ANDY'S MEMORABLE MARINE ADVENTURES
Andy Belcher is a talented Bay of Plenty freelance photographer with 82 top photographic awards to his credit. They include British Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Australasian Underwater Photographer of the Year and Nikon Photo Contest International. Ask him a question on his photographic career and he’ll usually answer you with “Gosh, where do I start?” And that’s the way it’s always been for Andy. Utterly self-taught, with no qualifications (and proud of the fact) Andy believes his open minded approach to learning has enabled him to break photographic boundaries – simply because he never knew they existed. Andy’s business success can be partly attributed to his versatility. He shoots a wide variety of commercial photographic imagery from tourism to underwater, he runs photo workshops, offers private tuition, writes and photographs magazine features and has just completed his third children’s book.
LEVIATHAN OF THE DEEP!
Three years ago I made my first trip to Vava’u in northern Tonga and when I boarded my aircraft in Auckland I had no idea what incredible adventures awaited me. On day one we boarded Beluga Diving’s whale swimming boat Gladiator and headed out into pristine blue water. After two hours on the briny we were floating beside two humpback whales. To describe my first encounter with a 40 tonne humpback as life changing is probably an understatement.
