UWP: RAINER SCHIMPF

www.expert-tours.com

Rainer Schimpf is a South African based underwater photographer and videographer with a focus on marine life. 

He is particularly known for his work capturing images and footage of various marine species, including sharks, dolphins, and whales. 

Rainer has been involved in the diving and marine photography industry since 1990, and he has gained recognition for his contributions to the field.

Winning several international environmental Photo awards, including Kudu Award South Africa, Jury Price Antibes, Africa National Geographic and more. Also, he has witnessed first orca predation on common dolphin in 2018. He is known to be the only person been swallowed by a whale in 2019.

He is passionate about photo and video, he has a Tour Company (Expert-Tours.com) catering for Photographers and Filmer’s in many destinations around the world. The advantage is he puts the clients first and makes sure of best angel and conditions as well as most amazing action for the shoot.

UWP: TONY LUDOVICO

 

www.tonyludovicophotography.com

TONY LUDOVICO

Tony began his underwater career as a videographer. His hobby while he was a victim of the real world was spear fishing. He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to find a way to share his experiences with others. Because having someone follow him with a camera was not ideal, it led to his development of an underwater camera that he mounted on the top of his head with a box containing its components nestled into a modified pocket on the leg of his wetsuit. This prehistoric system, dubbed the Activ-Eye, was what he used to film his first DVD called Spearfishing in the Palm Beaches. His hobby turned into a paying job when he was hired as the underwater videographer for the Television Show Reel Adventures. Tony wasn’t satisfied though until the day that he took his first underwater still photograph. He felt that a video or clip was easily forgotten, but a picture was tangible and remained in the mind.

In true Tony form, he strayed from the mainstream in his method of capturing underwater images. A bit of an artistic purist, he left anything that would alter the behavior or appearance of the underwater world on land and entered the ocean with only the air in his lungs and a camera with no flash. By only using ambient light and holding his breath for up to four minutes at a time, he is able to blend in and capture the sea life in their true form, behaving as they normally would; allowing him to show the world a glimpse of what it is really like to be the proverbial “fly on the wall” under the waves.

Years of hard work and perseverance have paid off for Tony and his dreams have come to fruition. The fine art and the fishing communities alike quickly took notice to his unique style of photography. The drastic difference in the audiences that his images attract is itself a conundrum, but is also a perfect demonstration of how Tony’s individuality shows through his art. When you look at Tony’s images, you are not just seeing a fish or a pretty reef, you are experiencing the pure and unadulterated underwater world, captured… one breath at a time.

Tony Ludovico 

UWP: ROBERT STANSFIELD

facebook.com/robert.stansfield

https://www.instagram.com/bobtec

https://www.instagram.com/blackwatercozumel

Robert Stansfield, multi-award-winning macro photographer from the UK who has been diving and taking photos underwater since 2000. For the last five years, he has been based in Cozumel, where he dives regularly and is now pioneering one of Mexico’s first and longest-running blackwater dives.

Robert started out taking basic underwater images with a small compact camera on a dive trip to Indonesia but was inspired by other photo pros to pursue the activity further and combine his love of image making with scuba diving as a full-time career. He is now a brand ambassador for the new housing manufacturer Marelux, SUPE Scubalamp, a regular contributor to the Spotted Eagle Ray Caribbean Project, and founder of the Blackwater Cozumel Project, which sees him spending most of his time diving in deep water at night in pursuit of unique underwater images. So, it will come as no surprise to find his portfolio teeming with alien-like larval and juvenile pelagic critters that look like they came down from outer space.

When he is not diving, Robert is also a keen volleyball player who is partial to a good cochinita taco. It certainly seems like he is perfectly suited to life as an underwater photographer in Mexico, so if you find yourself in Cozumel and have never tried blackwater diving, be sure to get in touch and let him introduce you to the bizarre creatures of the abyss.