Photographer Spotlight: Christian Loader

Christian Loader
Christian Loader (30, UK) is a professional photographer for Scubazoo Images.

**Where do you live?
** I live in a small city called Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

How long have you been diving?
12 years.

**Where did you start?
** I learnt to dive in Anilao, Philippines. This location is a macro-lovers paradise, although being a complete beginner at the time, I had no idea about frogfish, pygmy seahorses, and bizarre shrimps etc. Luckily though, 10 years later I found myself working in Lembeh Strait where I was in my element!

When did you start shooting underwater?
In 2007 during my PADI instructor course in the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia.

What was your first camera setup?
An Olympus SP350 digital compact, Olympus housing, Inon lenses, and an Inon D2000 strobe. Although I learnt the basics of underwater photography by starting out with that compact, I very quickly felt restricted by it on every dive, and it caused me a lot of irritating misery! Making the jump and buying my first DSLR was an expensive decision, but it “changed my life” and I've never regretted it. It's funny though, I'd been diving with my old compact around SE Asia and had seen some incredible things, but when I got my first DSLR I just wanted to go back to all those places and shoot everything again...but better!

What camera system do you use now?
I use a Nikon D800 DSLR in a Nauticam housing, and Inon Z240 strobes.

What is your most memorable moment underwater?
While I was working in the Maldives, my first “big” day in the small Hanifaru bay in 2008 was one of the most memorable: the moment a wall of 50+ mantas flew straight towards me out of the blue followed by a whale shark. During that season I enjoyed many dives there with even greater numbers of mantas and multiple whale sharks in a feeding-frenzy, often completely alone with my camera – a dream come true.

_On a much smaller scale, in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, my most memorable moment was filming tiny, cute, baby Flamboyant Cuttlefish hatching from their eggs.

More recently, this year the most incredible moment was photographing huge Blue Whales and large pods of Sperm Whales in Sri Lanka – a very humbling experience._

**What type of photography do you prefer (wide-angle, macro, etc.)?
** It really can change from week to week, but overall I'd say I prefer shooting macro.

**Any scary or funny moments underwater? **
_One scary moment was when I got stung in the stomach by a large, angry Marbled Stingray which I was filming swimming around our dive group at 30m in the Maldives. Feeling the sharp 'stab', I grabbed my stomach with my hand a cloud of blood billowed out, to the screams of my fellow divers. My friend helped me ascend to the surface, and then got a speedboat to hospital. The stingray's barb hadn't broken off in the puncture wound, and I was very lucky it wasn't a serious envenomation.

There's a lot of funny moments to choose from, but one was when a feeding Manta Ray doing 'loop-the-loops' right next to me suddenly changed direction and slapped me hard in the face with its fin, sending me flying. Then I looked around, and my buddy was laughing hysterically – as were the 10 snorkellers on the surface above us._

Any awards or honors?
I've been very fortunate to win awards in international competitions including the World Festival of Underwater Pictures 2010; Our World Underwater 2011; DEEP Indonesia 2011; Ocean Views 2011; Ocean Art 2011; Wetpixel Photo of the Year 2009;UnderwaterPhotography.com 2008.

**Where have you been published?
** My photography can be seen in Scubazoo's coffee-table books “Maldives – The Underwater Kingdom”; “Natural Wonders – Mountain, Rainforest & Reef”; and “Sensational Seas of Sabah”. I've also been featured in various magazines such as BBC Focus (UK), Scuba Diving (USA), Sport Diver (USA), Asian Diver (Singapore), Scuba Diver Australasia (Singapore).

**What are you proudest of?
** Possibly my “Manta Train” image from 2008 (shot with my old compact, by the way!), as this was my first image to receive some international recognition and is still one of my favourite shots.

Leaving the UK in 2007, my goal was to get into the underwater photography/filming business “within a few years” – but only 8 months later I joined the Scubazoo team as a videographer, so I'm proud to be where I am today, making my passion a full-time job.

**Are there any underwater photographers you admire and why?
** Laurent Ballesta is a brilliant photographer, his book 'Planet Ocean' is one of my favourites, and anyone who's shot a Coelacanth (the rarest fish in the world) at 120m on a rebreather is certainly admirable in my opinion!

David Doubilet and Douglas Seifert are two legends whose wide-angle images I admire greatly, and Paul Nicklen's photography in the polar regions is awe-inspiring.

Alex Mustard consistently shoots creative and often technically challenging images in both macro and wide-angle, and he's a 'one-stop shop' full of helpful information.

Tony Wu captures fantastic behavioural shots wherever he goes, and seems to always be at the forefront of 'the next big thing' (or location) in underwater photography.

**What advice do you have for beginning photographers?
** Above all, become a great diver and be sure to perfect your buoyancy skills. Search online for underwater photography websites and forums, where you can find all the information you need to go about capturing the shots you want. If you see an expert or professional photographer on your dive holiday, go and ask them all sorts of questions, no matter how introvert and grumpy they seem! Buy them a beer and they should spill all to you, with tips about equipment, techniques, marine life behaviour, dive locations, etc etc.

**Where are you going next?
** The islands Sipadan & Mabul – the 'playground' right on our doorstep here in Borneo. Following that, the Philippines.