Before Mark's Presentation, Henrik Rosén, from Wakatobi Dive resort, will share with us who, what, where, and how to head there. It is home to some of the most pristine and bio-diverse reefs in the world. Here, divers enjoy exclusive access to more than 40 spectacular sites within a private marine reserve, along with unlimited access to their famous House Reef, which has been named one of the world's best shore dives. See more at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYl1NCoSL7iLamS1qqJgrIA

 

Mark Strickland expresses his passion for the underwater world through photography, capturing the essence of marine habitats and amazing creatures found there. He will be speaking about sea life in and around the Coral Sea.   Mark Strickland's life-long interest in the sea has included over 10,000 dives and careers as a lifeguard, boat captain and scuba instructor. His passion for underwater photography has led him to many top dive destinations, including Thailand, where he spent 17 years as Cruise Director / Photo-Pro on a series of live-aboard vessels, including the state-of-the-art Ocean Rover. He currently lives in California, but specializes in the tropical Indo-Pacific, including Indonesia, India, Thailand and Myanmar, as well as many other destinations worldwide.

 His favorite subjects range from tiny invertebrates to reef scenes to big animals like sharks and whales. Throughout his body of work, Mark strives to reveal the essence of his subjects, with an emphasis on color and form, as well as unusual behavior and inter-species relationships. He also seeks to create awareness of marine conservation issues by focusing on threatened species and delicate habitats, many of which are disappearing at an alarming rate. An avid marine naturalist, Mark has discovered several nudibranch species, including his namesake, Halgerda stricklandi.

Mark's images and articles have appeared in dozen of magazines and books around the world, including BBC Wildlife, Conde Nast Traveler, Geo, National Geographic World, Natural History, Nature's Best, Outside, and most major dive magazines. Mark is also co-author and primary photographer of Lonely Planet's award-winning book, Diving and Snorkeling Thailand. Currently, he leads several dive trips each year to his favorite destinations, while working on a career-spanning large-format pictorial book. In addition to representation by several stock photo agencies, Mark operates his own photo library, Mark Strickland Photography, www.markstrickland.com

Mark is a great speaker,

Invite your friends - His presentations are always great!

 

 

March Competitions:

The subject for both Photo and Video Mini-Comps is:  "Worms".  Please see our new submission instructions. 

Video entries may also be brought on thumb drive*** to the meeting, or you send them via email (laups.comp@gmail.com), Dropbox, WeTransfer, or other method.

***If you are entering a video that you are bringing in on a thumb drive, you must declare your intended entry by Monday midnight, so we will know whether we having both open and novice competitions or a single combined category.