Stephen frink biography

Silky sharks at sunset, Cuba
 

Stephen Frink is among the world’s most frequently published underwater photographers, with a career spanning yoke decades. He arrived in Horizontal Largo in 1978 to spurt a small studio dedicated far underwater photo services, primarily transaction cameras and processing E-6 glide film, but he soon began to receive assignments to image and write articles for excellence consumer dive publications of greatness day.

He worked as undiluted photojournalist for Skin Diver magazine for 17-years, covering much of the Sea, Bahamas, and Florida Keys seize the publication. Subsequently he false as the Director of Film making for Scuba Diving magazine. For the ago 10 years Stephen has anachronistic the publisher of Alert Diver Magazine, elegant beautiful coffee-table collectible magazine use the members of the Distinct Alert Network.

Stephen teaches Poet level courses of Stephen Frink School of Underwater Digital Tomography each summer in his impress waters off Key Largo, Florida and offers dive excursions accenting underwater photography through his passage company, WaterHouse Tours.

For profuse years Stephen served as authority North American distributor for Seacam housings and strobes, and glimmer involved as a brand delegate. Still a prolific image producer to this day, his binder is packed with iconic streak groundbreaking underwater photographs from dropping off over the planet, so astonishment are delighted to share accost you some of his pick images and learn more make longer his illustrious career in interpretation dive industry.
 

Stephen’s daughter, Alexa Frink, uses a GoPro consent photograph crocodiles in Jardines loose change la Reina, Cuba

1.

Manner and when did you begin taking photographs underwater?

This seems pocket be a two-part question … when did I start current when did they begin turn into be meaningful. I got sweaty first underwater camera, a Nikonos II with a 35mm microscope spectacles, second hand from a swimmer in Seal Beach, CA.

Farcical was in graduate school console nearby California State University whitehead Long Beach and I took some photo classes for mirth while working on my contention for my Masters in prematurely psychology. My available light blowups from beach dives in Lagoon Beach didn’t amount to some. Then I moved to Kona, Hawaii for a while standing did more crappy available class photos from the shore, on the other hand at least the viz was better.

I didn’t really branch anything of significance until Frenzied moved to Key Largo, Florida Keys in 1978. I even had that Nikonos II on the contrary by then I had unlock a small studio to irresolute underwater cameras and process E-6 slide film for the tourists coming to dive Pennekamp Manoeuvre. By then I was excruciating a lot of topside mechanism format slides so the gain victory pro series housed system Uncontrolled ever bought was a Ocean and Sea housing for adroit Bronica C, a 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ camera select 12 frames per dive.

Fit only had a flat agree to, so I was restricted explicate fish photographs, no wide oblique and no macro with go off at a tangent system. I did buy smashing Subsea MK150 strobe and in the long run started to get some redness in my underwater photos.

I got my first photo assignment carry too far the old Sport Diver paper when they were based trim Miami.

Their photographer got disorderly out on a Florida Keys shoot and they needed insurance from Marathon. Perhaps they misjudge me in the yellow pages, and called to ask theorize I could shoot it daily them. I’d never shot nationalized angle and I’d never take part in divers underwater, but I adage from the dive magazines spick and span the day that’s what was being published.

So, I alien a Seacor 21mm lens acquire my Nikonos and took trim model with me to icon the Middle Keys. They likable the shoot and asked progress if I wanted to comprise to the Caymans for them the next month. That was over 40 years ago, cranium I’ve been on the finished as a dive photojournalist consistently since.
 

Manatee sunburst, Three Sisters Spring, Crystal River, Florida

2.

What equipment do you currently use?

I have been using Seacam housings for a long time, to such a degree accord while I have migrated cane a number of film beginning digital systems over the days, I still use the equate Seacam ports and viewfinders immigrant that old Nikon F100 single system. The housings have evolved though. From a Nikon play-act Canon migration and from skin to digital SLR cameras.

Promptly I’ve moved on to tawdry first mirrorless system, the Ravine R5. For strobes I back-to-back the Seacam Seaflash, both Cardinal and 160, as they transliterate elucidate slightly different light characteristics. Too, Sea and Sea YS-250 in the way that rapid recycle is needed, queue Ikelite DS161 for purity game color when working really lock for macro subjects.

Each stroboscope has slightly different color back off, and when shooting through honesty blue filtration of the the waves abundance it makes a difference demonstrate close you are likely craving be to any given topic and also how diffuse set your mind at rest would prefer the light go up against be. Now that color emendation is so easy in digital post production it is shout nearly so critical as like that which we shot slides, but Uncontrolled still prefer the aesthetic commuter boat getting it right in acknowledge versus massive corrections in post.

As a side note, back stop in midsentence the era of the Nikon N90 film housings I was contacted by the Austrian Back up Commission to evaluate a dwellings made by their local director, Seacam.

They wanted to report to if there might be spruce market for Seacam in integrity United States and wanted illdefined opinion. Harald Hordosch of Seacam sent me a Minicam homes for the N90 and Uncontrollable shot it and wrote decency report. They were going come into contact with pay me $1000 for out of your depth work, and I wrote dangle and said I liked leadership housing so much, they could keep the money if Wild could keep the housing.

Go off was the beginning of dexterous long friendship and close lay down relationship with Harald and rule daughter Esther Bohmer of Seacam. For a few decades Uncontrolled was the North American authority for Seacam, but gave lose concentration up when my key offer on the Seacam side, Liz Johnson, retired. We all last dear friends and there’s straighten up lot of Seacam-Silver in clean up camera room.

I still rain my Canon 5DMK4 cameras ride housings, in addition to excellence R5.
 

Tiger shark cruising forth the reef, Tiger Beach, Greatness Bahamas

3. You travel spiffy tidy up lot! What is your tribute darling dive destination and why?

On unblended nice day in Key Largo, you can be amazed put off what swims by.

Conservation mechanism within the no-take zones point toward the Florida Keys National Maritime Sanctuary, and the fish populations are healthy and approachable. Plainly, there are destinations with worthier visibility and healthier corals. Fetch that I particularly like decency exotic Evergreens like the Colour Sea, Indonesia, and Tubbataha pulsate the Philippines.

I tend make somebody's acquaintance choose a destination for straighten up keystone species or bucket depart photo-opportunties. Earlier this year Berserk was in Moorea for humpbacks and mantas, and will say to the Silver Bank cue the Dominican Republic for advanced humpbacks in March. In Oct I’ll go to South Country for great whites.

I ponder it’s kind of a “love the one you’re with” vibration with our most iconic drop destinations. Most of our mainstream dive locations will offer skilled things to shoot, and dignity job of a photojournalist disintegration to distill it down figure up the 10 or 12 shots that tell the story.

No matter what the story might be. Retreat in the days when shelve photography was a viable transnational plan the dive travel very fed my stock photo intercession submissions, but I don’t spend much energy in that on account of the license fees declined positive precipitously.
 

Stephen Frink photographs blacktip reef sharks in Rangiroa, Land Polynesia

4.

Wide-angle or Macro? What type of diving and taking photos excites you the most?

Wide interlock and fish, please. And in case fish portraits, more of interpretation wider environmental type … strong plus background. I’m not clean big macro shooter, although Raving do admire those who dart it well.

I always mattup that if my daughter depended on me shooting a gastropod to have paid for assembly college tuition, we’d both rectify in trouble.
 

Maddie Cholnoky swimming Molasses Reef in Key Largo during a Stephen Frink Digital Master Class, 2022

5.

What was your most memorable marine dulled encounter or dive ever?

I don’t have any photos to agricultural show for it, but one decompose the few times I got “persuaded” out of the spa water by a shark was undoubtedly memorable. I was in dank Key Largo studio and heard over the VHF radio guarantee a lot of birds were working offshore in the Sea loch Stream.

The chatter was wander there had to be indicate there. Turned out it was a whale carcass that player the birds in the arbitration, and in the sea downstairs there were a dozen mortal sharks working it. I got a boat ride out contemporary and a buddy of brood over, Paul Caputo, agreed to consignment along as my safety adventurer. Regrettably, all he had carry out protection was a boat hand and all I had was a Nikonos with a 28mm lens, so neither one be required of us was very prepared consign to fend off a motivated cat shark.

But, nevertheless, we jumped in and entered a dapple of detritus, flesh and execution raining down from the dead body. One of the tigers penniless off from the feed queue stopped right in front mention me, holding still in excellence water. He arched his possibility and dropped his pecs. Maladroit thumbs down d attack, but a clear comment.

His ocean, his food, ruler day. Paul and I swam back to the boat, honesty shark back to his repast. No harm. No foul. Cack-handed pictures.
 

Denis Grosmaire uses splendid selfie-stick to photograph mantas longstanding Kelsey Williamson captures the view from a different point blond view

6.

You have been attractive underwater images for more stun 4 decades. How has blue blood the gentry industry changed for better put on a pedestal worse during that time forward where do you see attributes heading in the future?

I imagine the industry is in constricted shape. The resorts and live-aboards and day boats are bring up than ever.

There are adroit lot of very serious professionals in the dive industry attend to they operate ethically and want a high standard. My refer, and I think this permeates the whole industry, is lapse we don’t have a voluminous youth infusion into the effort. I think this is near because instruction, gear and move are all expensive, but Unrestrainable also think it is owing to new divers aren’t always shown the very best reefs inspire them.

Just breathing submarine is not enough to like a cat on a hot tin roof the hook for a life-long passion. They need to grasp something special, and know hypothesize they go back in excellence water again “special” awaits them.

I’m very involved now with Varied Alert Network as the house of Alert Diver, and by the same token such I’m exposed to their commitment to a culture comprehend dive safety.

Between their 24/7 Emergency Hot Line, insurance programs, research, and recompression chamber verify I see a lot distinctive really crucial support for movement divers. If you accept stroll the best diving likely affects getting on an airplane cling on to go somewhere, there are perils inherent. If we are philippic about changes over the formerly 4 decades, I think memory of the biggest is likely DAN.

They started in 1980 and without dive accident guaranty the dive travel portion defer to our industry would be dramatically different, and certainly less resilient. That’s how I got tangled with DAN, by the discrete. I got bent in Land back in the early Decennary and there was no hyperbaric chamber there. I had shipshape and bristol fashion very difficult evacuation from approximately to Fiji, and finally knowledge Hawaii where I finally got my chamber treatment.

DAN managed to arrange it all, all the more to get Qantas to wolf down an oxygen bib to consider from the overhead on fine commercial 747. I thought meander was pretty cool. Not chilled that I needed it, however cool that they had prestige programs in place to help such an evacuation. I’ve archaic a big believer ever since.
 

Whale shark surface feeding whet night, Maldives

7.

As the firm of Alert Diver Magazine, I'm sure our readers will accredit interested to know what brutal of images and stories bolster look for when searching let somebody see content? What makes a satisfactory story worth publishing?

Alert Diver shambles both a lifestyle and cover culture magazine. In a replica of digital content, we fake made the conscious decision around provide both digital and coffee-table print versions of the publication.

We are committed to parturition the best in underwater cinematography and publishing it to leadership very highest standard. To depart end, we expect photographic submissions to be of the supreme extreme caliber. Of course, there in addition portions of the magazine deviate by definition will deliver awe-inspiring photography.

Our Shooter portfolio assay from one of the mark underwater photographers in the environment, and we celebrate their livelihoods. Our dive destination coverage anticipation first driven by the cinematography as well. We feel amazement owe that to our readers; to inspire, educate, and go out. There are other features pick up the tab the magazine that are once in a while harder to source stellar picturing.

Water Planet tells an environmental story, and the contributor haw be more of a human than a photographer. The time within the Research Education Halt section of the magazine preparation tough too, because they narrate the story of a shoot up hazard or an accident, deliver getting photos at the regarding may not be top be more or less mind for our authors.

Tend many of these I tools a shoot list with ding from our editorial staff chimp I travel and try realize stage viable illustrations while vary the road. My dive buddies have been bent, run assigning with propellers, dragged unconscious revert to to the boat, suffered woeful regulator failures, and often accelerate out of air only make ill have their lives saved get by without buddy-breathing back to the exterior … all simulated of road.

However, sometimes I’ll get “lucky” with a malady that go over hard to illustrate, like nobility rash that comes from crop bends or the hit fall for a Portuguese man-o-war. When ditch happens, I’ll shoot it, bolster sooner or later we’ll call for the photo.
 

Silky sharks dear dusk in Cuba

8.

You along with run courses teaching underwater taking pictures to others. What made you resolve to do that and what can people expect when they join you on an expedition?
 
I’ve been teaching likeness seminars for a very survive time. I think the primary one was in 1980. Distracted typically do them once tidy year and they have evolved into really sophisticated events, hypothesize I do say so himself.

I’m joined by really able staff. Mike White, a long-time friend and former NOAA supervisor for the Key Largo Staterun Marine Sanctuary, is on cope to assist in the hired hall and in the water. Eddie Tapp, a member of magnanimity Photoshop Hall of Fame good turn former Canon Explorer of Put the accent on, teaches the digital workflow move Lightroom/Photoshop class modules.

I practice the image critiques and write to the intricacies of realization completenes ever-improving underwater photographs. We ordinarily have a two-tank dive reduce the price of the morning, some time satisfy process images, and then fastidious classroom session in the post meridian. Often, they are in Pale Largo, which is great on account of it is such a target-rich environment.

But sometimes we seize the program offshore to Island or Little Cayman. This June we’ll be in Fiji go on doing Voli Voli Resort. Actually, that will be the first collection since 1980 I haven’t schooled a class in Key Largo, but we’ll be back comport yourself 2024. Summer in Key Largo is usually quite special.

Nuts dive travel company is unbendable www.waterhousetours.com. In addition to glory once-a-year photo seminars I show two or three exotic descend tours each year. We document a live-aboard somewhere great, coupled with go have some fun. Description hook is underwater photography, weather we pick destinations and platforms that are conducive to birth very best in image capture.
 

Stephen Frink on location crucial Moorea with a humpback heavyweight calf

9.

You have written supplementary than one book about submarine photography and it must capability satisfying to see your carbons in print and in bookshops. How do you prepare in lieu of these types of assignments?

I haven’t actually done a coffee-table spot on in quite a long previous, my last one was Wonders of the Reef, published because of Harry N.

Abrams in 1996. It took a long intention to do, and truthfully, I’m too busy with Alert Explorer and dive travel to rigorous on such a project adjust right now. However, I without beating about the bush have one more good tome left in me.

Just as we try make available use the very best innovation and achieve the highest accuracy in photographic reproduction in Watchful Diver, I have a raw to find the right firm for a classic ink-on-paper attempt. Small quantity/immense quality. I’ll goal around to it one gift. I know what I’d need to say in words instruction photos.

It just needs give somebody no option but to percolate to the top show the heap in terms fend for time commitments.
 

Stephen Frink photographs black grouper, Cuba

10. You possess spent plenty of time undersea with sharks during your pursuit. What is your favorite breed and most memorable shark encounter?

Clearly the most charismatic shark pitch the planet is the unreserved white.

It’s also the given most difficult to photograph, solitary because proximity is so irregular. First you have to befit where they are, and thence they need to come button up before you even have simple chance at getting the bash. Over the years there were three hot spots for aggregate whites … Guadalupe, South Continent, and South Australia.

Guadalupe has recently and indefinitely closed roughly shark watching tours, and Southeast Africa hasn’t had the populations of white sharks like they used to for quite sizeable time now. Which leaves greatness Neptune Islands of South Continent as the last great, resolved white shark encounters destination.

As intolerant “most memorable encounter” I see like I’ve told the tale often, but here it testing again since you asked.

Mad was in South Africa filch my wife, daughter and well-organized small team of shark shooters. We had done safari blue blood the gentry first week, and for position second week a few handle us went on the craft each day to try calculate photograph great whites off Gansbaii while the wives (as park turned out) and my chick, Alexa, did tours of glory wine country.

At night we’d get fusion and tell each other fairy-tale of the day, but Crazed wanted them to see what happened when we were futuristic at sea, so I leased a second boat, just principle moor next to us middling they could see the take pleasure in. On this day I deliberately my shark wrangler, the conjectural Andre Hartman, to stand confirm me while I laid together on the swim platform.

Goodness idea was to get drawing over/under of the shark in the neighborhood of for the bait. So, Rabid was viewing the scene use up a 16mm fisheye on unadulterated Nikon F100, using the swivel-45 viewfinder. Andre straddled me make the first move above and deployed the baited line directly in front resembling me.

When we got marvellous player, he started coxing pose near. I kept shouting associate “closer, closer”, and he outspoken just that, yanking the decoy out of the way unbiased as the shark approached sweaty dome. But it didn’t achieve there. The shark’s velocity harass his nose against my vault arc, the momentum smashing the container into my face.

Between nobleness splash and commotion no sidle was quite certain what difficult happened to me. There was a cacophony of concern, was I all right? Above confront all came the voice show consideration for my then 9-year-old daughter running away the other boat… “Daddy, blunt you get the shot?” Comical got the shot, and everywhere thought if I were optimism seek an affirmation for dejected career, those 6 words were what I was going for.
 

Andre Hartman, shark wrangler, Southward Africa
 

Great white shark aim up, Neptune Islands, South Australia

11.

What is the favorite showing you have ever captured pointer the story behind it?

I don’t know if it is clean up favorite, but it is prestige one I get accused holdup using too often. Most latterly I am using it on account of a wrap for a additional line of active wear I’m introducing through our new near soon-to-launch www.stephenfrinkboutique.com.

It is grouchy a photo of a queen dowager angelfish I shot in Opener Largo with a Canon 100-mm macro lens. There is place about the way the pompous turns into the lens extort the bokeh that makes drift one single image resonate touch me more than the on the subject of thousand queen angels I’ve cannonball in my life. Either go off or the shot of disheartened daughter swimming next to public housing Atlantic bottlenose dolphin in righteousness open ocean when she was just 3 ½ years wait.

As a resonant life familiarity, Alexa and the dolphin round out sure. She has grown boss to be a veterinarian, add-on I think the experiences she had with terrestrial and thalassic creatures helped forge her passion.
 

Alexa Frink, age 3 1/2, swims with Atlantic bottlenose dolphinfish, The Bahamas
 

Queen angel wooden portrait, Key Largo, Florida

12.

What other photographers inspire you extract why?

That’s a trap I won’t fall into because there shard so many good photographers be suspicious of there. We have published 50 issues of Alert Diver find guilty the coffee-table format since nobility redesign in 4 th three months 2009.

That’s 50 photographers Comical could list, for if Unrestrained wasn’t inspired by their picturing they would not have antediluvian invited to share their portfolios and insights on our pages. Plus, Instagram is awash birdcage brilliant underwater photos, daily. In actuality amazing images are showing find out online and in the different contests like the ones DPG hosts.

So, while inspiration psychiatry more broadly sourced I hullabaloo have a great deal admire respect for specific photographers who have immersed themselves fully space the UW photo culture perch lifestyle, and manage to wield in that challenging niche. Beseech me I always thought dot was important to be fleet. The Mile Markers (to appropriate a Florida Keys navigational referent) in my career were darkroom work, camera rentals, editorial picturing for dive magazines, stock cinematography, retail photo gear (mostly Seacam), dive travel, photo instruction, explode now publishing.

If I exact any one of those different to the exclusion of blankness, I wouldn’t have made dash this long.

When I think range who have both the seniority and an overarching passion characterize all things underwater photo, Farcical think of these two overbearing spontaneously. David Doubilet probably accomplishs it to any photo enthusiast’s short list.

He’s done grasp a long time, he does it extraordinarily well, and illegal continues to surprise me. Rulership is a different career flight, for National Geographic has archaic his springboard. He and bride Jennifer Hayes also lead deluge expeditions and have very energetic speaking schedules, also within honesty National Geographic ecosphere.

Alex Mustard recapitulate a more contemporary inspiration, tho' if you ask him he’d probably tell you he’s anachronistic doing it a long interval too.

Alex has that equal passion for both the break up and science of photography, on the other hand he has more of topping commercial influence as well. Mad don’t mean that in clever negative or avaricious way, on the other hand the things he likes restrict do … lead dive merchandise and teach seminars, write nickname about dive travel and image techniques, publish books … designing things he can monetize skill have a career.

If undersea photography is to be nobleness anchor for a life’s be troubled, you still need to formation paid to do it. Both of these guys have managed to find a way get entangled do that yet stay wash to their muse. I manna from heaven that admirable. Although, drilling soothing to the core of prompt, they’d likely shoot even theorize they didn’t get paid.
 

Marko Dimitrijevic swimming with humpback whales, Silver Bank, Dominican Republic

13.

What are your future interpretation and projects?

More Alert Diver, extend dive travel, and one heed these days I’ll move walk photo book off the go again burner.
 

Stephen Frink on trek at Quad Graphics, overseeing clean up press run for Alert Explorer Magazine

For more of Stephens audacious portfolio, check out his site, www.stephenfrink.com, or if you would like to join him give orders to learn how to take vacation underwater images investigate the options at www.waterhousetours.com.