THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510250049
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROY A. BAHLS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
IT SHOULDN'T HAVE been a surprise finding Al Giddings, one of the world's elite underwater photographers, enjoying the snowfall at his ranch in Paradise Valley, Mont.
Giddings, 58, has made a career of capturing nature's wonders on film by immersing himself in mysterious aquatic habitats around the globe.
He has filmed the lumbering dance of whales, the crushing jaws of great white sharks and life under the frigid North Pole. He has plunged in submersibles to focus in on the creatures around the deep hot water vents near the Galapagos Islands and visited the Titanic, 12,460 feet beneath the ocean's surface, 17 times.
``I just love the oceans,'' ``Giddings said on the phone from his Rocky Mountain ranch. ``Over the last 30 years I've certainly come to understand how critically important the oceans are to a healthy planet.''
Visitors to Nauticus can get a peek into this spectacular underwater world at the multimedia exhibit ``To See the Sea: The Underwater Vision of Al Giddings.''
The exhibit features seven short videos, photographs the size of wall murals and some of the inventions that have made deep sea photography possible. Hands-on exhibits demonstrate the principles of pressure, volume, buoyancy and gas solubility.
During his first few years of diving off the California coast in the 1950s, Giddings was shooting with a spear gun.
``I thought, `Wouldn't it be exciting to shoot with a camera and try to capture some of this?' ''
Soon afterward he sold a picture of a school of fish to a magazine for $25.
From there, Giddings went on to work on programs like National Geographic's ``Dive to the Edge of Creation,'' and network shows like ``Titanic - Treasure of the Deep.''
He also served as underwater director of photography for the films ``The Deep'' (1977) and ``The Abyss'' (1989).
His interaction with the creatures who call the water home often awe him.
``My most humbling encounters,'' Giddings said, ``have been with whales. This last year I did a show on blue whales and I was in the water with an adult that passed almost in touching distance. The animals are 100 feet long and 350,000 pounds.
``There is something about being near a great whale and sort of exchanging looks. There is no question that that eye is connected to a very intelligent brain and you're being pondered.''
Recently he finished filming a movie tentatively titled ``Planet Ice.''
``It's about the Titanic,'' Giddings said. ``It's a love story and then the tragedy when she sinks in 1912. The Titanic is in relatively clear water. The bow section, 400 feet of it, sits there sort of shrouded in rusticles and is an incredibly beautiful haunted house. Going to the bottom and coming back up took about three hours each way. No tether. Free fall.''
A different set of challenges awaited at the North Pole ice packs, where he also has filmed.
``You go through nine feet of ice and you're in this crystal clear water,'' he said. ``There's this extremely beautiful light coming through, fiber optic-like. It was like your mind and eyes and this great blue void.''
Although he feels privileged to have such an exciting career, it can be demanding.
``Believe it or not,'' Giddings said, ``it's really like going to work. And we work hard. One clock in the back of your mind is managing exposure, depth, decompression and your safety. Your other clock is computing exposures, framing and lighting. It's a real challenge.''
Giddings believes that responsible management of the oceans is a must.
``None of these whales or salmon or tuna have any sense of borders,'' Giddings said. ``It is critical to the future of the planet that all nations cooperate.''
When asked about being so far from the oceans, Giddings said fishing on the Yellowstone River first brought him to Montana.
``I have two ponds,'' he said. ``I'm watching out the window now with powdered snow falling and you can almost cast a fly to the studio pond that houses probably 150 trout, three to five pounds, lurking below the surface. Hardly great whites in the ocean, but I do have water.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
"To See the Sea: The Underwater Vision of Al Giddings" is a Nauticus
exhibit featuring videos, photographs and displays through Jan. 31.
Nauticus admission is $7.50. At left is a clown fish and an anemone.
Above: a "smiling" dolphin.
by CNB