Underwater

HAWAIIAN STYLE MAGAZINE
APRIL 2008
By Douglas King

Marine currents drive life around the world. Whales migrate to the waters off the Hawaiian Islands following the rich sea broth that feeds them, just as all sea creatures are directed by the push and pull of the vast ocean.

Photographer Bruna Stude has also felt the pull of the ocean. Born in Croatia on the shores of the Dalmation Coast, Stude worked as a newspaper and radio reporter until she left Croatia in 1987 to pursue the call of the sea. She became a freelance stock photographer for many years, traversing the world as her love for all thing acquatic grew as deep as the ocean itself.

By 2002, the currents directed Stude to her Kaua‘i home. It is in Hawaii that she has perfected her craft as an underwater photographer, producing a copious amount of images each year.

Stude’s camera of choice is the Nikonos 35mm with a 35mm Nikon F4 and F5, set inside a Sea & Sea Housing. For dry images of shells, she uses a digital Nikon D1x. She notes that she only uses Nikon equipment, as the older lenses are always compatible with her newer cameras. In this next year she hopes to modify the Sea & Sea Housing to allow her to use the Nikon D1X, and thus transition to a completely digital workspace.

“I like to use natural light in most of my pictures,” she says, “and use the Sea & Sea strobes only in extreme underwater close-ups.”

Recently her work was collected for publication in In-Sight, a trade paperback book, filled with the rich black and white images that are Stude’s trademark (for a complete review see the HSBookshelf in this issue). Stude summarizes her journey and the environment that she loves this way: “When I photograph in the ocean, I look to find and capture the magnificence of that which is common and universal to it. By illuminating the extraordinary, I try to create awareness and inspire reverence.”

You can see more of Bruna Stude’s work at www.HawaiianStyleMagazine.com or visit www.brunastude.com.