Underwater photography
Theo Halstead
I photograph what the ocean only shows after dark - from reef light to blackwater, Kona to the open Pacific.
Down the water column
The same ocean is a different planet every ten meters. Five frames, filed by the depth they were made at.
Recent expeditions
Each series is one trip below the surface. The gauge beside every cover reads the depth it was made at - pick a plate to see the whole dive.
The one behind the port
Who I am, what I carry down, and the shape of a working dive.
Most of my working life happens where sunlight gives up.
I'm an underwater photographer based in Kailua-Kona, on the dry side of the Big Island. By day I shoot reefs, wrecks and the big animals that pass this coast; two or three nights a week I'm a few miles out, drifting over twelve thousand feet of open water with a camera and a dive light, photographing creatures the size of a thumbnail that ride the world's largest migration up from the deep.
Magazines send me for stories, science teams hire me for survey work, and a handful of guests a month join my charters to learn how it's done. Every frame is made on a single breath of patience: the ocean doesn't pose.
- Trimix CCR
- DAN pro insured
- Drone endorsed
- 5,000+ hours underwater
Read off the console
The numbers that decide whether a shoot comes back with the picture.
Who sends me down
Magazines, science teams, resorts and conservation trusts - the mastheads this work comes back to.
Meridian Blue
9 stories
2017
Pelagic Quarterly
6 features
2019
Reef Trust Pacific
4 surveys a year
2020
Kona Aggressor Charters
house photographer
2016
Institute of Open Ocean Science
3 cruises
2021
Deep Field Press
2 book projects
2022
Halelani Resorts
5 campaigns
2018
The Longline Journal
1 cover, more coming
2026
Named clients are the retainers; one-off assignments land between charters.
What I take down
Four ways to put this camera to work, from the surface to the edge of the light.
Working band, surface to -40 m
Surface and split-shot sessions
Over-unders, freedivers, boats and lineups shot from the waterline - the frames a resort or a brand runs first.
Reef and wreck assignments
Editorial and commercial coverage on scuba: reefscapes, wide wrecks, guided-experience stories with releases handled.
Blackwater and survey work
Night drifts over deep water and structured transect photography for science teams, with calibrated lighting and data sheets.
Prints and licensing
Editioned prints of the archive and rights-managed licensing for editorial, exhibits and campaigns.
The shape of a job
Every assignment follows the same curve: plan on the surface, work at depth, come up slowly with the pictures.
The brief
1-2 weeks outStory, shot list, permits and tides settled before anything gets wet.
Check dive
45 minRigs, strobes and housings proven shallow, where mistakes are cheap.
The working dives
2-6 daysThe pictures get made - two to four dives a day, timed to the light and the animals.
Safety stop edit
48 hoursSelects culled and color-graded while the trip is still in salt water.
Delivery
Day 7Captioned, keyworded files and a contact sheet in your inbox.
Priced by depth
The deeper the frame, the more gas, gear and planning stand behind it. The rates follow the water column.
Reef session
A half day on the shallow reef, shot to your brief.
- 60-80 finished frames
- Web and social license
- 48-hour delivery
Assignment day
A full working day at depth - wrecks, walls, big animals.
- Two or three dives
- Full editorial license
- Captioned, keyworded files
Night drift
A blackwater night over deep water, lit and guided.
- Boat, crew and lights
- Species notes per frame
- One guest seat
Travel beyond the Big Island billed at cost. Science and conservation teams: ask about the reduced survey rate.
Logged by the people on board
Editors, scientists and guests - each note filed against the job it came off.
Manta night charter · Kona
Theo put our anniversary group two feet from feeding mantas and still handed us a gallery that looks like a magazine spread. He ran the safety brief twice and the boat like a Swiss watch.
Dana Whitfield Charter guestLarval fish survey · open Pacific
We needed identifiable frames of animals smaller than a fingernail, at night, in open ocean. Theo delivered 61 usable species plates in five drifts and labeled every one against our sample log.
Dr. Imani Okafor Marine biologist, research leadResort campaign · Kohala Coast
Half our launch imagery came from one week of his diving. The files arrived captioned, released and color-true - our retoucher had almost nothing to do.
Marcus Levine Brand directorCover story · dive magazine
Photographers promise the shot; Theo promises the plan that gets the shot. When the tigers did not show on day one, he rebuilt the week around the current and still made the cover.
Priya Raman Photo editorAsked on the dock
The questions every editor, guest and producer asks before we load the boat.
How do expedition seats work?
What does licensing a photograph cost?
How long until I see the pictures?
Do you photograph in aquariums or pools?
What happens if the animals do not show?
Can you handle permits and releases?
Tell me what is going on the market.
Send the address, the guide and the week you want photographs. I will tell you what the house needs and what it will cost, usually the same day.
Next charters out of Honokohau
- Oct 14 · Blackwater drift Two seats New moon window, calm forecast
- Oct 21-24 · Tiger coast run One seat Four days, big-animal work
- Nov 2 · Manta night shoot Full Waitlist open for November 9
- Nov 18-25 · Tonga humpbacks Three seats Flights not included
Write it on the slate
Charters, assignments, prints and licensing - leave a note and I will answer on the next surface interval.
Got it. I will write back once I am rinsed and recharged - usually the same evening.