Amaury Cruz

As a child in the late fifties, I used to spend my summers on the isolated ocean-front home of my grandfather—a fisherman and boatbuilder—in the northern coast of Cuba, where I developed a love of fishing, boating and snorkeling in the crystal-clear Caribbean waters.  I began diving occasionally without the benefit of formal instruction when double-hosed regulators were still around and eventually became certified by NAUI in 1973.

As a college student, one of my summer jobs was fishing for lobster in the Bahamas while breathing from a hookah rig.  Attending graduate school in Puerto Rico, I made a living taking tourists on snorkeling tours aboard local fishermen’s sailboats.  Those were the most fun jobs I ever had.  Another summer job had me doing underwater construction.  That was not as much fun.

Both diving and photography have always been part of my life.  I was copy editor of my college newspaper and hung around with the staff photographers, who taught me darkroom and camera techniques.  I briefly trained with Alan Becker, a renowned portrait photographer in Miami Beach, and before heading to law school, was a newspaper and magazine editor with responsibility over the freelance photographers, among other things.  Occasionally,  I did travel writing and photography myself.  Additionally, I did advertising and publicity photography for the City of Miami and Dade County as well as private clients.  I have published countless photographs and I am currently a regular photo contributor to Zen Bow, a Buddhist magazine.

In the mid 80s I bought a Nikonos III, took up UW photography, and renounced killing any more creatures.  The UW photo bug didn’t really hit me, however, until I joined SFUPS a few years ago to learn more about this hobby.  Thanks to the challenge of the monthly contests and the lessons learned with the club, I feel I have become increasingly skillful in this exciting form of self-expression.

As soon as reasonably good digital cameras appeared on the market, I joined the revolution.  I now shoot with Canon DSRLs in Ikelite housings connected to DS125 strobes.
AMAURY CRUZ (amaurycruz@yahoo.com)

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