Nicholas S.

At this shooting the concept was to be obvious that the athletes were underwater so that was my goal too. In some of the uploaded photographs this is more noticeable than others because of the air bubbles number. Personally I find more interesting the photographs with the surface reflection like the second and the fourth shots I uploaded, but the final selection was made by the athletes themselves with their own personal criteria of how they looked and how they felt with each photograph with their image. I believe that the existence of air bubbles is more useful to people that are not so familiar with underwater photography shots to understand that those are indeed photographs taken underwater.

Thank you all for the comments! Mark the critique is always welcome! Rob I used two Sea&Sea 250Pro strobes on camera and one off strobe with trigger.

Thank you Jeffrey!!

In middle of November I was invited by a friend to take on the task of shooting underwater 12 women athletes, members of water polo team OXYGEN for the needs of their 2013 annual calendar! Before the shooting I was thinking about this task and waited to meet masculine athletes with their competition swimsuits and the classic water polo hats but instead of this classic cliché image I met 12 beautiful girls full of joy and energy more models than athletes in body shape, ready to transform into colorful mermaids! The girls had already chosen the fabric color and were fighting for the month they wanted to represent. While I was preparing the underwater studio, my assistant Rabea was given the task to dress the models with the long fabrics creating improvised dresses and give brief instructions on how to pose underwater. All girls surpassed the given instructions and all expectations posing with extraordinary grace and confidence, giving me dozens of grate shots! After a six hour shooting without stop we celebrated and laughed a lot with backstage incidents just to regain energy for the editing. As a result, the girls had many stunning images to select for their calendar, which was designed and printed with extra care just two days before the official presentation in a modern bar in center of Thessaloniki. I have to mention that the calendar was not made just for the experience but because the girls were looking for an interesting way to fund their participation in the final phase of the national championship on July - August 2013 So, if someone wants to have this stunning calendar and help the girls in their cause can order it and receive it in a few days!

Great collection!! the green fractal is stunning!! i miss lembeh sooo much...

Although it's all Greek to you I decided to upload the pdf file so that you can see the layout and the selected photos. Thank you all again for your comments and kind words. NG Article

Thank you all for your comments! As soon as I have the pdf file, I will add a link to download it although it is in Greek language and you'll not be able to read the text. At least you'll be able to see the photos and the layout. The first page link of the National Georgraphic - Greek Edition is: http://www.nationalgeographic.gr/

I am really proud to announce that a six-page article with an explicit set of my underwater photographs from central and northern Aegean, are published on March issue of the Greek National Geographic magazine. The article, with text written from my soul mate Rabea Iatridou, is about the rich biodiversity of Aegean Sea and the importance of its preservation. The last couple of years we made a number of incredible dives in the Aegean waters and discovered habitats and environments with extreme differences of shape and marine life. In some of those dives I managed to photograph rare species of shrimps, crustaceans, nudibranches, jellyfishes, corals and gorgonians. This article is of great importance for me not only because it is published on National Georgraphic, a magazine symbol of wild life, geography, ecology and biology, but because it is about the secrets of Aegean Sea, one of the most historic seas worldwide. Our attention is to show the beauty of underwater habitats and critters that can be found in Greek waters and raise awareness of the value of marine biodiversity not as specialists but as dedicated and passionate lovers of the sea and marine world. Nicholas Samaras

It's hard to decide which one is my favorite shot! i pick this one for two reasons. 1st because it was the first time in my life that i saw this critter (Gastropteron rubrum) and 2nd because I took this shot while I was testing my home made snoot setup.

Great macro collection!!!

Great concept!!! will be published in a magazine ?

Love it ! great job loftus!

Great collection!!! First time in my life i saw this "Donut Doto" Nudi!!! Fantastic !

looks like you had a great trip

Great Great Collection Damien !!!!