Images from Under the Sea

Santa Barbara photographer Ralph Clevenger looked back at his underwater adventures over the past 45 years, including an in-depth view of the underwater photography course he taught at Brooks Institute, when he spoke at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.

Clevenger, who grew up on the coast of North Africa and began diving in the waters of the Mediterranean at the age of seven with his father, was strongly influenced by the French deep sea explorer Jacque-Yves Cousteau’s films and TV shows.

With the aim of becoming a marine biologist as an adult, he eventually studied zoology and worked for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego as a diver-biologist before attending Brooks, where he was a senior faculty member for 33 years teaching courses in natural history and underwater photography.

Clevenger, whose impressive black and white photos of Great White sharks are on display at the museum, has traveled throughout the world on assignment for clients, including Fox Sports, California State Parks, National Maritime Sanctuaries, and Denali National Park Wilderness Center.

His publication credits include National Geographic, Audubon, Terre Sauvage, and a book, Photographing Nature.

Among the guests attending his fascinating talk “Great Whites & Mermaids” were Wilson Quarre, Peggy Wiley, Dana Hansen, Greg Gorga, Jack Snyder, Don Barthelmess, and Michael and Cheryl McRae.

A bash with bite…