Marty Snyderman
I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and made my Little League All-Star team when I was 11. Enough already! On a more relevant note, I have been involved in underwater photography for almost 25 years, and have worked as a professional shooter and instructor for close to 20 years. I still love to dive and create photographs and films as much as I did in the beginning.
I hope you enjoy this course. Marty Snyderman |
If you are like a lot of people I know, you might like to know a little about your instructor. If so, read on. If not, you won’t hurt my feelings.
With regard to my teaching experience, I taught underwater photography for several years at the PADI Diving Instructors’ College, at the NASDS Diving Instructors’ College, and at several dive stores in the San Diego area on a regular basis. In the mid-1980’s I was one of the original instructors that worked with Nikon Inc. as an instructor for the Nikonos School of Underwater Photography teaching week long seminars in locations around the world as well as traveling the country teaching my own seminars. For close to 20 years I never missed an issue while writing a "how to take underwater photographs" type of column for both Discover Diving and Scuba Times.
In April of 1987 one of my photographs appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine. That is the upside. The downside is that over a 25-year period I have flooded, dropped, lost, broken, misused and abused an awful lot of underwater photography equipment. Old salts tell you that kind of thing builds character, and by now one would think that I must have one heck of a lot of character. I try to, but what I really have is a garage full of old gear and an office full of photographs. I still love to dive, shoot and teach.
I am well aware that there is a huge difference between being able to create photographs and being able to teach someone else how to create their own top quality images. I am also well aware that this course is all about my ability to help you enjoy and improve your photography. It ain’t about me. I just want to give you a little confidence about my knowledge level and experience. I’ll sum up what you might like to know about my credentials by saying that I have been at this underwater photography thing long enough to know that I really love it, I know a little something about it, I truly enjoy the challenge of helping anyone who is motivated to improve their own photography, and I am comfortable with the fact that I don’t know everything there is to know about underwater photography.
Over the years my images have been used by a lot of publications, major aquaria, and all kinds of organizations expressing an interest in marine wildlife and the marine environment. I have also written and supplied photography for nine books. Two of these books are "who lives where, who eats who, and what are the most interesting adaptations and behaviors" guides to the plants and animals found in California waters and in the waters of the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida.