Trent Burkholder

Nationality: American

Residence: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Trent is a freelance travel photographer focusing on Asian culture. His photography spans a wide range of subjects including portraits, landscapes, nature, sports, documentary, and weddings. His passion in life however is underwater photography. Trent recently moved to Asia to get year round access to his favorite subjects; religious festivals, non-Western culture, and marine life of the Indo-Pacific region. You can see more of his photography at www.flickr.com/photos/deco4macro

Growing up in the mountains of Colorado, the nearest ocean was 2000 miles away. Trent's father was a veterinarian, and always instilled a great love of animals and the natural world. When he first tried scuba diving at age 28, his love of wildlife and photography combined to create what can now only be called an obsession. Since becoming certified in 1998, he has been diving in Thailand (Koh Tau, Similan Is.), Indonesia (Bali, Lombok, Manado, Lembeh, Togian Is., Raja Ampat), Maldives, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea (Rabaul, Madang), Hawaii, and the Carribean (Cozumel, Belize, Curacao, Bonaire). Trent's love of nudibranchs started in Manado, Indonesia when he realized the incredible power and beauty of underwater macro, which is today his favorite type of photography.

Trent has learned about photography through a variety of methods; 15 years running a professional photo lab, reading as many books on the subject as possible, assisting professional photographers, taking workshops, and practice by trial and error. His favorite thing about photography is that it constantly keeps you humble. The better you get, the more you realize you need to learn. Especially when it comes to underwater photography, the most challenging type of photography there is.

Cameras used: Nikon F100 with Subal housing and 2 Inon Z-240 strobes (all Raja Ampat and Lembeh photos), Nikonos V with 2 SB-105 strobes (all other locations so far), just got a Nikon D200, but haven't used it yet underwater (I will in March)