First of all, we asked Jordan to share more about himself. He wrote: “My name is Jordan Robins, I’m an ocean wildlife and ocean art photographer based in Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast of Australia.
Whenever I have a moment of free time, I will be out in the ocean photographing, looking for new seascapes or different marine wildlife to photograph. My favorite marine creature to photograph would have to be the Green Sea Turtle, which features heavily in my portfolio.”
We asked Jordan to share what got him into ocean photography.
“While studying at university, I worked part-time as a scuba dive guide at the local dive shop. On each dive, I would always take my GoPro out with me, capturing photos and videos of the amazing wildlife I would encounter on the dives. After months of hard work and saving, I finally had enough money to buy my first DSLR camera and a secondhand camera water housing (which is still the same water housing I use today, 8 years later).
This started as just a hobby, but quickly turned into a passion and then eventually a career, which I have now been running my small business for the last 7 years full time.”
We were particularly curious about the photos that split the frame in half—part underwater and part above the surface. Jordan shared what goes into capturing these unique shots.
“Shooting over under images is definitely one of the hardest styles of underwater photography to shoot. There’s the technical side of things, having to shoot manually only and manually change the output of the strobes (underwater flashes) to accurately balance the exposure throughout the frame. Then, the environmental conditions need to be favorable too. Ideally, you need the ocean surface conditions to be very calm (no wind or swell), then you also need the water to be very clear and then you need the wildlife to appear, too, which can often take hours of sitting around patiently. Some people will often just assume my images are AI or photoshop, but they are 100% genuine and the result of a lot of hard work.”
Over 7 years, Jordan has experienced a fair share of memorable moments. We asked him to tell us about one he will never forget.
“One of my most memorable underwater moments would have to be swimming with Humpback Whales in Tonga. On one particular day, we had been out on the water all day with no luck finding any whales to swim with. By the late afternoon, as we were heading back in, we came across a mother and calf resting on the surface. Switching the engines off, we waited patiently as the curious calf swam over to the boat to check us out. We carefully hopped into the water and for the next 30 mins, had the most amazing interaction with a calf humpback whale dancing and playing around us.
At moments, you would just have to put the camera down and be fully present, appreciating this special once-in-a-lifetime moment. The calf was so curious and playful that, when you spun your arms around mimicking its actions, it would do the same and engage with us even more. There’s not many moments that will bring a grown man to tears but this was definitely one of them,” wrote Jordan.
Lastly, Jordan shared what he would like for people to take away from his work.
“When people see my underwater photography, I hope that it can inspire them and also help to increase awareness around the ocean environment’s fragility and need for preservation, so it can continue to thrive and be protected for future generations to enjoy.”
If you are interested in buying Jordan's work, be sure to visit his website for prints.
