Meet the Artist

Mike Bacon was born and raised in North Palm Beach, Florida and has been a professional underwater and nature photographer for the past 34 years. His photographs have appeared in hundreds of books, newspapers, magazines, calendars, educational textbooks and encyclopedias, etc. for years, and are still regularly published around the world. The National and International Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, Ranger Rick, Audubon, Greenpeace, Ocean Realm, Sea Frontiers and Scuba News all published work from his very first submissions. He won the Sierra Club National Photo Contest and the International Wildlife Photo Competition in the underwater category and made three covers that very first year. At this point, Mike was hooked for good and decided to leave his job at Mote Marine Laboratory and pursue his career as a full time nature photographer.

National Geographic, Nature's Best, Sierra Club, National and International Wildlife, Audubon, Bird Watchers Digest, Ranger Rick, Nature Photographer, Nature Travel, Ocean Realm, Sea-Frontiers, Underwater USA, Skin Diver Magazine, Greenpeace, Readers Digest, Discovery and the World Wildlife Fund are just a few of the many publishers that have paid to use his work.

Mike's travels have now taken him around the world. He has visited every continent in the pursuit of his passion and has dove hundreds of pristine reefs around the globe. He is equally at home both above and below the oceans. In 1984, Mike began to display his photographs for exhibit and sale in the art festival circuit to help supplement his income and desire to travel as a freelance photographer. In a very short period of time he became quite successful in this endeavor, winning first, second and third place awards in photography along with many honor awards his very first year. This avenue has rewarded Mike with great satisfaction by allowing him to share his love and knowledge of his subject matter with the public, and reliving these special moments while traveling and photographing around the world.

These unique and vibrantly colored photographs represent years and countless hours spent underwater and in the wild, patiently, and sometimes impatiently waiting for just the right moment when the interactions of light, composition and opportunity come together in unison, allowing Mike to capture some once in a lifetime images.

Mike's underwater camera is a Nikon F, encased in an Oceanic housing and bought used in 1982. Almost every single underwater photo exhibited here has been taken with this film camera.

Hope you enjoy these photos as much as Mike did taking them!