by Janice Nigro I have been living in Southern California for several years now. I know, I hear a collective “aww” it can’t be that hard to live here-sun, palm trees, and the ocean wilderness right there in front of me. But you always give something up to get something else. In my case, I... Continue Reading →
Macrophotography: Up close and personal with the coral reef
My fingers are still tingling. I stretch and bend them several times making sure they aren’t stuck permanently in a clutching position around my underwater housing. Endorphins are coursing through my body. “Mind-blowing,” I am thinking surfacing from my dive in Anemone Fields in the Alor Archipelago, Indonesia. For some of my dive buddies? Yawn.... Continue Reading →
How far would you go?
by Janice Nigro It was my fifth airport in 4 days of travel. And I still hadn’t arrived at my destination. “Is this a vacation?” I asked myself. Living in LA, I can't cry that I have poor access to a major airport hub. I was on my way to another diving adventure. This time... Continue Reading →
I never bought an underwater rig I didn’t like
by Janice Nigro There I was again. In the store. Less than three weeks before a dive trip. Considering the options. “I just want to see what it looks like,” I said. That was the end. The guy behind the counter knew he had me. “Yeah, here you can hold the housing and see how... Continue Reading →
Taking French lessons in Indonesia
by Janice Nigro I took a last-minute trip to an island in Indonesia I had never been to in September. I don't know how a person can do that, but I did. Cheaper fares if you fly through Hong Kong when it's typhoon season, helped maybe. I even bought a new underwater camera rig before... Continue Reading →
An affordable piece of art
by Janice Nigro I had a boyfriend in college who wasn’t much of a romantic. But he did leave me a surprise Valentine’s Day card once in a place where I wouldn’t have expected it. I remember the card still today. Without saying much, I felt it said, "I am thinking of you." The history... Continue Reading →
Hung up on plastic
Ambon Bay in the Maluku province of Indonesia is one of the most exciting dive spots on the planet. There is no predicting what you will find there, but you have to be game for the hunt. I have also felt like I was diving head first into a garbage dump. I have been told... Continue Reading →
An Accidental Artist: Discovering Creativity through Scuba Diving
Do you think of artists as super-powered people? I did until I discovered underwater photography. Discovering my artistic side I tend to think of as a glorious accident, but I wonder, because underwater photography has all the elements that are important to me: travel, sport, art, and science. An Accidental Artist is a collection of... Continue Reading →
Sneak preview
My first solo exhibition for my underwater photographs-That's an animal?-goes up in just a few days. Here is a sneak preview of some of the photos that will go up in Java Man Coffee House, 157 Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, from July 2 to July 29, 2017. I had some fun coming up with... Continue Reading →
Making stone out of seawater
by Janice Nigro Stony corals fool us. We see only a big mountain of what appears to be lifeless rock before us, when in fact the mountain of rock is growing daily (in healthy reefs) due to the hard work of the macro animals and their algal symbionts, zooxanthellae, living inside. Scientists have long known... Continue Reading →