Jason Bradley

Aliases: jasonbradley, JasonBradley
Role: nature and underwater photographer, expedition leader, educator, science photographer
First appearance: 2005 (^[1])
Affiliation: Bradley Photographic; Wetpixel (expedition leader); Center for Photographic Art (Education Committee); NCUPS
Based in: Monterey, California

Biography

Jason Bradley is a nature and underwater photographer based in Monterey, California, described as “happiest and most in his element focusing on coastal habitats and ecosystems” (^[2]). He is a self-taught photographer with a dynamic portfolio consisting of land and seascapes, wildlife, portraiture, science, conservation issues, adventure sports, and products and still life work (^[3]). His work has been published in various books, magazines, calendars, and digital media outlets, and he has worked alongside many conservation groups and scientists (^[4]).

Bradley runs Bradley Photographic Workshops, providing field and classroom seminars for photographers. His seminars cover digital photo techniques, retouching and post-processing, digital asset management, digital printing, and he specializes in Adobe software such as Lightroom and Photoshop (^[5]). He also serves on the Education Committee for the Center for Photographic Art, a non-profit organization housed in Carmel, California’s Sunset Cultural Center (^[6]).

Conservation and Science Work

Bradley has a strong track record of working with scientists and conservation organizations:

• TOPP elephant seal research (2006): Accompanied the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) elephant seal team into the field in 2006 to photograph their research. He provided photographs for the article “Deep Diving Pachyderms: fathoming the elephant seal,” written by Diane Richards and published in Fathoms Magazine issue #18 (^[7], ^[8]).

• Great Turtle Race / Leatherback conservation (2007): In January 2007, Bradley accompanied biologists from Stanford University and Drexel University to Playa Grande, Costa Rica, to document Leatherback turtle research, local biodiversity, and the commercial and residential development threatening the last viable nesting beach of the Eastern Pacific leatherback turtle. His images were used for the Great Turtle Race, a conservation effort bringing corporate sponsors together with conservation groups (^[9]).

• Sea Creatures Rediscovered exhibit (2008-2009): In partnership with the Monterey Bay Research Institute (MBARI) and Moss Landing Marine Labs (MLML), Bradley created the exhibit “Sea Creatures Rediscovered” at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. The exhibit documented deep-sea life forms from the Monterey Bay Canyon, offering visitors a rare opportunity to see specimens collected during scientific research. Through his lens, Bradley “rediscovered” animals, capturing the unique aesthetic qualities that survived beyond the collection process. The exhibit ran from November 16, 2008 through March 7, 2009 (^[10]). His deep-sea creature photographs were also featured in Wetpixel Quarterly #8 (^[11]).

• Project Wood Fall / LUMCON (2017): Bradley was written into a National Science Foundation grant by Dr. Craig McClain, Executive Director of Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) and founder of DeepSeaNews.com, to document the expedition. The project deployed nearly 200 pieces of wood at various spots along the perimeter of the Mississippi Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico at depths of 2,000 to 2,500 meters, using ROVs operated by Oceaneering. Bradley photographed deep-sea specimens recovered from the depths, including squat lobsters, seastars, sea cucumbers, brittle-stars, anemones, stony corals, and glass sponges, as well as the scientists at work aboard LUMCON’s R/V Pelican. His images were featured in Wetpixel’s Full Frame series (^[12]).

Wetpixel Expeditions

Bradley was one of Wetpixel’s most prolific expedition leaders, organizing and leading trips across multiple continents from 2011 through 2016:

Alaska Expeditions

• Alaska 2011: Led the Wetpixel Alaska Expedition aboard the Nautilus Swell from Juneau to Sitka, June 11-23, 2011. The trip featured diving with Steller sea lions, humpback whales, wolf eels, and giant Pacific octopus, plus visits to the wrecks of the SS Princess Sophia, SS Princess Kathleen, and SS State of California. Bradley led informal image review and Lightroom editing sessions during the trip. Co-authored the trip report with Matt Segal (^[13]).
• Alaska 2013: Led the Wetpixel Alaska Expedition from Ketchikan to Juneau aboard the Nautilus Swell, July 18-August 1, 2013. The expedition encountered humpback whales, eagles, sea otters, wolf eels, octopus, and Steller sea lions. Bradley authored a Full Frame photo essay about the trip (^[14], ^[15]).

Bahamas Sharks and Dolphins

• Bahamas 2012: Led the Wetpixel Bahamas Sharks and Dolphins Expedition aboard Jim Abernethy’s Shearwater. The trip featured encounters with reef sharks, lemon sharks, and the tiger shark known as Emma (approximately 15 feet long), as well as Atlantic spotted dolphins. Bradley authored a detailed trip report describing his close encounter with Emma, who mouthed his camera housing. The trip was cut short by Tropical Storm Debby but included a macro dive at Blue Heron Bridge (^[16]).

Vancouver Island / God’s Pocket

• Vancouver Island 2012: Led the Wetpixel Vancouver Island Expedition at God’s Pocket Resort, August 27-September 4, 2012. Bradley reported encountering the largest giant Pacific octopus he had ever seen in the wild at Dillon Rock, estimating it at 30 pounds or more, and described the dive sites as “as lush and colorful as I’ve seen anywhere in the world” (^[17], ^[18]).

South Komodo

• South Komodo 2014: Led the second of two Wetpixel South Komodo Expedition groups aboard The Seven Seas (February 18-March 1, 2014), while Adam Hanlon led the first group (^[19], ^[20]).

Channel Islands

• Channel Islands 2013: Co-led with Eric Cheng a weekend trip to California’s Southern Channel Islands targeting Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands, departing November 1, 2013 (^[21]).
• Channel Islands 2014: Co-led with Eric Cheng a trip to San Clemente, Santa Barbara, and Catalina Islands, October 24-28, 2014 aboard the vessel Vision. Participants Drew Kinsman and Ethan Daniels praised Bradley’s expertise (^[22], ^[23]).
• Channel Islands 2015: Organized a workshop trip to San Clemente and the oil rigs, November 14-17, 2015 aboard the liveaboard Conception. The workshop focused on Fine Art printing as well as diving and photography (^[24]).

Other Expeditions

• Whale Sharks 2013: Co-led with Adam Hanlon a trip to Isla Mujeres, Mexico to photograph the whale shark aggregation in August 2013 (^[25]).
• Whale Sharks 2014: Was trip leader during the Wetpixel Whale Sharks trip where he was photographed with Art Haseltine (^[26]).
• Socorro 2016: Led Wetpixel expedition to Mexico’s Revillagigedo Islands, June 8-10, 2016 aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie, targeting hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, silky sharks, and pilot whales (^[27]).

Education and Seminars

Bradley was a prolific educator in underwater photography and digital workflow:

• Bonaire Digital Shootout 2005: Staff member alongside Dan Baldocchi, Berkley White, Jim Watt, and Eric Cheng at the Bonaire Digital Shootout (^[28]).
• Photoshop seminar (2007): Presented a seminar on Photoshop techniques for underwater photographers (^[29]).
• Contest strategy seminar (2009): Presented a seminar on winning underwater photo and video competitions for NCUPS (^[30]).
• Digital workflow seminars (2009): Co-taught with Adobe’s Bill Stotzner digital workflow seminars for underwater photographers on Truth Aquatics boats in the Channel Islands, covering image library management, color correction techniques, keywording, and Photoshop/Lightroom tips (^[31]).
• Channel Islands seminar (2010): Led a combined diving and photography seminar in the Channel Islands with Kevin McDonnell and guest speaker Norbert Wu (^[32]).
• DEMA 2010: Presented “A Natural Flow of Work” at the DEMA Show imaging seminars (^[33]).
• BLUE Film Festival 2012: Conducted industry seminars for filmmakers and photographers at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival in Monterey (^[34]).
• Monterey Shootout 2016: Presented “Stop Shooting The Damn Fish!” seminar at the Monterey Shootout organized by NCUPS (^[35]).
• Dive Photo Guide contributor (2009): Contributed to the DPG Techniques Guide to underwater photography alongside David Doubilet, Martin Edge, Alex Mustard, and Aaron Wong (^[36]).

Competition Judging and Awards

• Nature’s Best Ocean Views 2010: Won fourth place for “Leatherback Sea Turtle & Diver at Sunset” (^[37]).
• LAUPS 2010: Served as competition judge alongside Eric Cheng and Berkley White for the 48th LAUPS International Underwater Photographic Competition (^[38]).
• DEEP Indonesia 2012: Served as competition judge alongside Diego Garcia, David Fleetham, Matt Weiss, and Eric Cheng (^[39]).

Event Coverage and Journalism

Bradley provided photographic and written coverage for Wetpixel at several events:

• Bay Area Dive Show 2010: Photographed at the event alongside Berkley White and Ethan Gordon (^[40]).
• BLUE Ocean Film Festival 2010: Shot all images for Wetpixel’s coverage of the opening ceremonies in Monterey, documenting luminaries including Congressman Sam Farr, Julie Packard, and Mark Shelley (^[41]).
• BLUE Ocean Film Festival 2012: Authored a photo essay for Wetpixel covering the festival, documenting events with Edward James Olmos, James Cameron, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Congressman Sam Farr, Bob Ballard, and Captain Don Walsh. Bradley was photographed alongside Dr. Sylvia Earle at the event (^[42]).
• Lytro light field camera (2011): His image was used in the Wetpixel article about the Lytro camera release (^[43]).

Industry Commentary

Bradley contributed substantive article comments on Wetpixel, notably a detailed response to Adobe’s 2013 Creative Cloud announcement where he addressed concerns about pricing and offline access for photographers working in remote locations. He noted the change would be cheaper for those who did not use Photoshop heavily, and cited Adobe’s FAQ about offline functionality to reassure concerned users (article comments, ^[44]).

He also collaborated with Adam Hanlon and Eric Cheng to test Adobe Lightroom 4’s new automatic chromatic aberration removal algorithm. All three tried to make the new process fail with challenging underwater images but could not, leading Hanlon to issue a public challenge to Wetpixel members to do the same (^[45]).

Black and White Photography

Bradley was one of several eminent underwater photographers invited by Wetpixel to contribute expert commentary on creating black and white underwater images in a 2014 feature article alongside Aaron Wong, Daniel Botelho, Stephen Frink, Tony Wu, Alex Mustard, Abi Mullens, and others (^[46]).

Timeline

• 2005-07: Staff member at the Bonaire Digital Shootout 2005 alongside Dan Baldocchi, Berkley White, Jim Watt, and Eric Cheng (^[47])
• 2006-11: Provided photographs for article written by Diane Richards in Fathoms Magazine issue #18, “Deep Diving Pachyderms: fathoming the elephant seal” (^[48])
• 2006-12: Photographed TOPP elephant seal tagging research for Fathoms Magazine (^[49])
• 2007-01: Traveled to Playa Grande, Costa Rica to document Leatherback turtle research for the Great Turtle Race conservation effort with Stanford and Drexel biologists (^[50])
• 2007-07: Presented Photoshop seminar for underwater photographers (^[51])
• 2008-11: “Sea Creatures Rediscovered” exhibit opened at Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, in partnership with MBARI and Moss Landing Marine Labs (^[52])
• 2009-05: Presented seminar on winning photo and video competitions for NCUPS (^[53])
• 2009-06: Co-led digital workflow seminars with Adobe’s Bill Stotzner in the Channel Islands (^[54])
• 2009-11: Contributed to Dive Photo Guide’s Techniques Guide alongside David Doubilet, Martin Edge, and Alex Mustard (^[55])
• 2010-05: Won fourth place in Nature’s Best Ocean Views 2010 for “Leatherback Sea Turtle & Diver at Sunset” (^[56])
• 2010-05: Led Channel Islands diving seminar with Kevin McDonnell and guest speaker Norbert Wu (^[57])
• 2010-06: Deep-sea creature photos featured in Wetpixel Quarterly #8 (^[58])
• 2010-08: Photographed BLUE Ocean Film Festival 2010 opening ceremonies in Monterey (^[59])
• 2010-10: Presented “A Natural Flow of Work” at DEMA 2010 imaging seminars (^[60])
• 2010-12: Judged the 48th LAUPS International Underwater Photographic Competition with Eric Cheng and Berkley White (^[61])
• 2011-06: Led Wetpixel Alaska Expedition 2011 aboard the Nautilus Swell, Juneau to Sitka (^[62])
• 2012-01: Announced as competition judge for DEEP Indonesia 2012 alongside Eric Cheng and David Fleetham (^[63])
• 2012-02: Announced as trip leader for Wetpixel Vancouver Island Expedition at God’s Pocket Resort (^[64])
• 2012-06: Led Wetpixel Bahamas Sharks and Dolphins 2012 expedition aboard the Shearwater (^[65])
• 2012-09: Concluded Wetpixel God’s Pocket Expedition; reported largest giant Pacific octopus encounter (^[66])
• 2012-09: Authored photo essay covering BLUE Ocean Film Festival 2012; photographed alongside Dr. Sylvia Earle (^[67])
• 2012-12: Announced Wetpixel Alaska Expedition 2013 (^[68])
• 2013-04: Co-led with Eric Cheng Wetpixel Southern Channel Islands trip (^[69])
• 2013-07: Led Wetpixel Alaska Expedition 2013, Ketchikan to Juneau (^[70])
• 2013-08: Co-led with Adam Hanlon Wetpixel whale shark expedition at Isla Mujeres, Mexico (^[71])
• 2014-02: Led second Wetpixel South Komodo Expedition group aboard The Seven Seas (^[72])
• 2014-10: Co-led with Eric Cheng Wetpixel Channel Islands 2014 trip (^[73])
• 2014-11: Contributed expert commentary on black and white underwater photography for Wetpixel feature (^[74])
• 2015-11: Led Wetpixel Channel Islands 2015 trip with focus on Fine Art printing (^[75])
• 2016-06: Led Wetpixel Socorro expedition aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie (^[76])
• 2016-08: Presented “Stop Shooting The Damn Fish!” seminar at 2016 Monterey Shootout (^[77])
• 2017-05: Documented Project Wood Fall deep-sea expedition for LUMCON in the Gulf of Mexico, funded by NSF (^[78])

References