South West

Q. What triggered your fascination with photographing Beluga whales?

Beluga Whales are only seen in the northern regions of the world, and live in cold Arctic waters.

They are illusive, and shy and stay away from us. The fascination of them, is probably the colour. Most whales are grey, but they are white. They are the only whale species out there in this colour. This makes them special to me, and unique.

I enjoy visiting cold and remote locations, as these site are quite often unvisited by other photographers.

Q. Tell us about planning for the amazing Arctic trip?

I met up with Julia Petrik, the Russian Champion freediver at the freediving world championships in November 2007. I have known her for five years, and like all freedivers we always discuss what current and future projects we have planned.

She told me about a trip to Northern Russia to dive with the whales. She invited me on the trip to see the whales, and freedive under the ice.

Arctic Divers in Northern Russia did all the planning of the trip. All I needed to do was get the flights and visas.

I had done numerous ice dives before in Norway and the UK. One of my most recent trips was to Kirkiness to film Gordon Ramsay diving with giant crabs for his F-word cooking programme.

I don't have any ice diving qualification, but I have full cave diving qualifications. This allows me to dive in any overhead environment. I apply these skills to ice diving, plus other special ice diving skills to undertake safe diving.

Ice dive - extreme camera conditions.

Ice diving has it own complications:

• Getting lost from the ice hole. Divers have to be tethered from a line from the hole, and have simple but effective communications with the surface tender at all times using signalling by simple pulls of the line. This allows the dive tender to be in contact with the divers at all times and know how they are doing.

• Regulator freezing - this is one of biggest problems with diving in extreme conditions. Manufacturers now produce breathing equipment that is designed to be use in sub-zero conditions. On our dive we were in -2C degree water, and my buddy did have a problem with his regulator. He had to switch to his spare, as it started to free-flow.

• Hypothermia is the next problem. My view on this is that divers should never get to this stage. If they do, then they weren't equipped with the correct equipment before they did the dive.

Wear adequate thermals, electric thermal underwear, a good drysuit, thick gloves, or dry gloves, and a dry hood. If you start with the right kit, you can undertake long dives, as I have done (two hours on some ice dives).

Feet and hands get cold first, and with cold hands, it not easy to shoot photography, and your mind is on you cold hand rather than your assignment.

Q. What were your first thoughts when you dived beneath the ice?

When you first go below the ice, or are exposed to cold water (below 5C), there is a slight shock to your face. It takes the breath out of you. I quite often just sit for a minute, and compose myself to get use to the environment. When ready, I signal to my buddy, and commence with the dive.

There is excitement before you make the dive as you have your camera, as you are visualising what image you would like to get during the dive. During the dive you get so into the photography, that the cold is not even in your mind. I find I switch into a 'dive' mode, my breathing drops, and I get into what I am down there for. This applies in all dives whether deep, shallow, or cave.

Q. What were your impressions of diving with the Belugas for the very first time?

Very excited. I felt calm when watching them from the surface, but when entering the water, and they came towards me, my heart raced for a second. Once I made contact with them I felt at ease, and got on with what I came there for.

The whale can sense your state. If you are calm in the water and move slowly, they will react to this. Julia had been with them before, and she was as one with them. I felt that they knew her. They approached her as if they knew her. She is so natural in the water.

Q. Was there any point when you thought you wouldn't be able to capture the Belugas on film?

Shooting photography by breath-holding or freediving is hard, but wearing a 7mm wetsuit and 10kg weight belt, and in subzero conditions, is as about extreme as you can get. This is the first time I have worn a wetsuit in such conditions, and I must say, it wasn't as bad as I thought.

On the edge - ready for the dive!

Freediving is a good way to get the best shots - it allows the photographer to move with ease and with freedom. Wearing scuba diving equipment can be clumsy especially in Arctic conditions, and you have speed limitations on going up and down in the water. I did two dives with the whales, and each dive was around 45 minutes long.

I had to get some video for BBC Inside Out, and come back with a selection of stills that I could sell. The conditions weren't ideal, as the water was extremely green, and there was a lot of ice and particles floating around. You have to make do and get what you can.

I got the money shot, but as a whole, I didn't feel I got as many shots as I wanted. I kept shooting during the dives, and felt that I didn't have the shot in the bag . When shooting I know it when I get the shot - I see it through the viewfinder. It's almost like it screams out at me saying 'this is the shot'!

Q. What did you learn about filming in Arctic temperatures and conditions?

A. Be prepared with the cold conditions! Ensure all batteries are charged. Ensure your camera is acclimatised to the cold. If you set up your camera in a warm house, and take it out, the warm air in the housing will steam up in the underwater housing.

I leave my housing outside, or in a cold room, as I do with my camera. I assemble it, and leave it in the same climate. If you bring the camera indoors it will steam up, and will take a while to acclimatise.

Q. How did you feel after you captured the footage of the Belugas?

OK. I would have like to have spent more time there with better conditions, more light and sun. The water was black - not ideal conditions for underwater photography.

Underwater photographers always like the sun to be at 12pm. This allows the sun to penetrate the water to the maximum, The contrast range for my assignment was about as extreme as you could get. Black water, and white whales, and nothing between.

I had to shoot white as a subject, but get good subject detail off the subject. I wasn't concerned about the blackness, as long as the whale and freediver were clear.

With some minor editing in Photoshop I did away with the green tinge in the water, and decided to desaturate the image to a black and white picture.

Q. What were the best and worst moments on the trip?

The worst time was waiting in Moscow Airport for 18 hours for my flight, and the food in the airport!

The best time? Under the ice, at 25m, looking up at the green glow of the ice. Enjoying the silence.

Q. What did you feel when you saw the photos in the national newspapers for the first time?

Delighted with the results, but not always happy with what the press write about. My favourite picture was the simple green silhouette shot of the diver under the ice.

Q. What's your next big challenge? Do you have any new adventures planned?

I have ongoing trips all the time, and am always thinking ahead for future adventures. This summer is busy and I have trips booked till the the Autumn. I get asked to join projects as a photographer and cameraman. I don't mind tough conditions, I enjoy meeting people, and working as a team member.

I was never in the forces, but think I would have enjoyed the challenge. The more extreme, or remote it is the better! I have been on a number of military expeditions as a civilian photographer, and this has be a great experience.

Hot shot - Dan gets his ice dive shots.

In the last 11 years one of my highlights was diving the HMS Britannic, the sister ship to the Titanic. She lies in 120m of water off Kea Island in Greece. She is bigger that her famous sister, and is accessible to divers using specialist diving equipment. We planned a trip in 1997, and she was a dream dive. I was the first to dive her officially since Jacques Cousteau who explored her back in the 70's - this was the ultimate dive and there will never be such a dive like this again.

With technology improving in the last 10 years, I would like to visit her again, and do an extensive documentation of the hull, both in video and and in photography.

As well as diving I enjoy paramotoring, and when not diving I am flying. Paramotoring is a motorised paraglider (engine on your back). This summer I will be joining a teams of six pilots to fly from Land's End to John O'Groats. The venture is named 'Tip too Tip', and will run over 10 days, covering over 750 miles. We will start in Cornwall, and be landing in selected locations through the UK.

I spend a lot of time tinkering around in my shed building my own equipment... I built a video camera housing last year for Herbert Nitch (Austria) to film him make his world record 700 feet no limits freedive. This camera had to withstand great depths and had to be small.

Clips can be seen on my website of this dive at www.underwaterimages.co.uk.