In my view, there is no form of photography more challenging, more difficult, and more fascinating than underwater photography. Beyond mastery of photography itself, the underwater photographer is faced with challenges that include: acquiring and maintaining a high degree of physical fitness, the acquisition and use of highly specialized camera equipment, acquiring and maintaining exceptional diving skills that require mastery of a specialized area of knowledge through years of experience, long-range planning to access often remote and distant locations, and the execution of a complex set of skills. Masters of this discipline have to deal with something that surface photographers don’t even think about — staying alive in a sometimes alien and dangerous place!

Phillip Colla is a master of all these skill sets and his images are the product of years of dedication and resolve. A visit to his website is a feast for the eyes, with thousands of splendid images that have recorded many rare and unusual species that inhabit the underwater world. Equally adept at photography above the surface, Colla is a master of images found in our natural world.

Phillip describes himself as a natural history photographer and writer. He focuses on wild marine animals, the California kelp forest, inhabitants of remote eastern Pacific islands, National Parks of the American West and, more recently, waves and bears. He is fortunate to have visited many spectacular terrestrial and underwater settings as well as to have encountered a variety of threatened and endangered animal species in the ocean. His photography has appeared in the pages of BBC Wildlife, National Wildlife, Ocean Realm, Ranger Rick, Geo, Nature’s Best, Reader’s Digest, Skin Diver, the New York Times and National Geographic books, has been used in various advertising campaigns, is on display in the American Museum of Natural History as well as in many aquaria in the United States and abroad, and is occasionally recognized in photographic competitions.

His portrait, shows him standing on Mesa Arch which he describes as his “head shot,” stating that he is shy! Can one image a guy who has touched a Great White Shark in the wild as “shy?”

(Note: Images displayed with this interview are copyrighted © material and may not be reproduced without the consent of the author, Phillip Colla.)

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Lockhart:

You have done extensive work underwater. What are the obstacles you have faced in doing high-quality underwater photography?

Colla:

“The expense is considerable. Shooting underwater involves a level of investment a step above most other types of photography. Not only does one need to have a high quality still camera, but a sturdy housing with costly, optically correct glass port is required. One or more submersible strobes (flash units) are typically used. If you thought your Canon or Nikon flash unit was expensive, check out the price of a single, high powered submersible strobe. On top of this, there is the constant risk of flooding all that equipment, so backup cameras, lenses and strobes are necessary. As any underwater photographer with experience knows, it is not a matter of if the equipment will be flooded, but when.

“Travel requirements are similar to most terrestrial photography, but with larger and heavier luggage. Once on site, one must get underwater and stay there long enough to gather good photos. That is both the fun part and the hard part. Personal fitness, training and technical preparation, and support from the boat crew are important. It is not difficult to learn to dive, and the transition from simply diving to diving with a camera is easy and natural. However, some subjects and settings, particularly those involving marine mammals, large sharks or rough water, require a level of fitness and comfort in the water that most people will not attain.

“I must admit, it is harder for me to get excited about hopping in cold water these days than it was for me 18 years ago when I began diving.”

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Lockhart:

What equipment do you use in doing underwater photography? How does the equipment differ with doing your other work?

Colla:

“For underwater photography, where I am completely submerged, I currently use a Canon 5D camera with a variety of lenses – the 24mm f/2.8 is my workhorse – in an Ikelite housing with a few Sea and Sea submersible strobes. My emphasis in underwater photography is on using wide lenses, from fisheye to 24mm. Fisheyes are great for underwater landscapes in which distortion is not a problem; there are seldom any straight lines in an underwater scene. 20mm is a good focal length for whales while 24mm is my current choice for sharks, seals, people and other animals. In order to make a sharp, contrasty photograph underwater, especially in hazy or dark water, the distance between the camera and subject must be minimized to remove the water’s blurring effect. Ideally, I want to shoot a car-sized subject from just a few feet away, and a whale-sized subject from 10-15 feet away. Wide lenses are the only way to accomplish this. I use only primes underwater. (Zoom lenses have varying nodal points which, considering the virtual image and curved field created by the glass dome through which the lens is used, make for a poor choice if sharpness is a concern.) Occasionally I will use a 50mm or 100mm lens to shoot small creatures in a macro setting, where I can be a foot or less away from them, although these days I have so little time to dive that I can’t afford to waste it on small stuff.

“For photographing waves in the surf zone, where I am only partially submerged, I use a Delmar housing with a Canon 1D Mark IIN body and 15mm fisheye. This setup is held at arm’s length above the water and aimed hail mary style. Although these “splash housings” have viewfinders, using the viewfinder to frame a wave that is about to break on you will produce a black eye more often than a good photo! The photo I keep taking, and with which I am not quite satisfied yet, is the view from inside a wave looking out. It is tight quarters in there, so a fisheye is the only way to effectively convey what’s happening with all the moving water and all that bright morning sunlight bouncing off the water as the wave folds over me. The moment when the photograph must be made passes so quickly that the only hope I have to capture it is to fire machine-gun fashion, which is why I purchased the IIN. This, and shooting my daughter’s soccer games, are the only two occasions on which I use the IIN.”

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Lockhart:

How much planning and coordination does it require to photograph a unique species underwater?

Colla:

“Planning is governed primarily by the location and water conditions, and whether a boat and crew are needed as opposed to doing it solo or with a shooting partner. For distant locations that can only be reached by boat, and which require substantial time and financial investments, we will want to live in the boat on the water for 10 to 14 days if possible, and that requires planning a year or more in advance and coordination with the boat operator and crew about the itinerary, permits, diving equipment and, most importantly, food. Diving in the Galapagos islands is a good example of that. For locations closer to home, sometimes little or no planning is required beyond a look out the window to check the weather and a phone call to my friend to see if he can join me on the water. On such a day equipment might consist of just a single camera in a housing, wetsuit, fins and a diving mask, sunglasses and some food in the cooler, a full gas tank and a 6am departure from the dock.”

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Lockhart:

What one species have you photographed underwater that is rare and unique?

Colla:

“Several species come to mind: blue whales, false killer whales, ocean sunfish, white sharks. The one I have had the most fun photographing, and which is seen less frequently than any of those mentioned so far, is the Guadalupe fur seal. Formerly ranging along most of the Pacific coast of the United States and Baja California, they were nearly exterminated by sealers during the 1800’s. For about twenty years they were actually considered extinct by the scientific community. Recovering from a small group of survivors at Guadalupe Island, their population is now on the increase but still essentially endemic to a small number of islands offshore of Baja California. Very few people dive with these fur seals – the islands where they are found are distant and the waters they inhabit are crawling with white sharks. I am one of the few people in the world that has had an opportunity to spend enough time diving with them, over quite a few years, to really photograph them well. They are quite special to me and I have enjoyed every hour I’ve spent in the water observing them.”

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Lockhart:

Was there anyone (i.e. other photographers) who influenced your work, and what was it about his or her work that inspired you?

Colla:

“Flip Nicklin, whose photographs of whales grace the pages of National Geographic, is amazing. I have an appreciation for how long one must spend on the water, and how patient one must be, to achieve good photographs of whales, so I know a good whale photographer when I see one. Flip Nicklin is peerless in this regard, the best in his field. Howard Hall, who is a master of both still photography and motion pictures, is known worldwide for his awesome underwater IMAX films. With his first book Within a Rainbowed Sea, Christopher Newbert set a benchmark for coffee table books that very few photographers, above or below water, have approached since. Among other accolades, Newbert’s book was selected as a Presidential Gift of State for the Reagan Administration. Doug Perrine is not only a hardworking, successful and enormously well-rounded marine photographer, but he is such a humble guy that you might never guess that he was named the 2004 Wildlife Photographer of the Year. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting each of these fellows and really admire them all.”

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Lockhart:

Have you done any formal training in photography, or are you self-taught?

Colla:

“Self-taught, and learning all the time. I pay attention to photographers I respect, listen to what works for them technically and what doesn’t, and try to incorporate that understanding into my future efforts. I also enjoy viewing the work of photographers who display their images on websites and forums, particularly those at Naturescapes.net which has many exceptionally talented photographers contributing. There is a tremendous amount of quality information about photography available online, and a sharing of tips and recommendations that allow someone with little experience or few connections to be more successful in making good photographs. Combine that with amazing cameras, and the time required to become technically proficient today is much shorter than it was “back in the day”. As well, photographic techniques cycle in and out of fashion it seems, allowing newer shooters a chance to pick them up. Case in point: I took my first “zoom blur” photograph as a teenager in 1977, probably influenced by some master photographer’s zoom blur from a previous decade. It is nice to see the technique really coming back in style again the last several years, seen in the creative work done by top wildlife photographers using blur to achieve abstraction and painterly views. I am relearning the blur photograph, déjà vu all over again.”

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Lockhart:

What is your favorite/most used post-processing technique (unless this is a trade secret).

Colla:

“When I switched to digital, I wasn’t really happy with anything I shot until I began to exploit the RAW format, with all that it allows as far as color adjustment, recovering shadows and highlights, HDR-type techniques from a single image, and all that. So I would say the most important post-processing technique I have begins before the shot is taken, by considering ahead of time what I might be able to do with the RAW files I am about to produce. Any particular post-processing tricks are secondary to the underlying mindset that I must capture as much detail and information in the RAW file as possible when I shoot the image, so that I can optimize it later.”

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Lockhart:

On your photographic journey, did you go through different phases?

Colla:

“I never set out to accomplish anything in particular with a camera other than to enjoy memorable experiences and capture them on film. What I have photographed has been largely reactive, a combination of the particular opportunities that became available to me as well as the places I have visited with the small group of friends with whom I enjoy diving. One phase ended for me in the last eight years or so: I grew tired of “tank diving” and have largely given up using SCUBA gear, preferring the more streamlined and liberated approach of free diving and, when necessary, breathholding to get to my subjects. Another phase began at some point in the 90s when I turned a corner and went pro, in the sense that I made a decision to get my images into print and producing income. Nevertheless, photography is still motivated first and foremost by the fun and adventure of producing striking images.”

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Lockhart:

When you find your subject to shoot, are you usually looking for something to enhance it?

Colla:

“I think my style of photography is akin to that of a portrait photographer. I like to isolate an animal from distracting elements and portray it without complication, so that it can be appreciated just for what it is. When photographing animals in the open ocean this is practically unavoidable, since there is nothing but clear blue ocean water around the subject. However, on a crowded reef or in a dense kelp forest it is often hard to compose a photograph of an animal without it becoming lost in its surroundings. The last few years I have been fooling around above water with a 500mm lens and having fun making photographs of bears and birds characterized by those buttery smooth, out-of-focus backgrounds that lend themselves so well to beautiful portraits. However, underwater portraits of largish animals require wide lenses where nearly everything is in focus, so I cannot drop the background out of focus as easily as I can with the limited depth of field of a topside super-tele. Instead I have to search for backgrounds that do not compete with my subject. There is an apt saying among underwater photographers: find the background you are looking for and wait for something to swim into it.”

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Lockhart:

How do you see your photographic future, what do you dream about?

Colla:

“I hope to find something new to get excited about every few years: something to get the juices flowing, to make me want to grab my camera and go snap some shots. Lately for me it has been brown bears and waves, but I’ve had some good looks at both of those now and am starting to feel a little antsy. I’m looking for the next thing to get hooked on. I think maybe it will be colorful tropical reefs, the ones loaded with spectacular color and endless schools of crazy-looking fish. Antarctica looks pretty interesting too, with all that clean white landscape and brutal conditions. I have also been interested in learning to fly an ultralight and shooting the coast of California from the air.”

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Lockhart:

Do you have any specific photographic experiences that were of a wow factor and will remain with you forever?

Colla:

The first time I was buzzed by a mother whale and her calf up close – that was powerful. Touching a great white shark – we’re not supposed to touch the animals but I just had to do it. Riding manta rays hundreds of miles off the coast of Mexico. Finding myself in the middle of a resting group of sperm whales. Seeing a sailfish swim up to my wife and me and raise its sail. Having a seeming river of hammerheads pass overhead, without end, dive after dive in Costa Rica. I have had many unforgettable moments on and in the ocean and consider myself quite fortunate.

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Lockhart”

How important is photography to you besides any financial gains?

Colla:

“Photography gets me out there, and motivates me to stay out there longer. I spend more time in the water, and witness more amazing things, than I would if I was just sightseeing. Photography is a hell of a lot of fun, a deeply satisfying pursuit, one that has allowed me to accumulate a visual record of my experiences of which I am really proud.”

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Lockhart:

If you would change what is now your favorite subject in photography, what other subject would you really like to follow?

Colla:

If I had to give up photographing animals and the ocean, I would immediately find the best pilot I could afford, one who was comfortable flying low over water and ice, and start shooting from the air with medium format digital. I’ve done just a little of that and want to do a lot more.

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Lockhart:

Can we have a link for our members to view your work on the Internet?

Colla:

www.OceanLight.com. My website has been around since 1997 and currently receives about 1.5 million visitors a year. I do no traditional marketing and make virtually no submissions aside from those that are invited by editors. I add about 3000 new images to the website each year.

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Lockhart:

And finally, what message would you send to the visitors of our blog and in general for any new or fairly new photographers?

Colla:

Just shoot. Try crazy stuff with the camera in an effort to find an image that has never been seen before. Chimp the LCD after a shot to see what works and what doesn’t. Be brutal with editing – get rid of the junk and only keep what you feel is really worthwhile. While it is important to make note of what experienced photographers have to say, don’t spend too much energy trying to understand how others have achieved their photos or what they claim the rules of photography are. Shoot in a manner that is fun, with subjects that interest you, and try to make good photographs from that basis.

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Thanks to Phillip Colla for taking the time to respond to my questions. I am indebted to him for allowing me to display some of his works here. Please do take the time to visit his website. Phillip has earned my respect for his diligence and skill. I shall long be inspired by how he has used his life to find light that dances everywhere, including within the depths of our oceans worldwide.