We met in August of 1997 and quickly realized we shared a love for the water. By September of 1998, I was certified and we were headed for our first dive trip together. . . Cozumel. After Mexico, I was hooked, too. Since that first trip, we have been diving around the Caribbean and have made several journeys into the vast Pacific. Some of our destinations have occasionally repeated, but our goal is to work our way around the world. . . one dive destination at a time.

In June of 2002, we were married on Maui with our immediate families in attendance. As a wedding gift to each other, we invested in our first camera purchased specifically for underwater photography -  a Nikon in a Sea & Sea underwater housing. Rick had rented various cameras before we met, and we had borrowed a friend's camera for a few of our trips, but we decided it was time to purchase one of our own. Rick had taken photography classes in college and knew all about the subject, but he never thought he'd be adjusting his expertise for use underwater. After shooting lots of "the south end of a northbound fish," the shots started to improve. Rick even won "Best in Show" and an additional "First Place" in a local underwater photography contest. We still shoot many more pictures than we show, but we always make sure we take time to enjoy our dives, not just take pictures. We now take a slate on almost every dive, and take time to look up the name of any fish we don't readily recognize. This is usually done while sipping cocktails in lounge chairs on a beach somewhere with every fish identification book we own and our dive logs in tow.

We live on the outskirts of Roanoke, Virginia where we both work. There is a local dive shop here named Diving Enterprises, Ltd. We try to make 3 dive trips a year, some of them with a group from the shop and sometimes just the two of us. After most group trips, we attempt to get everyone back together to have dinner and view photography/video from our adventures. We usually scan all of our printed photography (all worth looking at!) and put them into a slide show format for easy viewing via laptop. It was after repeated requests for copies on CD and reprints of original pictures that we started to realize we were onto something. We had framed many images for the walls of our own home, but we never thought that anyone else would be interested.

For Christmas 2003, I gave Rick a Cannon digital camera and underwater housing. It was our first foray into the digital world and we still play with it. Trying to get used to the idiosyncrasies of a digital camera was a challenge, but the instant feedback was a great advantage. We continued using our faithful housed Nikon, (affectionately dubbed Sputnik by the divemasters on Cayman Brac) while we watched and waited for digital SLR's to evolve. When Nikon introduced the new professional grade D200 the wait was over! The purchase of a Subal housing completed the package and the summer of 2006 marked the switch to all digital photography for Blue Water Visions. And while "Sputnik" is unofficially retired, it's still available should the need for film work arise. We normally only take one camera or another underwater at a time, and as you can see from the pictures on the website, Rick shoots much more than I do. I am most affectionately known as "fish herder." I have corralled many of the subjects you see displayed, but the eye for composition belongs to my very talented husband.

We have our own wish list of dive destinations around the world. Most of them are just places we haven't been and wish to visit, but a few are for specific fish encounters. We dream of one day trading in our "real jobs" and being paid to visit small islands in search of perfect pictures. We hope you'll continue to visit our site regularly to view our work and read of our adventures. Please save us in your favorites and come see what's new as our web site grows.