Howard Hall

Aliases: uwfotog (Twitter)
Role: IMAX filmmaker, underwater cinematographer, author, conservation advocate
First appearance: 2002 ([1])
Location: San Diego, California
Affiliation: Howard Hall Productions; Gates Underwater Products
Website: howardhall.com

Biography

Howard Hall is a San Diego-based natural history filmmaker whose career spans the entire arc of underwater cinema technology — from 16mm film in the 1970s through 1,200-lb IMAX 3D cameras to RED digital cinema at resolutions up to 8K. One World One Ocean named him one of their “Ocean Heroes,” describing him as someone who “has been capturing amazing underwater images since the 1970’s, inspiring millions with his work” ([2]).

Hall works with his wife Michele Hall (credited as co-producer and sometimes director on most films) and a longtime crew of San Diego-based veterans including Bob Cranston (died June 2, 2016), Mark Thurlow, Dave Forsythe, Peter Kragh, Richard Hermann, and Lance Milbrand ([3]). He began his career filming sharks in the 1970s and worked on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom in the 1980s ([4]).

He co-authored “Successful Underwater Photography” with Brian Skerry, with a book signing at the Gates booth at DEMA 2002 ([5]). In 2014, writer Brian Lam profiled Hall in The New Yorker in an article titled “The Life Aquatic with Howard Hall,” highlighting his time filming with “Pig” (the IMAX underwater camera) in West Papua ([6]).

Hall is known for favoring the Southern California kelp forest as a filming location. He once commented: “Finally, people often ask where my favorite diving is. Well, on a good day, nothing beats the Southern California kelp forest” ([7]).

Key Films

IMAX Productions

PBS Nature Films

Short Films and Digital Cinema

Other Film Credits

Gates Partnership

Hall’s collaboration with Gates Underwater Products defined the digital cinema underwater housing category. The partnership traces back to Gates founder Ellwyn Gates and continued under John Ellerbrock.

Co-Design of the DEEP RED Housing

In 2007, Gates announced the DEEP RED housing for the RED ONE camera, co-developed with Hall. He called the RED “a landmark in motion picture capture, as different from video as video is from film and better than both” ([43]).

John Ellerbrock approached Hall about collaborating on the design. Hall specified six criteria: a three-section housing (front port, center section with camera mount and controls, rear bell); fingertip-accessible controls for run-switch, zoom, aperture, and focus; full menu access underwater; compatibility with lenses from digital still camera lenses to Ultra Primes; depth rating to 450 feet; and maximum compactness. Hall praised three innovations as “absolutely brilliant”: a waterproof multi-function joystick replicating the RED ONE’s rear control, a universal lens gear arrangement accepting nearly any lens from Nikon to Arri Ultra Primes, and a modular trim weight system with slots on housing exterior ([44]).

Hall first used the DEEP RED extensively during a two-week expedition in Southeast Alaska aboard the Nautilus Explorer in July 2009, shooting with Nikon 16-85mm and Tokina 10-17mm lenses behind an 8-inch glass dome port with anti-reflection coatings. He found the housing weighed 10-20% less than his Sony 900 system ([45]). Eric Cheng published high-resolution TIFF frame grabs from Hall’s RED ONE on Wetpixel, converted to JPGs for download ([46]).

Subsequent Gates Housings

Seal Check Innovation

Hall and Bob Cranston pioneered vacuum seal checking for underwater housings in the mid-1990s, using the technique on their IMAX Mark II camera housings. Gates later commercialized this as the “Seal Check” system, first displayed at DEMA 2007 as a packaged product retailing for $1,000. John Ellerbrock noted that the concept traces back to Lamar Boren and Jordy Klein Sr. in the 1960s ([52], [53])

Conservation and Writing

Tagging Essay

In December 2014, Hall published “Tagging: A Celebration of Science” on Wetpixel — a lengthy satirical essay critiquing scientific animal tagging practices. Drawing on decades of personal experience, Hall described encounters with fluorescent-paint-tagged elephant seals that ruined film shoots, explosive harpoon-mounted transmitters fired at gray whales in San Ignacio lagoon, crossbow biopsy sampling of humpbacks on the Silver Bank, and the hot-branding of thousands of California sea lion pups. The essay’s dry wit masked serious concerns about the aesthetic and welfare impacts of tagging on marine wildlife. Norbert Wu praised the piece in the comments, calling it “excellent” and urging readers to recognize the irony. A follow-up article noted that grey seals had learned to use acoustic fish tags as a “dinner bell” to hunt more efficiently — validating Hall’s concerns about unintended consequences ([54], [55])

Guest Articles on Wetpixel

Hall wrote one confirmed guest article for Wetpixel — the essay “Tagging: A Celebration of Science” — published through Adam Hanlon’s editor account. Several of his film releases (Leviathan, Angel Ray, California Dreaming, Forest of the Sea, and others) were also posted by Hanlon as news items about Hall’s work.

Professional Practices

Hall participated in Wetpixel’s “Asks the Pros: Backup Strategies” feature alongside other leading underwater photographers ([56]). He also endorsed the book “Underwater Digital Video Made Easy” by Steve Barsky, Lance Milbrand, and Mark Thurlow (the latter a regular member of Hall’s film crew), writing that “seldom has such an elite group of authors come together to produce a text for the sport diving industry” ([57]).

Key Collaborators

Filming Locations

Hall’s work spans every ocean, with recurring locations including:

Endorsements and Industry Quotes

Hall provided a notable endorsement for the Aqua-Trek shark dive in Fiji: “On one dive, you will see more species of sharks than the average diver sees in a lifetime! This dive is a must do” ([85]).

The NAI’A liveaboard listed Hall as a regular guest alongside Paul Humann and Steven Frink ([86]).

Timeline

References


Sources

  1. Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2002: Gates Howard Hall And Brian Skerry At Dema
  2. Wetpixel article, May 25, 2012: Howard Hall Interviewed About Filming Sharks
  3. Wetpixel article, Mar 1, 2006: Review Imax Deepsea 3d
  4. Wetpixel article, Apr 1, 2020: Interview Marty Snyderman With Howard And Michelle Hall By Eric Cheng
  5. Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2002: Gates Howard Hall And Brian Skerry At Dema
  6. Wetpixel article, Mar 24, 2014: Howard Hall Profiled In New Yorker
  7. Wetpixel article, Mar 3, 2014: Video California Dreaming By Howard Hall
  8. Wetpixel article, Dec 1, 2014: Howard Hall Tagging A Celebration Of Science
  9. Wetpixel article, Jan 31, 2006: Deep Sea 3d To Debut On March 3rd
  10. Wetpixel article, Jan 31, 2006: Deep Sea 3d To Debut On March 3rd
  11. Wetpixel article, Mar 1, 2006: Review Imax Deepsea 3d
  12. Wetpixel article, Feb 22, 2006: Imax Deep Sea 3d
  13. Wetpixel article, Dec 4, 2010: Filming Under The Sea 3d On Vimeo
  14. Wetpixel article, Jul 23, 2010: Blue Ocean Film Festival 2010 Shortlist Published
  15. Wetpixel article, Dec 9, 2012: Leviathan By Howard Hall
  16. Wetpixel article, Aug 26, 2019: Howard Hall And Jonathan Bird To Release Imax Film
  17. Wetpixel article, Sep 16, 2017: Howard Hall Films Available On Amazon Video
  18. Wetpixel article, Sep 2, 2014: Video The Great Blue By Howard Hall
  19. Wetpixel article, Jan 10, 2019: Film Shadows In A Desert Sea By Howard Hall
  20. Wetpixel article, Aug 12, 2010: Howard Halls Ocean Requiem
  21. Wetpixel article, Jun 12, 2007: New Divefilm And Divefilmhd Podcast Videos
  22. Wetpixel article, Mar 31, 2010: Maldives In Red Howard Hall Productions
  23. Wetpixel article, Sep 20, 2010: Review 2010 San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition
  24. Wetpixel article, Nov 1, 2010: Howard Hall The Blue Ocean In Red
  25. Wetpixel article, Jan 22, 2011: Howard Halls Sperm Whale Video From Dominica
  26. Wetpixel article, May 17, 2013: Video Howard Halls Leviathan
  27. Wetpixel article, Dec 9, 2012: Leviathan By Howard Hall
  28. Wetpixel article, Dec 20, 2012: Divefilm Hd Included In Itunes Best Of 2012
  29. Wetpixel article, Mar 3, 2014: Video California Dreaming By Howard Hall
  30. Wetpixel article, May 21, 2014: Video Angel Ray By Howard Hall
  31. Wetpixel article, Sep 2, 2014: Video The Great Blue By Howard Hall
  32. Wetpixel article, Apr 16, 2015: Video The Bulls Of Bad By Howard Hall
  33. Wetpixel article, Aug 4, 2015: Video Howard Halls Baskers
  34. Wetpixel article, Aug 31, 2017: Trailer For Sdufex 2017
  35. Wetpixel article, May 1, 2017: Video Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  36. Wetpixel article, May 21, 2018: Video Threshers By Howard And Michelle Hall
  37. Wetpixel article, Jun 9, 2018: Film Dreams Of Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  38. Wetpixel article, Jul 17, 2018: Video Wild Windows Whales By Howard Hall
  39. Wetpixel article, Jul 27, 2018: Film Forest Of The Sea By Howard Hall
  40. Wetpixel article, Dec 26, 2018: Video Whale Song By Howard And Michelle Hall
  41. Wetpixel article, Aug 31, 2010: Dvd Review Sensational Seas 2
  42. Wetpixel article, Apr 26, 2012: Wetpixel Interviews Sculptor Gar Waterman
  43. Wetpixel article, Oct 9, 2007: Gates Announces Deep Red Underwater Housing For Red One Camera
  44. Wetpixel article, Jul 24, 2009: Howard Hall Reviews The Gates Deep Red Underwater Housing
  45. Wetpixel article, Jul 24, 2009: Howard Hall Reviews The Gates Deep Red Underwater Housing
  46. Wetpixel article, Aug 10, 2009: High Resolution Frame Grabs From Red One Camera
  47. Wetpixel article, Mar 26, 2012: Howard Hall Films The Creatures Of The Lembeh Strait
  48. Wetpixel article, Dec 31, 2013: Gates Announces Deep Dragon
  49. Wetpixel article, Jan 27, 2011: Gates Releases Deep Pulsar Deep Atom Underwater 3d Beam Splitter
  50. Wetpixel article, Dec 26, 2018: Video Whale Song By Howard And Michelle Hall
  51. Wetpixel article, May 21, 2018: Video Threshers By Howard And Michelle Hall
  52. Wetpixel article, Nov 4, 2007: Dema 2007 Gates Housings
  53. Wetpixel article, Aug 10, 2016: John Ellerbrock The Origins Of Seal Check
  54. Wetpixel article, Dec 1, 2014: Howard Hall Tagging A Celebration Of Science
  55. Wetpixel article, Dec 4, 2014: Seals Use Acoustic Tags To Hunt More Efficiently
  56. Wetpixel article, Apr 19, 2015: Wetpixel Asks The Pros Backup Strategies
  57. Wetpixel article, Sep 17, 2005: New Underwater Digital Video Book
  58. Wetpixel article, Jul 19, 2019: Atlantis Imagemakers 2019
  59. Wetpixel article, Jun 9, 2016: In Memoriam Bob Cranston Underwater Cameraman
  60. Wetpixel article, May 28, 2014: Bob Cranston Shoots 3d In California
  61. Wetpixel article, Sep 17, 2005: New Underwater Digital Video Book
  62. Wetpixel article, Mar 1, 2006: Review Imax Deepsea 3d
  63. Wetpixel article, Jul 24, 2009: Howard Hall Reviews The Gates Deep Red Underwater Housing
  64. Wetpixel article, Apr 1, 2020: Interview Marty Snyderman With Howard And Michelle Hall By Eric Cheng
  65. Wetpixel article, May 1, 2017: Video Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  66. Wetpixel article, Jan 22, 2011: Howard Halls Sperm Whale Video From Dominica
  67. Wetpixel article, Dec 9, 2012: Leviathan By Howard Hall
  68. Wetpixel article, Aug 12, 2010: Howard Halls Ocean Requiem
  69. Wetpixel article, Mar 3, 2014: Video California Dreaming By Howard Hall
  70. Wetpixel article, Dec 9, 2012: Leviathan By Howard Hall
  71. Wetpixel article, Jun 15, 2010: Howard Halls Cocos 2010 Video Short Shot On Red
  72. Wetpixel article, Dec 2, 2011: One World One Ocean Reports From Cocos
  73. Wetpixel article, Feb 13, 2010: Howard Hall In The Maldives With A Gates Deep Red System
  74. Wetpixel article, Jul 24, 2009: Howard Hall Reviews The Gates Deep Red Underwater Housing
  75. Wetpixel article, Mar 26, 2012: Howard Hall Films The Creatures Of The Lembeh Strait
  76. Wetpixel article, May 1, 2017: Video Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  77. Wetpixel article, Jun 9, 2018: Film Dreams Of Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  78. Wetpixel article, May 21, 2018: Video Threshers By Howard And Michelle Hall
  79. Wetpixel article, Jan 22, 2011: Howard Halls Sperm Whale Video From Dominica
  80. Wetpixel article, Dec 26, 2018: Video Whale Song By Howard And Michelle Hall
  81. Wetpixel article, Mar 24, 2014: Howard Hall Profiled In New Yorker
  82. Wetpixel article, Apr 16, 2015: Video The Bulls Of Bad By Howard Hall
  83. Wetpixel article, Aug 4, 2015: Video Howard Halls Baskers
  84. Wetpixel article, Apr 26, 2012: Wetpixel Interviews Sculptor Gar Waterman
  85. Wetpixel article, Nov 22, 2008: Fijis First Annual Ultimate Shark Photo Video Shootout
  86. Wetpixel article, Nov 20, 2004: Humpbacks In Tonga Wstan Waterman
  87. Wetpixel article, Apr 1, 2020: Interview Marty Snyderman With Howard And Michelle Hall By Eric Cheng
  88. Wetpixel article, Sep 16, 2017: Howard Hall Films Available On Amazon Video
  89. Wetpixel article, Jan 10, 2019: Film Shadows In A Desert Sea By Howard Hall
  90. Wetpixel article, Jan 31, 2006: Deep Sea 3d To Debut On March 3rd
  91. Wetpixel article, Aug 10, 2016: John Ellerbrock The Origins Of Seal Check
  92. Wetpixel article, Oct 8, 2002: Gates Howard Hall And Brian Skerry At Dema
  93. Wetpixel article, Sep 30, 2003: Fathom Imaging Hd Dv And 169 Video Lenses
  94. Wetpixel article, Oct 15, 2004: Dema Show 2004 Report
  95. Wetpixel article, Sep 17, 2005: New Underwater Digital Video Book
  96. Wetpixel article, Feb 22, 2006: Imax Deep Sea 3d
  97. Wetpixel article, Mar 1, 2006: Review Imax Deepsea 3d
  98. Wetpixel article, Jun 12, 2007: New Divefilm And Divefilmhd Podcast Videos
  99. Wetpixel article, Oct 9, 2007: Gates Announces Deep Red Underwater Housing For Red One Camera
  100. Wetpixel article, Nov 4, 2007: Dema 2007 Gates Housings
  101. Wetpixel article, Jul 24, 2009: Howard Hall Reviews The Gates Deep Red Underwater Housing
  102. Wetpixel article, Aug 10, 2009: High Resolution Frame Grabs From Red One Camera
  103. Wetpixel article, Sep 23, 2009: Novel Stand For Heavy Underwater Video Housings
  104. Wetpixel article, Feb 13, 2010: Howard Hall In The Maldives With A Gates Deep Red System
  105. Wetpixel article, Mar 31, 2010: Maldives In Red Howard Hall Productions
  106. Wetpixel article, Jun 15, 2010: Howard Halls Cocos 2010 Video Short Shot On Red
  107. Wetpixel article, Aug 12, 2010: Howard Halls Ocean Requiem
  108. Wetpixel article, Sep 20, 2010: Review 2010 San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition
  109. Wetpixel article, Nov 1, 2010: Howard Hall The Blue Ocean In Red
  110. Wetpixel article, Jan 22, 2011: Howard Halls Sperm Whale Video From Dominica
  111. Wetpixel article, Dec 2, 2011: One World One Ocean Reports From Cocos
  112. Wetpixel article, Mar 26, 2012: Howard Hall Films The Creatures Of The Lembeh Strait
  113. Wetpixel article, May 25, 2012: Howard Hall Interviewed About Filming Sharks
  114. Wetpixel article, Dec 9, 2012: Leviathan By Howard Hall
  115. Wetpixel article, Aug 29, 2012: Sdufex Publishes Its Program
  116. Wetpixel article, Sep 28, 2012: Cayman Islands Film Festival Details Announced
  117. Wetpixel article, Dec 20, 2012: Divefilm Hd Included In Itunes Best Of 2012
  118. Wetpixel article, May 17, 2013: Video Howard Halls Leviathan
  119. Wetpixel article, Dec 31, 2013: Gates Announces Deep Dragon
  120. Wetpixel article, Mar 24, 2014: Howard Hall Profiled In New Yorker
  121. Wetpixel article, Mar 3, 2014: Video California Dreaming By Howard Hall
  122. Wetpixel article, May 21, 2014: Video Angel Ray By Howard Hall
  123. Wetpixel article, Sep 2, 2014: Video The Great Blue By Howard Hall
  124. Wetpixel article, Dec 1, 2014: Howard Hall Tagging A Celebration Of Science
  125. Wetpixel article, Apr 16, 2015: Video The Bulls Of Bad By Howard Hall
  126. Wetpixel article, Aug 4, 2015: Video Howard Halls Baskers
  127. Wetpixel article, Jun 9, 2016: In Memoriam Bob Cranston Underwater Cameraman
  128. Wetpixel article, Nov 17, 2016: Show Coverage Dema 2016
  129. Wetpixel article, May 1, 2017: Video Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  130. Wetpixel article, Sep 16, 2017: Howard Hall Films Available On Amazon Video
  131. Wetpixel article, Aug 31, 2017: Trailer For Sdufex 2017
  132. Wetpixel article, May 21, 2018: Video Threshers By Howard And Michelle Hall
  133. Wetpixel article, Jun 9, 2018: Film Dreams Of Atlantis By Howard Hall Productions
  134. Wetpixel article, Jul 17, 2018: Video Wild Windows Whales By Howard Hall
  135. Wetpixel article, Jul 27, 2018: Film Forest Of The Sea By Howard Hall
  136. Wetpixel article, Dec 26, 2018: Video Whale Song By Howard And Michelle Hall
  137. Wetpixel article, Jan 10, 2019: Film Shadows In A Desert Sea By Howard Hall
  138. Wetpixel article, Jul 19, 2019: Atlantis Imagemakers 2019
  139. Wetpixel article, Aug 26, 2019: Howard Hall And Jonathan Bird To Release Imax Film
  140. Wetpixel article, Apr 1, 2020: Interview Marty Snyderman With Howard And Michelle Hall By Eric Cheng
  141. Gates, Howard Hall, and Brian Skerry at DEMA (2002) (article)
  142. Fathom Imaging lens review mentioning Hall (2003) (article)
  143. Humpbacks in Tonga with Stan Waterman — Hall as regular NAI’A guest (2004) (article)
  144. DEMA Show 2004 report (2004) (article)
  145. Underwater Digital Video Made Easy — Hall endorsement (2005) (article)
  146. Deep Sea 3D premiere announcement (2006) (article)
  147. IMAX Deep Sea 3D — press release (2006) (article)
  148. Review: IMAX DeepSea 3D by Steve Drogin (2006) (article)
  149. DiveFilm HD: Ocean Requiem podcast (2007) (article)
  150. Gates DEEP RED announcement (2007) (article)
  151. DEMA 2007: Gates Seal Check display (2007) (article)
  152. Fiji shark shootout — Hall quote (2008) (article)
  153. Howard Hall reviews the Gates DEEP RED (2009) (article)
  154. RED ONE frame grabs (2009) (article)
  155. Novel stand for heavy housings (2009) (article)
  156. Howard Hall in the Maldives with DEEP RED (2010) (article)
  157. Maldives in RED (2010) (article)
  158. Cocos Island 2010 (2010) (article)
  159. Blue Ocean Film Festival shortlist (2010) (article)
  160. Ocean Requiem (2010) (article)
  161. Sensational Seas 2 DVD review (2010) (article)
  162. SDUFEX 2010 review (2010) (article)
  163. The Blue Ocean in RED (2010) (article)
  164. Filming Under the Sea 3D on Vimeo (2010) (article)
  165. Sperm whale video from Dominica (2011) (article)
  166. Gates 3D beam splitter announcement (2011) (article)
  167. One World One Ocean at Cocos (2011) (article)
  168. Lembeh Strait filming (2012) (article)
  169. Wetpixel interviews Gar Waterman — Hall mentioned (2012) (article)
  170. Interviewed about filming sharks (2012) (article)
  171. SDUFEX 2012 program (2012) (article)
  172. Cayman Islands Film Festival (2012) (article)
  173. Leviathan — first release (2012) (article)
  174. DiveFilm HD iTunes Best of 2012 (2012) (article)
  175. Video: Leviathan (2013) (article)
  176. Gates DEEP DRAGON announcement (2013) (article)
  177. California Dreaming (2014) (article)
  178. Profiled in New Yorker (2014) (article)
  179. Angel Ray (2014) (article)
  180. Bob Cranston shoots 3D (2014) (article)
  181. The Great Blue (2014) (article)
  182. Tagging: A Celebration of Science (2014) (article)
  183. Seals use acoustic tags (2014) (article)
  184. The Bulls of BAD (2015) (article)
  185. Backup strategies (2015) (article)
  186. Baskers (2015) (article)
  187. In Memoriam: Bob Cranston (2016) (article)
  188. John Ellerbrock: Origins of Seal Check (2016) (article)
  189. DEMA 2016 coverage (2016) (article)
  190. Atlantis — Philippines macro film (2017) (article)
  191. SDUFEX 2017 trailer (2017) (article)
  192. Films on Amazon (2017) (article)
  193. Threshers (2018) (article)
  194. Dreams of Atlantis (2018) (article)
  195. Wild Windows: Whales (2018) (article)
  196. Forest of the Sea (2018) (article)
  197. Whale Song (2018) (article)
  198. Shadows in a Desert Sea remaster (2019) (article)
  199. Atlantis ImageMakers 2019 (2019) (article)
  200. Secrets of the Sea IMAX announcement (2019) (article)
  201. Eric Cheng interview with Hall and Snyderman (2020) (article)