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Stephen Frink
//
That was a fairly bold direction,
particularly back in the early 1990s. What made you think
selling photos to dive magazines would work out for you?
Brandon Cole
//
I’d been following what you, Marty
Snyderman, Rick Frehsee and Wu had been doing, so that
was my guide for what to shoot and where to sell the pictures.
I’d always been capable in the water, with a sound biological
understanding of marine life and a good rapport with critters,
but truthfully I was more of a math-and-science guy than a
creative artist. Still, I persevered and had some very fortunate
encounters. My first really productive photo session was with
an aggressive oceanic whitetip shark. He tried to bite me,
but while fending him off with my camera I made a dramatic
image of a creature few had captured on film before.
That helped me get noticed — at first by magazines wanting
freebies, of course, but opportunities to do business with those
who paid came soon after. I knew from the very beginning that
if I was to be respected as a working professional I should be
compensated. So I ignored those who tried to sell me on the
“glory of being a published photographer” and concentrated
on those who realized I needed to eat, pay my rent, invest in
new camera gear and fund dive travel to create new images. I
can’t say it was a business plan yet, but it was a direction.
Fortunately I had emerged from school debt-free, and I
sold everything to support my photography, including my
motorcycle and car. That funded my early travel up and
down the West Coast, from Baja to Alaska. It was my ramen-
noodles era, just me and my camera for the most part. I
occasionally partnered with other photographers to share
expenses though. Stuart Westmorland and I worked together
in the San Juan Islands looking for orcas, for example, and we
dived extensively in the current-swept passes off Vancouver
Island. The West Coast was close, relatively inexpensive and
familiar, so that’s where I concentrated first.
SF
//
When I think of your photography I think of impressive
photos of big, iconic animals like whales and sharks. I realize
you are skilled at shooting dive models and reef scenics as
well, but the big critters seem to have defined your career.
How did that come about?
BC
//
My home waters were very fertile for big animals. I
was covering subjects and habitats that were not already
documented in great detail. At that time magazines like Skin
Diver were investing a lot of assignment coverage in the
Caribbean and Bahamas, but I felt if I stayed true to my roots
and concentrated on things like humpbacks and killer whales
and giant octopuses in temperate waters I could carve out a
niche. Being based in Washington state meant considerable
costs to mount Caribbean expeditions, so I didn’t. It was a
www.alertdiver.com
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Above: An orca (Orcinus orca) breaches off the coast of Washington.
Opposite, clockwise from left: A diver swims over a pristine coral garden
on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Melissa Cole enjoys a rare encounter
with a free-swimming giant Pacific octopus. Brandon Cole shoots over/
under photographs in a tide pool.