UNDERWATER

Join me on my underwater photography adventures.

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Hi, I'm Allison

Williams Lake, British Columbia

funky shoes, coffee, teaching grade 6, anything orange, techie, my secret obsession - Big Brother, oh, and I take photos underwater.

what I'm known for:

I love my family with all my heart. I am married to the most wonderful man, Mike, and have an amazing daughter, Peyton. They are the light of my life and inspire me in all I do. When Mike and I got married in 2004, we got our SCUBA certification and I can easily say it is hands down my favourite thing to do. I can spend an hour of quality time with my loved ones, but not have to talk to or listen to anyone. Being underwater is one of the most serene places to be, and is a place not everyone is fortunate enough to see. In 2016, Peyton did her first scuba class, and in Barbados in 2017 she did her first open water dive.

I live in a small town in the interior of British Columbia, nowhere near any warm water diving. That just means I have to travel! I am hoping with this website, I am able to share my love of the ocean with you.

I'm a small town girl and a little bit in love with Scuba Diving!

MEET Allison

Taking photos underwater is much different than taking photos on land! I thought I knew a lot about photography and light. After all, I have photographed maternity, newborns, births, weddings, real estate, families, architecture, pets, grads, children, and anything else people were looking to have photographed. Unfortunately rules that apply on land do not apply underwater. Looking back I cringe seeing what I took with my first point and shoot underwater camera, but they were part of my journey, so I have included them on this site. I very quickly learned that in order to have quality images, I needed a camera that would shoot in raw and manual and have external strobes. Then all I had to do was learn to use the strobes, which I soon found out is a lot harder than I thought. Again, rules that apply on land, do not apply underwater. Each dive I get a little better, and more and more of my photos are intentional and not happy accidents!

Underwater Photography Journey

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In 2014, I took my underwater photographer certification. I think my biggest take away was to get low and shoot up. Looking back at my older photos, I am shooting down on everything. Again, that perspective is great above water, but not for below. The other aspect I am working on is the backscatter...ugh the backscatter! The good thing about having strobes is well... light, but it lights up not only the subject, but it can also light up all the particulate in the water as well! When you are at depth looking at a tiny screen, it is hard to tell if lights need to be adjusted or not. If anyone has any ideas to help me with this, I'm all ears!

Underwater Photography Journey

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Passion Project

Above water

I have had a camera in my hand for as long as I can remember. In university, I took every available photography course and fell in love with the art form. For one of my final projects in university, I took photos of the top upper right corner of buildings - I know, totally random, but but often the top of buildings are the most interesting part. My current passion project is doors. Any door, anywhere. Every door tells a different story and I love imagining the people who have used the door. People who travel with me know I will eventually catch up, but I just need a photo of that door! One day I will do something with my door photos, but for now, they are all safely stored on my hard drive, and my backup drive, and in the cloud, and I think burned on a disc somewhere.

The number one question I get on a dive boat is, "What do you shoot with?" I have an Olympus OMD EM5. It is a mirrorless camera that is the digital version of the film camera I learned to shoot on. There is a newer version (or 2) out, but I still love my camera and I'm not ready to upgrade yet. It is great for travelling with as it is small, and has all the settings I need. I have the Olympus housing for the camera with the flat port. Although it has its limitations (the 12-55mm lens will not zoom with it) it works fine for me. At the time of my purchase, I couldn't afford the Nauticam housing (I still can't), but if someone were to send me one, with a domed port I wouldn't complain! The lens I use is the 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 as well as the 60mm macro. It is a guessing game before every dive of which lens I am going to use. On land, I shoot Nikon, and the lens that is on my camera 90% of the time is the 50mm 1.4. When I first started my underwater photography journey, I was concerned that there would not be enough light as I didn't have a 1.4 to shoot with. This is where lights come in. I have two Sea and Sea YSD2-J Strobes. These were my 40th birthday present from my husband and daughter, and they are amazing strobes. I love photographing the small things found on reefs. It is a scavenger hunt every dive I am on!

If you're still reading this, you may be my kind of techie person...

My Gear

Forage beard banjo ethical, Etsy before they sold out tattooed High Life. Cardigan locavore paleo, gastropub pickled ennui quinoa 3 wolf moon selvage. Food truck Neutra aesthetic Godard, Portland fap whatever 8-bit squid American Apparel. Blog Shoreditch 3 wolf moon ugh craft beer. Flexitarian pug wolf VHS. Pitchfork bicycle rights synth flexitarian try-hard. Banjo flexitarian raw denim wolf. Skateboard locavore scenester

"People still haven't stopped talking about our wedding photos."

Jessica & Andy

kind words

Flexitarian pug wolf VHS. Pitchfork bicycle rights synth flexitarian try-hard. Banjo flexitarian raw denim wolf. Skateboard locavore scenester. Forage beard banjo ethical, Etsy before they sold out tattooed High Life. Cardigan locavore paleo, gastropub pickled ennui quinoa 3 wolf moon selvage. Food truck Neutra aesthetic Godard, Portland fap whatever 8-bit squid American Apparel. Blog Shoreditch 3 wolf moon ugh craft beer.

"We are just blown away by your artistry & attention to detail."

Heather & John