Mark Strickland

Role: Professional underwater photographer, photo specialist, competition judge, trip leader
Affiliation: Bluewater Photo
Based in: Southern California, USA (previously Santa Barbara; earlier based in Thailand)
First appearance: 2004 ([1])

Biography

Mark Strickland is a professional underwater photographer, published author, and photo specialist at Bluewater Photo in Santa Monica, California. Before joining Bluewater Photo, Strickland spent years working as a photopro and cruise director aboard liveaboard dive vessels in Thailand, including the Ocean Rover and the Fantasea ([2], [3]). He was recognized as an expert on Thailand diving, particularly the Andaman Sea and Similan Islands region ([4]). By 2007, he was based in Santa Barbara, California ([5]).

Strickland is a long-time Seacam user. Stephen Frink recalled setting up a Systemport on Strickland’s Seacam F100 housing during the film era ([6]). He was known during the film days for diving with two housings simultaneously, leaving one on the substrate with a sign reading “Please do not touch, I meant to leave this here” ([7]).

He has been a Wetpixel forum member for many years, though not always highly active. In a member introduction post, he noted he had “been a Wetpixel member for several years” but had forgotten his password and was starting over ([8]).

Contributions

Bluewater Photo

Strickland was one of the key staff at Bluewater Photo from its founding. When the store opened in February 2011 at 2501 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, California, the press release described the operation as being “run by Underwater Photography Guide owner Scott Gietler, professional underwater photographer Mark Strickland and frequently published photographer Todd Winner” ([9]). The store carried inventory from more than 15 manufacturers, offering gear for all levels from compact setups to professional DSLR systems. As of 2022, he is described as “a published author, award-winning underwater photographer, and photo specialist at Bluewater Photo” ([10]). Community members have recommended him as a knowledgeable guide for Bluewater Photo trips ([11]).

Competition Judging

Strickland has served as a judge for numerous underwater photography competitions:

Trip Leading

Strickland has led underwater photography trips internationally, including to Indonesia. He was listed alongside other prominent trip leaders such as Marty Snyderman, Mike Veitch, Tim Rock, and Burt Jones ([18]).

Atlantis ImageMakers 2019

Strickland was invited as one of the 2019 Atlantis ImageMakers, a group selected by Photo Ambassador Marty Snyderman to visit Atlantis Dive Resort at Dumaguete and Puerto Galera in the Philippines. His contribution to the gallery was a macro image of a Tenellia sp. nudibranch on sand. Fellow ImageMakers included Michele Hall, Doug Perrine, Sara Shoemaker Lind, Adam Hanlon, Marty Snyderman, Boaz Samorai, PT Hirschfield, Howard Hall, and Neha Acharya-Patel ([19]).

Community Engagement

Strickland has been active in the Wetpixel forum community, participating in discussions on gear (helping a colleague with the Nikon Z7II monitor button issue), travel logistics, dive destination recommendations, and shark photography ([20]). He attended DEMA 2007 where he showed Eric Cheng footage of a tiger shark taking his camera at Tiger Beach ([21]), and was photographed with Eric Cheng at DEMA 2008 ([22]).

In 2009, he participated in a great white shark expedition to Guadalupe Island alongside Andy Sallmon, Todd Winner, Kal Attie, Don Carpenter, and Doug Ebersole ([23]).

Timeline

Connections

References

Sources

  1. Wetpixel article, Feb 7, 2004: Seacam 1d1ds Housing Field Journaloperators Manual ↩
  2. Forum thread: Da Junk On The Junk ↩
  3. Forum thread: Macro In Thailand ↩
  4. Forum thread: Thailand Diving Good Dive Companies ↩
  5. Forum thread: Macro In Thailand ↩
  6. Forum thread: Housing Nikkor 70 180 Micro Into A Seacam ↩
  7. Forum thread: Traveling With Multiple Housing Too Much ↩
  8. Forum thread: Member Introductions ↩
  9. Wetpixel article, Feb 8, 2011: Bluewater Photo Opening Event ↩
  10. Wetpixel article, Sep 26, 2022: Ocean Art 2022 Is Calling For Entries ↩
  11. Forum thread: Looking For Camera And Course Suggestions For New Person ↩
  12. Wetpixel article, Oct 5, 2011: Results Of The Socal Shootout Announced ↩
  13. Wetpixel article, Oct 2, 2012: Socal Shootout Results Announced ↩
  14. Wetpixel article, Aug 20, 2015: Bluewater Photo Announces The Socal Shootout ↩
  15. Wetpixel article, Aug 20, 2016: Cal For Entries 2016 Socal Shootout ↩
  16. Wetpixel article, Jan 14, 2021: Ocean Art 2020 Results ↩
  17. Wetpixel article, Jan 17, 2023: Results Ocean Art 2022 ↩
  18. Forum thread: If You Were Going Back To Indo Where ↩
  19. Wetpixel article, Jul 19, 2019: Atlantis Imagemakers 2019 ↩
  20. Forum thread: Comparing My Nikon D850 To The Nikon Z7ii ↩
  21. Wetpixel article, Nov 4, 2007: Dema 2007 People Photos Nov 2 3 200 ↩
  22. Forum thread: Dema 2008 Discussion And Photos ↩
  23. Forum thread: Great White Sharks Of Guadalupe October 2009 ↩
  24. Forum thread: Da Junk On The Junk ↩
  25. Forum thread: Macro In Thailand ↩
  26. Wetpixel article, Feb 7, 2004: Seacam 1d1ds Housing Field Journaloperators Manual ↩
  27. Wetpixel article, Nov 4, 2007: Dema 2007 People Photos Nov 2 3 200 ↩
  28. Forum thread: Dema 2008 Discussion And Photos ↩
  29. Forum thread: Great White Sharks Of Guadalupe October 2009 ↩
  30. Wetpixel article, Feb 8, 2011: Bluewater Photo Opening Event ↩
  31. Wetpixel article, Oct 5, 2011: Results Of The Socal Shootout Announced ↩
  32. Wetpixel article, Oct 2, 2012: Socal Shootout Results Announced ↩
  33. Wetpixel article, Aug 20, 2015: Bluewater Photo Announces The Socal Shootout ↩
  34. Wetpixel article, Aug 20, 2016: Cal For Entries 2016 Socal Shootout ↩
  35. Wetpixel article, Jul 19, 2019: Atlantis Imagemakers 2019 ↩
  36. Wetpixel article, Jul 16, 2020: Rip Max Benjamin ↩
  37. Wetpixel article, Jan 14, 2021: Ocean Art 2020 Results ↩
  38. Wetpixel article, Sep 26, 2022: Ocean Art 2022 Is Calling For Entries ↩
  39. Seacam 1D/1Ds Housing Field Journal (2004) (article) ↩
  40. DEMA 2007 People Photos (article) ↩
  41. Bluewater Photo hosts opening event (2011) (article) ↩
  42. Results of the SoCal Shootout 2011 (article) ↩
  43. SoCal Shootout results 2012 (article) ↩
  44. Bluewater Photo announces the SoCal Shootout 2015 (article) ↩
  45. Call for entries: 2016 SoCal Shootout (article) ↩
  46. Atlantis ImageMakers 2019 (article) ↩
  47. RIP Max Benjamin (2020) (article) ↩
  48. Ocean Art 2020 Results (article) ↩
  49. Ocean Art 2022 Calling for Entries (article) ↩
  50. Results: Ocean Art 2022 (article) ↩
  51. Da Junk on the Junk (forum) (forum) ↩
  52. Macro in Thailand (forum) (forum) ↩
  53. Thailand diving: Good dive companies (forum) (forum) ↩
  54. Housing Nikkor 70-180 Micro into a Seacam (forum) (forum) ↩
  55. Great White Sharks of Guadalupe October 2009 (forum) (forum) ↩
  56. If you were going back to Indo where (forum) (forum) ↩
  57. Comparing my Nikon D850 to the Nikon Z7II (forum) (forum) ↩
  58. Traveling with multiple housing too much (forum) (forum) ↩
  59. Member introductions (forum) (forum) ↩
  60. DEMA 2008 discussion and photos (forum) (forum) ↩
  61. Gram shaving for travel (forum) (forum) ↩
  62. Looking for camera and course suggestions (forum) (forum) ↩