The Art of Exploration

Tony Myshlyaev · Issue 87, Nov/Dec 2015 · pp. 45–51

Products mentioned: Nikon D700, SUBAL ND700 housing, 16mm f/2.8D, 105mm f/2.8D, Inon Z40, 50mm f/1.8D

Having fallen in love with underwater photography, I am fortunate enough to be in the water almost every day. You hope that all your preparation will produce some results. With each success you begin to gain more confidence in your abilities and push yourself to produce even better images. As the stakes raise you hit plateaus on your progress. Favorable subjects become increasingly harder to find as your standards rise. When I reached this point, I felt I was losing my inspiration. It may have been time to take out the credit card and book a trip to Indonesia. Instead I began to explore more of the island I already knew. I realized it is almost impossible to see the entire underwater landscape and always being limited to dive sites you are familiar with can take away from the inspiration you need to produce great images. What lurks beyond visible range? It is a fact that, if you look, so…