May2016
Smile
71
PHOTOSBY
TOMMYSCHULTZ
D I V E F O R
WHATLIESBENEATH IS
ABREATHTAKINGAND
MAGICALWORLD—BUT
SHOOTINGUNDERWATER
COMESWITH ITSOWN
SPECIALCHALLENGES.
BALI-BASEDTRAVEL
PHOTOGRAPHERTOMMY
SCHULTZTELLSUSHOWTO
GETTHEMOSTOUTOFOUR
SUB-AQUATICWORLD
A
lmost 100yearsago, pioneering
National
Geographic
photographerCharlesMartin
riggedaraftwithamoundofhighlyexplosive
magnesiumflashpowder (read: bomb)and
set thewhole thingoff to lightupfishysubjectsonlya
fewmetersdeep.Noneed torisksingedeyebrowsor
accidentalfish fry thesedays—even the tinycameraon
yourcellphone, properlyencased, isbetter than thefirst
digital cameras
NatGeo
used in theearly2000s.
Thefirstunderwaterphotos Iever tookwereshot in
2004withabasicCanonElphpoint-and-shootwhile
workingasaPeaceCorpsvolunteerwith theSilliman
UniversityMarineLaboratory inDumagueteCity,
NegrosOriental. Inever imagined that littlecamera
wouldgetmemyfirstpublicationwith
NatGeo
and
lead toa full-timecareerofexploring theworldasa
photographer.
Since then I’vespent thebetterpartof the last 12years
takingphotos insomeof themostbeautiful reefson
Earth, andeverything I’ve learnedover that timecanbe
summedup infivesteps.Ready to take theplunge into
betterunderwaterphotos?Readon…
