-inquiries & Mike Quist Art-

I Found It
(Photograph on Metal)

I’ve Dreamed of capturing this image and it happened! This is a massive tiger shark and yes… I was definitely on high alert while underwater taking this picture. My desire to swim in the wild with this animal started a few years ago. I caught my first glimpse just about 2 months ago but the shark turned as it saw I was not food and left in a few moments. This time was a completely different story. My wife and I celebrated our 20 year wedding anniversary and took a Scuba Diving adventure trip to the Maldives. The Tiger sharks we’re not scared of us AT ALL! In Fact we were able to see many Tigers and thousands of total sharks on our 19 dives during our dream trip. I actually took over 1,500 pictures and this one was among my favorite. Why? Because it was extremely hard to get… The surge was so strong, I was being moved about 5 feet at a time side to side as I tried to hold a rock with one hand and pull the shutter lever on my camera with the other… All while trying not to stir up the sand and reduce visibility. All while keeping an eye on the many Tiger sharks in and out of our vision. I didn't want to use my flash because it typically startles the fish and I didn't want to see what a Tiger Shark would do if I blasted it with a strobe flash in its eyes. I quickly learned that eye contact was important. If I ducked my face behind the bulky housing of my camera the sharks would come directly at me. If I peeked my head out quickly and got a little puffed up, blew bubbles and acted tough they would veer off of the direct path to my dome port of the camera. I believe they were noticing their reflection or maybe the electricity of the camera equipment. I also noticed the more I clicked my shutter to capture more images this action and noise was curious and brought the sharks very close. I used this all to my advantage playing a modified game of peek-a-boo as I had one of the very best moments of my life, and scariest. The sun was not in great position but my placement underwater was behind a rocky drop off providing some sort of staging to get below the shark without being so exposed. With no flash I needed to get very close but this brings another issue into the mix. I was not using a wide angle lens so if the shark got too close ( Which it did multiple times, just a foot or two away) I couldn't fit the entire fish in my frame. Sharks don’t typically care if they are good models or not. All this being said, once again persistence has paid off. I have dove many many times on the lookout for this very image. I went half way across the world and found it. Funny thing is, the dive boat we booked never mentioned Tiger Sharks. Quite the opposite, they advertised a night dive with harmless nurse sharks. So… When we were told that we were going to a location famous for Tiger sharks I was so excited yet I was hesitant to look in my wifes direction in fear she would be quite mad at me for “getting her into this situation” ( She could still choose to back out and I didnt wanna chance it) To my surprise Kathryn was all in, or how we like to say, she FULL SENT it! As we approached the dive site under the ocean we started to see these massive sharks in their element. Just at that moment I looked at my wife of 20 years and thought of 2 very important facts. Fact 1: I still have a lot to learn about my wife. She surprises me more and more. She is fearless. Fact 2. I knew in my heart and soul that I had married the perfect woman. She is my everything and she has gone to the end of the earth and back with me. May you search for your own dream image and find it. And… If you are lucky enough to find it while adventuring with your dream companion then remember, You have in fact “Found it” I love you Kathryn Quist and I thank God you are my One.

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Sleeping Turtle

(Photograph on Metal)

Clown Fish
(Photograph on Metal)

This is a type of clownfish called a Clark's anemonefish. I had to get close in order to capture this image. Despite their small size, these fish can be very protective and aren't scared to show me who’s boss. Clownfish form symbiotic relationships with sea anemones and are unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. The sea anemone protects the clownfish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals and occasional dead anemone tentacles. In return, the clownfish defends the anemone from its predators, and parasites. Clownfish are small-sized, 10–18 centimeters, and depending on species, they are overall yellow, orange, or a reddish or blackish color, and many show white bars or patches. Clownfish are found in warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans and the Red Sea in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons. In a group of clownfish, there is a strict dominance hierarchy. The largest and most aggressive fish is female and is found at the top. Only two clownfish, a male and a female, in a group reproduce through external fertilization. Clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites, meaning that they develop into males first, and when they mature, they become females.

Stingray in the Sun
(Photograph on Metal)

Manta Ray Kona

(Photograph on Metal)

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Parrot Fish in night Bubble
(Photograph on Metal)

Kona Hawaii

I captured this image at night while this fish was sleeping in a mucus bubble! The parrotfish is by day a beautiful and diver-friendly reef fish. By night, it’s a reclusive slime-bag. Literally. Here's why… Come sundown, this watermelon-sized Caribbean gem slips into a crevice and, using special glands behind its gills, secretes a bubble of mucus that swells up and over its head like a diving helmet. The pouch spreads towards the fish’s tail and, within 30 minutes or so, the fish is resting inside a surprisingly spacious sac of slime. The clammy cocoon – in which the fish spends the entire night – has many benefits. It is laced with antibiotics that kill known parrotfish pathogens, and also physically blocks blood-sucking parasites from getting near the fish. In addition, it appears to seal in the sleeper’s body odor, masking it from scent-tracking predators such as moray eels. And the instant the pod is disturbed or torn, its owner wakes up and high-tails it out of there. It’s like a high-tech tent with a mosquito net and burglar alarm system.

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Rainbow Falls (Hilo)
(Photograph on Metal)

Lava at Sunrise

Manta Rays Meeting

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Kahaluʻu Honu

(Photograph on Metal)

Coral Garden
(Photograph on Metal)

Kona Hawaii

The name of this scuba diving site is Coral Garden. It was an absolute underwater paradise. As I dive underwater the deeper I go color is quickly lost and the coral's vivid beauty is reduced to a muted blueish color. As my wife and I discover sites like this one we enjoy turning on our flashlights and illuminating the scene to introduce the true color of the coral back into the areas we are enjoying. It’s magical. When I capture images with my camera the flash gives fractions of a second of complete beauty, then quickly the coral appears muted and dull. The topography of dive sites has become one of the favorite qualities I look for. This particular dive site didn't disappoint. Corals were stacked upon one another after many hundreds of years of growth. The feeling was like an underwater garden of eden. I got very emotional looking at this while diving, and I hope that emotion translates through this image. I have a lot of experience making videos, so, the time that I now spend working on a single frame, a single image is actually extremely fun once again to “Create” I hope you enjoy this art. The more that I’m underwater capturing these images the more I learn what I want to achieve in the next session. May God bless you to find beauty in your own art, and find the light in the current scene you are in. Mike- You Got This!

Lion Fish
(Photograph on Metal)

This is a Sting Ray that my wife and I swam with recently. This was the first time I’d had the opportunity to see these animals in living color. They swim in a very unique fashion by fluttering the sides of their bodies in a wavy motion. I couldn't help but think about one of my childhood heroes, Steve Irwin, while swimming with the many stingrays I saw this particular day. Who remembers the “Crocodile Hunter”? On 4 September 2006, Australian zookeeper, conservationist, and television programmer Steve Irwin was fatally injured by a stingray barb while filming in the Great Barrier Reef. The stinger pierced his chest, penetrating his thoracic wall and heart, causing massive trauma. During a lull in filming caused by inclement weather, Irwin decided to snorkel in shallow waters while being filmed in an effort to provide footage for his daughter Bindi's television program. It’s very very rare that a stingray hurts a human however the ocean is truly the wild and my thoughts we with Mr. Steve Irwin and his family on this day. I hadn’t gone to this location for the chance to see these rays, I was actually told this is a hot spot for nurse sharks. I have learned that stingrays can detect small amounts of electrical current and as a defense mechanism can quite accurately locate a predator's heart if needed. These rays were swimming just inches below my body as they passed me. I stayed in one general place and throughout this 1 hour session had many encounters with stingrays swimming within inches. While each encounter happened I would time the passing of the stingray by covering my heart with my camera housing as a makeshift shield. I highly respect the animals I am blessed to see in the wild. I doubt I was ever in any danger or made the animals feel threatened, but I was still playing it safe. I don’t chase them, I have learned that animals will actually come quite close out of curiosity if I’m patient. Pro Tip, If I’m in the water with Turtles, Rays, Dolphins, and other marine wildlife I will typically act slightly uninterested in the animal. I will look away, and swim in a path that is not direct to the animal. I like to “Play Hard To Get” I will let the animal get comfortable with my presence and if I’m lucky they will let me photograph them. This is not a guarantee at all, but its guaranteed the animals will swim away if I swim directly to them and act erratic and swim with my arms and hands as opposed to my fins. Lesson of the day is, Sometimes patience is critical to achieve the goals we have, and if we rush in without prior planning and respect for the environment in which we play the subject will swim away. You Got This, Mike Quist. Love you Steve-

I captured this image while diving at night.

Here are 5 facts about this fascinating species!

Lionfish use their fan-like pectoral fins to “corner” their prey.

The spines of this species can deliver a venomous sting.

Lionfish have become invasive to non-native regions.

Female Lionfish can lay approximately 2 million eggs per year.

Lionfish are nocturnal.

3 Tiger Sharks
(Photograph on Metal)

Hermit Crab
(Photograph on Metal)

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Manta over Sand

(Photograph on Metal)

5 sharks

Coral Garden Abundence
(Photograph on Metal)

1/8

My sons and I went on the most extreme dive, the Pelagic Magic trip, is a black water dive. We started our Pelagic Dive in Kona, Hawaii just after dusk, floating tethered offshore in the deep dark sea. 6 divers in total dove last night and waited to see what went by,in inky black water over 5,500 feet deep.. The mesmerizing jellies put on a colorful display that can only be described as breathtaking. Some zooplankton, that only rise to the surface to feed when the lights go out, are now visible to us. Our lights are but small twinkles in the vast blackness of the sea. This was a very difficult photography session because the current took us 3.5 miles in the 70 min dive. The creatures are already difficult to spot because they are small, but then capturing them in the viewfinder and getting a usable image with all the correct settings is another level! This was my first experience on this type of dive and I absolutely loved it! Simone was my dive guide who encouraged me to take this adventure. He met me at the boat early to give me a private lesson on my camera settings. It was so extremely helpful and why I continue to use companies like Jack’s Diving Locker to go on epic dive adventures. I hope you enjoy these alien pictures!

Kona Hawaii
(Photograph on Metal)

Kona Hawaii Ali'i Drive
(Photograph on Metal)

Turtle at Kaloko-Honokōhau
(Photograph on Metal)

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Humpback on the Surface

Mama and Baby Humpback

Coral Garden

My wife and I recreantly dove a coral garden. I felt overwhelming joy and gratitude having the opportunity to experience this. The color red is the first to dissipate while going deeper under the surface. When I shine the light of my camera set up on the different sections of coral I was able to discover the true beauty of this place. Our oceans are amazing and I encourage anyone with a desire to explore them to get out and do it. You Got This!

In over Head
(Photograph on Metal)

This tiger shark swam directly over me while I captured these images. This was an unbelievable experience where I felt multiple emotions all at once. I believe the clicking sounds of my camera shutter peeked this shark's curiosity.