"He Made His Childhood Dream A Reality" Article About Brian Skerry

Editor's Note  

Underwater Photography and undewater photographers usually go under the lime light in the grand scheme of things. Accomplished photographer Brian Skerry has increased his popularity after the stunning whale shot recently seen in many sources. The latest was in an article about him in the Boston Globe. Earned respect.

Here is part of the article by writer Billy Baker

When he was a child, Brian Skerry spent a lot of time on the floor of his parents' living room, in Uxbridge, refining a very specific daydream. He would sit there, pore over the pages of National Geographic, and resolve that, when he grew up, he would lead an adventurous life.

A lot of kids have big daydreams; Skerry's gotten to live his.

Skerry is a National Geographic photographer - something that he says he can still barely believe himself.

And his dream job has turned out to be just as magical as he imagined. For the October issue of the magazine, Skerry shot a feature story on the plight of right whales, which were hunted to the brink of extinction. In the course of the shoot, he was standing on the ocean floor off New Zealand when a bus-sized whale came in close to gently inspect his assistant, who was standing just a few feet away. "My heart was beating out of my chest," Skerry said. But he got the shot; the photo of that encounter has since become an Internet sensation.

When people - especially children - ask Skerry about his job, he is happy to share his story, knowing, he says, that it is an important testament to what happens when you dedicate yourself to a dream.

The first milestone in his dream came at age 15, when he first tried scuba gear in his backyard pool. With regulator on, he sat in the shallow end of the pool, relishing the fact that he didn't have to come up for air - and the realization that he didn't want to.

He got his scuba certification, started diving all over New England and, a couple years later, went to the annual conference of the Boston Sea Rovers, a prestigious underwater exploration club, and heard lectures from many of the stars in the field. That night, he told his girlfriend (now his wife) that he settled on the way to live his dream: he would become an underwater photographer for National Geographic.