Secret Sea Visions - by Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock

Besides each other, our greatest passions in life are discovering the wonders of the marine world, seeking out indigenous people and their art, and photographing and writing about our adventures. We've been lured across the globe by the opportunity to be the first photojournalists to reveal the mysteries of our planet's most remote underwater realms. Over the years we have documented the longest underwater cave in Mexico and stalked sea snakes in Borneo; we have dived with schools of hammerhead sharks and been chased by Komodo Dragons.

For the past three years we've been working in Indonesia, specifically Raja Ampat, charting new sites and consulting with Conservation International about sustainable marine tourism. The book we produced for CI, Diving Indonesia's Raja Ampat will be updated in late 2011 and will include additional sites in Cenderawasih Bay and Triton Bay. The new diver's guide will be released as Diving Indonesia's Bird's Head Seascape.

Please remember that our photo seminars are available on all of our trips. We focus on an often-overlooked aspect of photography: how to reveal the art in the animal. We believe we can help just about anyone, no matter what type of camera you use, to improve their skills and underwater images.

Underwater and Nature Photography

In our gallery section you can see samples of our images and purchase them for stock, large format prints, or for your own personal use. Secret Sea, a large format book featuring our underwater photography, won the Benjamin Franklin award for best book the year it was published. Our articles and images have been published in a variety of magazines such as GEO, BBC Wildlife, Smithsonian, Natural History, Islands, Sport Diver, and Fathoms. If you like our images, please read some of our recent travel articles.

Travel with us - Underwater Photography Workshops

This page is where you'll find information about upcoming Secret Sea trips. On most trips we offer our Stop Taking Pictures and Start Creating Images workshop, and are happy to provide individual instruction to improve your technique. In just a few hours we'll teach you the basic principles that will transform documentary pictures into art.

Trip Planning & Dive Services

Our combined 40 years of experience in the scuba diving, exotic travel, and underwater photography fields has put us in the unique position of being able to offer a wide range of services. Those exclusive services include underwater guiding, organizing custom expeditions, underwater photography, and Photoshop instruction. Please click here for more information.

Whatever your reasons are for entering the Secret Sea, enjoy this site.

Best Fishes, Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock