Well instead of talking about general photography and bogging everyone down with too much technical jargon when it comes to the subject of scuba diving, oceanography, marine biology and environmental science. Let us take a different approach.
I would like to start with a more in-depth look at what this site is about…and yes I have done that before in a previous post a while back, I believe it was early last year if memory serves me correctly. but in that particular post I did not convey the message well.. and so not to bore you any further … let’s just get to it.
I would first like to start with what I am not …Meaning, instead of me just showing you a bunch of photos as a photographer and also showcasing my portfolio as just another photographer’s website or blog, I would rather give or attempt to give for that matter a sense of value and education about the many aspects which I have come across and learnt in my both recreational scuba diving activities and professional scuba diving activities, and how that relates to photography, underwater photography and the marine sciences such as Marine Biology and Oceanography.
Firstly, I am not a Scientist, I am more what you may want to call a Marine Science nerd when it comes to reading, writing and learning more and more on the subject of Environmental Science Marine Biology and Oceanography. I have done so for around 15 years now, yes I have collected many books mainly on Marine Biology and Oceanography and read many more articles in scientific journals related to the scientific disciplines, however, I am still just a Marine Science nerd or nut.
Another thing is that I am not an expert, both in underwater photography and photography in general, I believe I am just an experience of what happens to have many cameras and lenses, a tool photography is, any form of photography, a medium of the fusion of art and science, this is what I believe is the definition of photography
I am just me telling you what I know thus far in photography, underwater photography and the marine environment after 14 years of diving and 13 years of photography. I can add that I’m not the sharpest knife in the draw but I have a passion that I wish to share, educate and learn.
Moreover, I do not consider myself to be a subject matter expert, again I just have experience in underwater photography and happen to be a Scuba Diver and yes a Scuba Diving Instructor that does not me an expert, however, these are titles, what I know is context, substance and value I believe.
This is with a vast memory of experiences and situations ….forget job titles, there is just a way to classify things.
I will be sharing my experiences of being a Scuba Diver, Photographer and sharing what I know about the marine environment, marine life and our natural world and how it works in a rudimentary way.
On that note, if I may I will be most of the time writing about how all the diving and photography I have done after many years has taught me and how that relates to the marine environment and the marine species that I have photographed over the years.
So the best way I can do this is to relate many things to Environmental Science Marine Biology, and Oceanography while keeping with the overall theme of Underwater Photography, Nature Photography.
I will try to explain the many marine species in our oceans, however, they will be sub-tropical and tropical marine species I will be talking about, this is because nearly all of my underwater photography is photographed in Mauritius.
However I do photograph the many people, places and situations that have an intrinsic link with our oceans and seas, this forms part of the photojournalist side of me, one which keeps me connected to photography by the way of land-based photography.
Now this is important ….If I don’t have a photo I have taken of it I won’t talk about it, I will only ever discuss and explain the marine life subjects I have photographed, know about and read about and studied, that also goes to dive sites I have dived, if I have not dived it, I won’t talk about it.
The primary reason for this is simple. As many photographers know, and just in case you don’t know, one of the first and fundamental things about photography as a whole is you need to know your subject, meaning your photo subject.
So, in a nutshell, I ONLY talk about marine life species, places or dive sites I have ACTUALLY photographed and physically been to.
The second reason is that it is my firm belief that I can provide more context when relating or discussing a photo subject, mainly because I read about and photographed that subject.
You need to study the subject that you want to photograph, so when you know your subject you can predict its actions, get a feel about behaviour and know many characteristics, this pretty much goes for all types of photography but is somewhat pronounced when your shooting wildlife like photography underwater for instance.
I will also try to keep to the facts, what is known thus far, but explain some narratives in posts about the marine life species, places, and dive sites, but will always rely on solid proof and what the marine sciences say about a given subject. However, if I have an opinion I will share it.
Knowing, reading and doing many aspects of scuba diving with all these years of experience diving and photographing on land, reading many books on marine sciences and being a Scuba diving instructor lead me to many pathways, which was inevitably one path in the end.
To learn more and share that with anyone who either wants to listen and learn themselves or who has an avid or fond interest in underwater photography or photography and the marine environment and our natural environment in general.
As I have stated, if I can relate my photography to the scientific disciplines of Environmental Science, Marine Biology and Oceanography utilizing the photographs I have taken underwater and correlate that with the dives I have done, then I have done my job on this website.
Having prefaced that, Environmental Sciences and again how that relates to my personal experiences with it in the more land-based photography and nature photography will be from time to time a focus on this website. Of course, Environmental Science does also relate to many things, the sea and land, to me it’s all the same thing, it’s a natural environment with no borders.
Tomorrow I will write and subsequently post about the other sections on this website which are currently in the process of being put together by me these are the tabs at the very top of the page, I will let you know section by section what topics I will also cover which are camera and scuba diving related.
One more thing, all the photos are photographed by me and all articles are written by me. The only time that it’s not taken by me is in my profile photos in the BIO section and the ones on this page, however, they are taken with my cameras for my profile photos by other diversE
So I hope I have cleared the air on this website objective so to speak…I hope that I have explained my case well. Thank you for listening, much appreciated.
Linley Bignoux-English Teacher/ Photographer+Underwater Photographer 