My name is Mike Roberts and I am blessed to live on the island of Maui where I conduct underwater photography workshops.

Nothing formal. I have always played with photography but never had the economic means to jump in with both feet. Now that I am older and more settled in my life, I still haven’t got the economic means to jump in with both feet, but it is much higher on the priority list.

The intrigue with photography has been with me since high school but the passion didn’t exist until I started scuba diving on a more regular basis and began shooting underwater about 7 years ago. When digital became more attractive and affordable, I joined the revolution with a Canon G2 and an Ikelite housing/strobe and became very passionate. The instant gratification of digital made all the difference in the world to me and I have been obsessed ever since. Now I am trying to expand my knowledge and skills to topside (on land) photography as well.

I went from the Canon G2 and an Olympus 5050 to one of the 1st Nikon D70’s. I am now shooting a Nikon D300. I have to keep a camera longer than most photographers because when I upgrade, I need to buy a new housing as well. For wide lenses I use a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye, A Tokina 12-24mm, and the Nikon 18-70mm that came with my original D70. For macro, I use a Nikon 60mm and a 105mm. I also have a 2xTC that I occasionally put on the 105mm.

To allow me to shoot underwater, I use an Ikelite housing and 2 Ikelite DS125 strobes.

I am not much of a gear geek and tend to only get what I really think I need to shoot what is in my mind. If I can’t use it underwater, I have a tough time justifying the purchase. Although, recently I have been thinking about a wide to normal lens that would be good for shooting models underwater and in the woods, so if anyone has any suggestions...

Of course underwater shooting is what I live for but I’m drawn to water of all kinds. I have been shooting more and more rivers, waterfalls and seascapes lately and trying to perfect those skills. Living on Maui gives me easy access to all of these wonderful subjects.

Jim Church, I guess just because he was one of the main pioneers in my genre, but there are many more contemporary and relatively unknown photographers that are even more of an influence on me. I look for what it is that I like in the work of others and try to incorporate that into my personally evolving style.

I’ve been with Smugmug for only 7 months now but I think it’s probably gonna be forever unless some happens like they are bought out by Yahoo, Microsoft, or some other mega-corporation, or if they get so big that they begin to act like one of those companies themselves. My favorite features are the hands free selling of prints and the close to perfect blend of customizing my own site, yet without becoming a software engineer. The service and guarantee they offer my customers is the icing on the cake.

How about 2 words – more exposure.

On music, Duke Ellington said, “If it sounds good, it is good.” Don’t worry about rules and styles and genres and all that stuff. In photography – if it looks good, it is good.