spawn in the Mediterranean and this is where they are targeted by the...
July 2010
2 posts
rare black jellyfish
Second week of July at the Los Coronados Islands. Finally got a chance on these guys again at the islands after waiting since 1988! These huge black jellies (Chrysaora achlyos) are only seen about once every 10 years. They were not even described by science till 1997. Randy and I had a pretty good two-day run on them. Absolutely stunning animals to be with in the water. I got stung pretty...
May 2010
2 posts
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Dave Reichert and Mark Thurlow film Atlantic Bluefin tuna during the “Oceans” shoot. Some of the tuna approaching 900 pounds were shot in a tow-net 5 miles off the Turkey coast in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately these tuna are targeted on their spawning grounds, resulting in a huge decrease in population and size class.
April 2010
8 posts
Cover of GEO
Getting in position to capture the rebreather diver directly under the manta at San Benedicto Island was a real challenge during the “OCEANS” shoot.
Most Published image from the OCEANS shoot
This shot of Dave Reichert filming the Chrysaora jellies at Carmel Bay has been used all over Europe, and by Disney in the US, to promote the “Oceans” film. Here it appears as a two-page spread used by “Photo” magazine in France. It may very well be the best image I shot on the 3-year job.
"OCEANS" premiere
Director of photography, David Reichert, and me at the April 17th premiere of OCEANS at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. I was also interviewed by Disney for the “behind the scenes” portion of the DVD release.
New OCEANS book!
The companion book for the movie is really gorgeous. They used one of my images on the cover and I have the full back cover. Almost 1/3 of the images in the book are mine. I worked on this project for 3 years. Thank you Galatee Films!!
February 2010
5 posts
Clear, blue water off San Diego 2/18/2010
This Mola mola was under a drifting kelp at the Nine-mile bank. The animal was very tolerant and let me get as close as I wanted. That’s not always the case with Mola mola…..perhaps one in 20 will let you shoot this close. Also had Pacific white-sided dolphins, 3 gray whales and a couple fin whales. Weather and water was spectacular for this time of year!
Disappearing Rock Art
Of course after a few hundred years of rain, beating sun and wind, ancient rock art becomes barely visable on many southern California panels. I recently did a job for an archaeology firm using Photoshop tools to make the subtle pigments come alive again. I am still experimenting and the image looks gaudy and posterized, but there it is alive again!
January 2010
6 posts
Surfers
These are some surfer images from Black’s Beach. Beautiful negative space at this local beach for sure!
