freediving condition

William and the whole hole

On a clear day, you can see forever -and William Trubridge, and the whole Blue Hole

Suunto Vertical Blue

Some pictures of this year's Suunto Vertical Blue, where i was the commentator together with the lovely and formidable Francesca Koe. Luckily for me, main photographer Igor Liberti not only very kindly let me share the territory, he also introduced me to this wonderful tune:

the deep line

leaving paradise

Why would you ever leave paradise?



I mean voluntarily, not just with your head bowed in shame because you ate its forbidden fruit. I left because my ticket said it was time to leave, which is a ridiculous reason; it's a schlep and a half to get to the place, getting back is even worse (cause you're traveling in the wrong direction), so you best stay long as you can. But my bank account also went from silently weeping in the corner to screaming its head off, so i'd come to the end of the road anyway.



Now that i'm back to what i guess is reality and normality (with my kind of brain, both concepts are forever in question and rarely within reach), i can tell you a couple of things about paradise. It's an odd place to get into:



but once in there is that sense of infinite beauty



with the kind of views and blues usually reserved for, well, movies about paradise



and some beautiful people





who are there to cherish the blue and the sun



but even the clouds are pretty



and even the rain is sunny



and fantastically fat



the insects are HUGE



the birds tiny



the fish quite sociable



as are the lizards -though they prefer to be outside



whereas the porcupine fish likes to be inside



and the frogs like monofins



the corals are smart and angelic



and can come in the shape of a rubber ducky



of course, this is modern day paradise, so there's quite a lot of plastic shit about



which has its own sad visual poetry



but other than that, it is remarkably pristine and crowd-free



and it seems paradise takes over civilization more than the other way round



so i'm happy to report that the tree of wisdom is safe and sound



and that i obviously have yet to partake from its fruit



but during the journey back into civilization i had a thought



you don't really know about love until you've had your heart broken, or about life until someone you love dies. In paradise, happiness is a state rather than a moment. I hope the memory of that state adds value to future moments.

And i hope to be back in paradise as soon as bank accountably possible.

Underwater yoga with Brittany Trubridge

It's fascinating, all the facets that make for a good photo; sometimes all you need is good light, or a good location, or someone doing something interesting, or someone visually striking. And then there's the equipment, and the framing, and countless other things, which makes me think luck also has something to do with it.



Now i was lucky enough a couple of days ago to do some shooting with Brittany Trubridge, an extraordinary yoga teacher here on Long Island, Bahamas. Not only is she freaky bendy in that way yoga teachers are, but she's also a very fun presence to be around, lots of positive energy, and she's the kind of pretty that can only come from inside out. And she's married to William Trubridge, world champion freediving, and you cannot be married to him without picking up a thing or two about breath hold. So we did an underwater shoot.



Since i have no clue about yoga and am new to underwater photography, so i'm largely depending on Britta to make it work. And man, does she ever. Even though she's never done this underwater before, she does one fantastic pose after another, looking quite serene while her sinuses are getting flooded -unbelievable.



And the Blue Hole cooperated as well: the visibility was turned to 'endless' and the light was out to play



there were so many shots that just worked and Britta and Georgina had so many good ideas that we left with an amazing bunch of pictures. Hope you enjoy them: