Roatan Underwater Photo Fest 2018

November 1, 2018

Just over a week ago we wrapped up the fourth annual Roatan Underwater Photo Fest, and I think this was our best one yet. I personally had a great time and loved diving and photographing with everyone. We had a lot of returning participants (which forced Andrew and me to step up our games and make some new presentations) and I loved the vibe we had of friend’s just diving and taking photos together.

We were also fortunate to have Mickey Charteris, (I like to think of him as the Roatan Marine Life Guru) dive with us and share his photography on the macro life of Roatan (and made us all jealous of the amazing creatures he finds!) Julie Ouimet and Michel Labreque shared some tips for underwater videography and the finalists of the Turquoise Bay International Film Festival with our participants and hotel guests. Tripp Funderburk of the Bay Islands Reef Restoration Project talked to us about the Turquoise Bay coral reef nursery and regrowth projects. Some participants went with him to plant coral (or take photos of coral planting coral and the nursery.)

Roatan is a perfect place to improve your underwater photo and video skills with good viz, warm water, and little current. The easy diving with plenty of healthy marine life gives photographers endless opportunities to try new techniques and perfect skills. We try to create an easy going learning environment and underwater we dive slowly, allowing photographers to spend a lot of time with individual subjects if they choose (no marathon swimming or going anywhere fast). Many of the dive sites are just a few minutes out of Turquoise Bay Dive Resort and Subway Watersports takes great care of us and our cameras. Diving includes reefs, wrecks, caverns, walls, and we do a night dive and spend a morning at the Roatan Shark Dive.

We welcome participants at all levels of underwater photographers from beginners to advance and provide a wide range of instruction on the individual and group level. Throughout the week there are evening presentation and talks on a wide variety of subjects which are catered to the participants who join us each year as well as one-on-one time and help on the boat and during dives.

We like to conclude the week with a little healthy competition to see how everyone improved with our annual Photo Contest. The talent was overwhelming this year and we had a tough time picking winners. Michelle Scamahorn took home Best of Show with her epic macro shot of a gorgonian hydroid shrimp. Our generous sponsors provided prizes including Ikelite gift certificates and swag, BayPhoto lab credits, a Mares dive computer, Stream2Sea reef-safe products, a NightSea photography package and more.

It was so great to see everyone and we’re really excited for next year. We hope to keep up better with social media updates and create some new excitement for next year, so keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram for photos and photo tips. We’d love to see you next year, so please join us November 2-9th, 2019.

More details can be found at www.roatanunderwaterphotofest.com.

Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions!

Bikini Atoll - The Nucelar Fleet

October 30, 2018

Bikini Atoll was a place I had dreamed about for years. Having visited and lived in the Marshall Islands and a love for wreck diving, it inevitably crossed my mind continuously over the years. There used to be a land operation that I almost went to the first time I visited Kwaj, but we decided it was too expensive (I was a grad student budget)…it was $1200 for the week. Needless to say, I’ve regretted not spending that money for years.

Since the land operation shut down, only a few boats have been occasionally making the trips. But this summer Master Liveaboards started running regular trips from Ebeye or Majuro to Bikini. Obviously, I had to go, and I was lucky enough to do an assignment for DivePhotoGuide.

Click here for the Article

I’ll admit, reducing the trip into the word limit for DPG was more than a little difficult. I feel like I could have written pages upon pages. The history of the Nuclear Fleet and how these ships ended up at the bottom of the ocean takes entire books to explain. As does the plight of the Bikini people and how the tests changed their lives and their atoll forever (not for the better). And then there is the actual diving. The wrecks are deep, they are remote, and help is far, far away. But descending on the Saratoga for the first time felt like I was visiting a place I never quite thought I’d get to.

There’s a lot more I want to write about the trip and I hope to for some other outlets. But for now, check out the DPG story. It was most certainly a trip of a lifetime and an amazing adventure for me.

X-Ray Magazine Issue #87

September 3, 2018

The latest issue of X-Ray Magazine is out! You can read about my absolutely perfect trip to Saba (it was so great, I'm putting together a "Ladies Only" Dive and Art Trip in April, check out the Travel tab for more info.) I'm also super excited that one of my underwater fluro diving images is on the cover. There are more fluro images inside and an article on fluorescence underwater. Some of my images (also from Saba) can be seen in Simon Pridmore's article on, "What it takes to be a good diver." Lots of other great stuff in is this issue too, so click on the cover image below to check it out and download for free!

My Book!!

August 21, 2018

I have some super exciting news!

My book, co-authored with Alan Alexlrod, is available for pre-order! It's release date is November 27th and you can order it on Amazon.

The Airplane Graveyard

It is very surreal to have a book for sale on Amazon. The book is not about discovering the Airplane Graveyard (because I didn't, and never claimed to.) But it is about the estimated 150 WWII American airplanes that were dumped in the northern part of Kwajalein's lagoon, with some WWII history and a little bit about me too. The amazing historical writer, Alan Alexlrod, contributed some really interesting history on Operation Flintlock (the Battle in Kwajalein) and we discuss each type of plane found in the Graveyard and what role those planes played in the Pacific Theater of WWII. The book also touches a bit on Kwajalein throughout the years; the multiple roles it's played from before WWII, during, after, and life there today.

Thank you in advance to anyone who purchases it. I hope you all will enjoy it! Publishing a book has always been a dream of mine and it's incredibly exciting (and mildly terrifying) to have it actually happen.

Here's the back cover info:

The Airplane Graveyard: The Forgotten WWII Warbirds of Kwajalein Atoll

Brandi Mueller, Alan Axelrod

Extraordinary images, never before published in book form, of the forgotten American WWII Airplanes at the bottom of the Kwajalein Atoll lagoon, from award-winning underwater photographer Brandi Mueller.

At the end of WWII, around 150 American airplanes, all veterans of the Pacific war, were dumped in the lagoon of Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. A master diver and superb underwater photographer, Brandi Mueller has dived to depths of 120 feet to capture rare images of these forgotten war birds, many looking as if they could still take off and return to the war-torn skies at any moment.

Encrusted in coral, these haunting aircraft are now home to a colorful array of tropical Pacific marine life, including fish, turtles, and even the occasional shark.

Discover the stories of these historic aircraft, their heroic role in the Pacific Theater of WWII, and how and why they ended up here.

In The Airplane Graveyard, Brandi takes you below the ocean’s surface to discover the forgotten remains of Douglas SBD Dauntless, Vought F4U Corsair, Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, Curtiss C-46 Commando, Grumman F4F Wildcats, Grumman TBF Avengers, and an astounding eleven PBJ-1 Mitchell Medium Bombers. The haunting images are accompanied by a text that includes a historical account of the aircraft by military historian Alan Axelrod.

Click here to check it out