UWP: JEROME KIM

www.jeromekim.com

Name: Jerome Kim 
Nationality: Korean
Country of Residence: Philippines 
Organization/Level: SSI/Instructor 
Years Diving: 22
Favorite Dive Site/s: Anilao 
BCD: SeaQuest Pro QD, Scubapro Classic Plus
Regulator: Scubapro MK25/S600, Apeks XTX50, Mares, Bism
Dive Computer: Mares HD Icon Air, Suunto Stinger
Camera Set Up: Camera: Canon 5D Mark II; Housing:  Sea&Sea; Lenses: 100 mm macro, 15 mm fisheye, 17-40 mm wide-angle; Wet lenses: Subsee +5, Subsee +10; Strobes: 2 Sea&Sea YS 250 and 2 Inon Z240; 


Born and raised in Korea, Jerome Kim has been based in the Philippines for the last 12 years. One of the reasons why he moved here was for the diving. He considers Anilao as his favorite dive spot in the whole Coral Triangle because of the great macro opportunities. Coincidentally it was also in Anilao where he got his first taste of diving. In the early 1990's his parents had business in the country and he became the de facto tour guide for their visitors and business partners. One group asked him to bring them to Anilao and he tried out diving with them. 
He became a certified open water diver in Boracay and two years ago became a certified SSI instructor in Anilao. Currently he has logged over 1,300 dives and hits the water at least twice a month. He got into underwater photography around the same time he moved to the Philippines. By then he needed a new challenge when diving so he started off with film cameras. In 2006 he made the jump to go digital. 
Jerome is actually an architect by profession and considers underwater photography as just a hobby but he enjoys it immensely. He gets inspiration from Kay Burn Lim, Steve de Neef, Gutsy Tuason and Mike Bartick. He is able to translate his skills as an architect into designing the perfect shots underwater. He likes macro photography and taking photos of small critters. He is also a member of NUDI (Network of Underwater Digital Imagers) and has won a bunch of awards during NUDI nights, SNUPS (Splash-NUDI Underwater Photography Shoot-out) and competitions in Korea. 
Since he loves to shoot critters it is no surprise that Secret Bay in Anilao is one of his favorite dive sites. However he also enjoys diving in other location like in Oslob for the whale sharks and Moalboal for the sardines. Outside of the Philippines he enjoys the diving in Palau and Bali. Having spent so many hours underwater he has of course experienced some unnerving situations. He recalls one dive in San Agapito, Verde Island that had such a strong down current. It happened over a decade ago but he still remembers that the fierce current just dragged him straight down to 45 meters. He and his buddies had to scramble to find each other and regroup again.   
Despite those harrowing moments underwater, he still loves diving and taking photos. He is excited to see that more groups are taking the initiative to train local dive guides. He appreciates that they are able to find small critters, are trained on how to lead divers and also practice responsible diving. He has seen a lot of improvement in Anilao and wishes that other places in the Philippines will also follow suit. He hopes that more dive guides will be given the same opportunities and trainings in the near future. Some fun facts about his professional work in Manila are that he designed the Korean Embassy, Korean School, Korean War Memorial and other buildings. To find out more about Jerome and see his photographs, visit http://www.nudi.ph/ or attend one of the monthly NUDI nights.

http://www.nudi.ph

UWP: FATIMA MARTINS

Fátima Martins was born in Lisbon, Portugal on January 14th, 1965.
In 1987 she started working as a journalist for the national newspaper 'Noticias do Mar' as a freelancer, writing about the marine environment, and news regarding the ocean. She documented events above the water with her photos.

Her dream came true when she started diving in 1988, and took her first underwater photo with a Nikonos II camera, making use of natural light. 


Eventually, she began using the Nikonos III, with a homemade underwater strobe.


In 1990, she received a Sea&Sea Motormarine II with the Sea&Sea strobe as a Christmas present. Later on, she took advantage of the Nikonos V with the Ikelite strobe, which she used often, including her first national competition, which took place at Sesimbra in 2000.  Fátima was the first women to participate in an underwater national photography competition in Portugal.


In 1993, she became the first female national and CMAS instructor in Portugal. 
In 2003 she took part in her first workshop with Kurt Amsler. She used a Hugyfot housing for the Nikonos F100, handmade by Hugy himself, which she paired with Nikonos Sb105 strobes until March 2009, when she decided to change camera, and switched to digital photography.


Since then, she has used the Nikon D700 with the Hugyfot housing, Seacam strobes and Nikon lenses. She uses wide-angle lenses (16 & 20), zoom lenses (35-17 & 28-70), macro lenses (105 & 60) and a diopter (diron7) lens.


Fátima has dived in every ocean on the planet, and has taken pictures in numerous fascinating habitats. Her first diving trips out of the country were to Fernando Noronha in Brasil and Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles in 1991. Since then she has traveled all over the world to dive.


The most impressive destinations where she has dived were the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Socorro Islands in México, Gorgona Island in Colombia, the Coral Sea in Australia, Timor, Layang Layang in Malaysia, Lacadives in India and the Maldives. The most remote locations were in Pemba and Zanzibar in Tanzania, and a liveaboard from Bali to Komodo in Indonesia.


The funniest diving trip she had was in Nha Trang in Vietnam, and the unpredictable travel adventure she had to the Similan Islands in Thailand.


She has dived all over the coasts and islands of Africa. The country she likes the most is Mozambique. Nevertheless, she loves diving in her own country, which is inundated by the cold Atlantic Ocean, as well as the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas, Selvagens and the wonderful islands of the Azores.

UWP: RAFAEL COSME

    

www.rafaelcosme.com

www.easyfitdive.com

RAFAEL COSME

Born in 1977 in Spain, began diving in 1998.
In 2006, bought his first compact camera with underwater housing and started to click and take pics to show it to his friends.
Now participates in all national competitions. In 2011, finished second in Catalonia. Captain of the Catalan team in the league of underwater photography in Spain.
As you can see, with a compact camera can do great things.
She is fortunate to share this passion with his wife Petra.