Meet our friendly team
Underwater Photography Guide
Scott Gietler, Publisher
Scott is the founder of the Underwater Photography Guide. What started out as a small project has grown to a point where it is starting to interfere with Scott's sleep. When it interferes with his diving, then it will be a problem.
Scott lives in Marina Del Rey with his lovely wife Penny. They have traveled together throughout the world on diving and non-diving trips together.
If possible he tries to get out diving each week with some of the other members of the Underwater Photography Guide staff.
An avid marine naturalist, Scott is the author of the Field Guide to Southern California Marine Life. He was the LAUPS photographer of the year for 2009, and his photos have appeared in magazines, coffee table & marine life books, museums, galleries and aquariums throughout California. He enjoys teaching underwater photography locally on a regular basis. Scott can be reached at info@uwphotographyguide.com.
Follow Scott on Facebook or Instagram.
Nirupam Nigam, Editor-in-Chief
Nirupam Nigam is a dedicated underwater photographer and fisheries scientist. While growing up in Los Angeles he fell in love with the ocean and pursued underwater photography in the local Channel Islands. He received degrees in Aquatic and Fisheries Science and General Biology, as well as a minor in Arctic Studies, at the University of Washington. After working as a fisheries observer on boats in the Bering Sea and North Pacific, Nirupam became the Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and the President of Bluewater Photo - the world's top underwater photo & video retailer. Check out more of his photography at www.photosfromthesea.com!
Bryan Chu, Editor
Bryan Chu loves any activity that takes him out into nature, and is especially fond of multi-day hiking trips, road trips to National Parks, and diving. Any kind of diving. He discovered the joy of underwater photography on a Bluewater trip to the Sea of Cortez, and after "trial and erroring" his way to some level of proficiency, has been hooked ever since. He has not done nearly as much diving as he would like, but has so far taken underwater photos in a diverse range of places, including BC, the Sea of Cortez, Greenland/Iceland, Northern Norway and the Galapagos.
After working as a chemical engineer at a major oil & gas corporation for 9 years, Bryan finally had enough (and it didn't help that he was living in landlocked Edmonton, Canada with frigid winter temperatures and no real diving to speak of). He and his girlfriend decided to pack up their things and travel the world; they will start their journey mid-2018 and visit a number of great dive locations along the way. He is very excited to expand his underwater photography experience and skills while experiencing new cultures and exciting parts of the world. Though he is also a bit worried about the following equation that has so far defined his dive travels: Corporate job ($$) = Dive travel ($) + Underwater Photography ($). Taking away the left side of that equation seems like it might put things a bit out of balance. But as he reasons, what's the point in life if you can't take some big risks and have some fun along the way?
You can get in touch with Bryan at bryan@uwphotographyguide.com
Chino Mendoza, Associate Editor
Chino Mendoza, is an avid diver and underwater photographer and tries to go everytime he can. He is based in Manila which is a few hours Anilao which is the “critter capital of the Philippines” He likes to shoot macro and his favorite subjects are nudibranchs and
Regular Contributors
The Underwater Photography Guide publishes articles and photos from many photographers. Our regular contributors include:
Kelli Dickinson, Contributing Writer/Photographer
Kelli Dickinson is an avid diver and underwater photographer who shoots primarily on mirrorless cameras. Familiar with a variety of cameras and housings she tries to shoot on as many different options as possible to improve her overall knowledge of underwater camera systems. In addition she is Manager of Bluewater Photo. In her spare time she can be found running, hiking or underwater.
Connect with her on instagram @kelnkelp or at www.kelnkelp.com.
She can be reached via email at kelli@bluewaterphotostore.com.
Mike Bartick, Contributing Writer/Photographer
Mike Bartick is an avid and experienced scuba diver and Marine Wildlife Photographer. He has an insatiable love for nudibranchs, frogfish and other underwater critters, and it official critter expert for the Underwater Photography Guide. He's also trained as a chef.
"My love of photography comes from my father. As long as I can remember he always had his camera ready in hand. Given to me by my parents when I was in the eight grade, my first camera was a brownie box camera. Things have changed alot since then. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to shoot photos. Sharing them with the world is just another layer of excitement.
My photos have now been featured in many magazines, magazine covers, columns and articles, text books and more. The center of traveling exhibits and art auctions...
Who would have thought..."
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