Brian Skerry, underwater photographer

http://www.brianskerry.com/commercial.html

Commercial Assignment

In addition to his editorial work, Brian Skerry is also available for commercial assignments. If your campaign involves anything underwater from a swimming pool to sharks in the sea, Brian will deliver the results you want.

Over his thirty-year career, Brian has worked with art directors and coordinators to produce specific looks to images and campaigns. We use a wide variety of lighting equipment and techniques from surface and underwater HMI lighting (movie lights), banks of underwater strobes, slaves, tungsten lights and more to create the perfect image.

We also have underwater communication equipment, so the art director doesn’t ever have to get wet! Surface communications equipment allows directors to talk to Brian underwater and make adjustments until the shot is in the can. The combination of underwater communication gear and digital cameras and feeds to surface monitors make underwater shoots easy for the surface team to direct.

Swimming pools can be turned into studios where fashion models or athletes are photographed in stunning detail. Or if the campaign requires ponds, lakes, coral reefs or the deep sea, we’ve got you covered.

For commercial assignments, Brian is represented by National Geographic Assignments. For more information please contact Alice Keating at akeating@ngs.org and visit www.nationalgeographicassignment.com

---


Brian speaking at the Boston Sea Rovers clinic, 2003.

Upcoming Events

For nearly two decades Brian has presented programs to tens of thousands of people in numerous locations worldwide. His adventurous programs combine stunning imagery with science, environmental issues, unique historical perspectives and an entertaining sense of humor. Using a fresh speaking style, Brian will take the audience around the world and deep beneath the sea. He will guide you inside and around historic shipwrecks and bring you eye to eye with mythical sea monsters.

Programs can be tailored to specific audiences ranging from corporate executives to first grade children. For corporate audiences, themes such as risk management, perseverance and teamwork can be highlighted through Brian’s experiences in planning and executing complex expeditions.

Brian’s lectures also offer a rare behind-the-scenes look at how his photographs are made. While on assignment Brian has been lost at sea, nipped by a shark, chased by a sperm whale, "stabbed" by a German U-Boat and once surfaced in a blizzard from a dive in 28-degree water to witness his dive boat sinking. These personal anecdotes of “surviving the assignment” are often more compelling than the story itself!

Brian is also available for book signings either in conjunction with speaking engagements or separately. Signings can be accompanied by an arrangement of Brian's Fine Art Prints on lighted easels, grouped behind the signing table, creating the perfect backdrop.

Periodically Brian offers underwater photography workshops in locations throughout the Unites States and around the world. The dates and locations of workshops will be posted on this page.

To schedule a presentation or workshop with Brian Skerry, or for more information, please contact us.
Lectures

February 29, 2008 – NANPA (North American Nature Photographers of America) Annual Summit – Keynote Speaker, Outreach Event – Destin, Florida

April 23, 2008 – Tri-Beta National Biological Honor Society,
Worcester State College, Annual Induction Ceremony –
Worcester, Massachusetts

July 24, 2008 – Massachusetts Audubon Society, Visual Arts Center
Canton, Massachusetts

October 31, 2008 – WildPhotos 08, Royal Geographical Society
London, England

November 6, 2008 National Geographic Society,
Masters of Photography Series, Grosvenor Auditorium -
Washington, DC

February 13-15, 2009 – Whale Quest Conference
Kapalua Resort, Maui, Hawaii
Exhibits

Ocean Wild – Audubon Visual Arts Center,
May 18 – September 21, 2008
Canton, Massachusetts

Right Whale ~ photos by Brian Skerry

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1062892/Pictured-A-photographers-close-encounter-majestic-right-whale.html

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:14 PM on 26th September 2008

This is the amazing moment when a 50-ton right whale decided it needed to take a closer look at a wildlife photographer and his assistant. Pictured: A photographer's very close encounter with a majestic right whale

Brian Skerry, underwater photographer, was shooting pictures off the coast of Aukland Islands, New Zealand, when the giant mammal came within a few feet of his colleague Maurricio Handler.

He said: 'It look at me with great curiosity. But no aggression.'

Right whales are baleen whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena. Four right whale species are recognised in this genus. Photos by Brian Skerry of right whale.



Hello there: the right whales takes a closer look at photographer's assistant Maurricio Handler. Whale and Man Meet

Sometimes the family Balaenidae is considered to be the family of right whales. Bowhead Whale, which has its own genus, Balaena also belongs to the Balaenidae family, and so is sometimes considered a right whale. However, this article focuses on the Eubalaena species.

Right whales can grow up to 60 feet long and weigh up to 100 tons. Their rotund bodies are mostly black, with distinctive callosities (roughened patches of skin) on their heads.

They are called 'right whales' because whalers thought the whales were the 'right' ones to hunt, as they float when killed and often swim within sight of the shore.

Populations were vastly reduced by intensive harvesting during the active years of the whaling industry. Today, instead of hunting them, people often watch these acrobatic whales for pleasure.



Graceful: The giant mammal seemed to perform a beautiful dance for the photographer. Whale dance by Brian Skerry




Up and away: Two right whales swim towards the surface

The four Balaenidae species live in distinct locations. Approximate population figures: 300 North Atlantic Right Whales live in the North Atlantic; 200 North Pacific Right Whales live in the North Pacific; 7,500 Southern Right Whales are spread throughout the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere; 8,000–9,200 Bowhead Whales are distributed entirely in the Arctic Ocean.

The right whale's diet consists primarily of zooplankton and tiny crustaceans such as copepods, as well as krill, and pteropods, although they are occasionally opportunistic feeders.

They feed by "skimming" along with their mouth open. Water and prey enters the mouth but only the water can pass through the baleen and out again into the open sea.

Thus, for a right whale to feed, the prey must occur in sufficient numbers to trigger the whale's interest; be large enough that the baleen plates can filter it; and be small enough that it does not have the speed to escape.

The "skimming" may take place on the surface, underwater, or even close to the ocean's bottom, indicated by mud occasionally observed on right whales' bodies.

The full story of the right whale is in the October 2008 issue of National Geographic.

Map of New Zealand: