SeaFanz, New Zealand

Colin has been passionate about the ocean since early childhood; growing up in a sub-tropical coastal city he regretted not having an underwater camera to capture life there and on his earlier travels.

As a dive instructor he fostered his interest in the underwater world and in 2001, seeing the potential that digital technology had to offer in capturing underwater images, he purchased a camera and underwater housing. His efforts were rewarded by winning a gold medal (OCEANZ) with one of his first underwater images taken with the camera.

These days he spends little time diving for food and more time underwater behind a lens capturing marine life in images. His focus is on promoting an awareness of the underwater environment through his images many of which are displayed on his website, www.underwaterdisplay.net. He hopes to instill in people a greater consciousness for the importance and fragility of our oceans by providing a moment's escape and respite from busy life. Recent travels have taken him to Irian Jaya, The Solomons, Niue, Tonga and North Borneo.

Colin currently chairs SEAFANZ, New Zealand's premier digital underwater photographic society.

The aim of SEAFANZ is to
· Foster and promote interest in our marine environment
· Highlight the fragility of our oceans
· Improve digital underwater photography and diving skills while focussing on fun and safety
· Represent the views of digital underwater photographers and further their aims
· Make available to members, resources which assist in developing their underwater photography skills
· Share information free of vendor bias
· Use the digital medium and the internet as the principal form of remote communication
· Meet with like minded people
· Lastly but by no means least, have fun!

If you're an underwater photographer planning a dive trip to NZ we would love to hear from you and if you’re in the Auckland region on the third Tuesday of the month, feel free to join us at our meeting.