Maria Munn is well known in the diving industry for her compact digital underwater photography courses, and although she probably leans more towards the 'photo' part of photojournalism, I'm very pleased to include her story on this site.
There are many capable underwater photographers out there running workshops for the minority who use SLRs, but Maria's approach is to target the majority who use digital compact cameras. By doing this she has carved her own niche in the competitive world of underwater photography.
For any budding photojournalist finding your niche is essential. John Liddiard (DIVER magazine) is a UK diving specialist, John Bantin (DIVER magazine) is an equipment guru, Dr. Alex Mustard (numerous titles) is an expert in marine biology and Charles Hood (DIVE magazine) is a specialist in wreck photography.
I guess my niche is people - I tend to lean towards assignments where there are divers to interview and quote. My other niche is the ability to review and evaluate diving courses. I have a Masters in Education where I specialised in training and evaluation as well as a vocational background in learning and development (A1 and V1 assessor and quality assurance qualifications as well as a host of other units).
Maria has achieved a lot in the years she has been exploring her niche - she has been a member of the Royal Photographic Society for the past four years and they recently awarded her a 'Distinction' for her underwater photography with a Fuji compact camera.
Maria also has an outstanding track record in delivering quality workshops - the proof? Well, her students regularly get their photographs published. You can find out more about her UK based day long workshops and overseas trips at her website.
Last year I joined one of her courses on behalf of DIVER magazine (click
on the thumbnails), I was so impressed I am currently planning to join Maria in delivering photojournalism workshops - Maria will take care of the 'photo' while I cover the 'journalism.'
As soon as we have firmed up the dates and locations we'll let you know.
Keep Writing...
Brendan
Your Story - Maria Munn
I’m always asked how I broke into the world of underwater photography and journalism and the answer is really by accident. I was on a journalism course at the time and I happened to take along a portfolio of my photographic work. As soon as I finished the course I was asked to lead underwater photographic trips with Emperor Divers. I targeted the idea of teaching beginners how to use digital compact cameras underwater as no-one had ever specialised in this area before and I knew that they gave great results. I then approached editors with different angles on the same subject, always with the focus on my guests and what they could achieve and the rest as they say is history. Huge amount of willpower, late nights at the computer and huge amounts of coffee mixed with a ‘yes’ attitude have definitely helped to make an underwater recipe for success.
Maria Munn, May 2008
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