About

Underwater

There's a particular kind of patience required sixty feet below the surface. You can't rush a shark. You can't direct a reef. You wait, you read the environment, and you respond to what unfolds in front of you. It's the same instinct I developed in decades of high-stakes corporate settings — the ability to stay calm, observe, and capture the right moment.

My underwater work focuses on the creatures and environments most people will never see firsthand — sharks, open water pelagics, coral reef ecosystems, and the interplay of light beneath the surface. Each dive is an exercise in preparation meeting opportunity.

Three Generations Behind the Lens

Jim Bates, 165th Photo Signal Company

On D-Day 1944, my grandfather, Jim Bates, parachuted into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division as a combat photographer with the 165th Photo Signal Company. He went on to film the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of a concentration camp, and — most famously — the Cologne tank duel, some of the most famous tank battle footage of World War II. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service.

Jim's story is told in Adam Makos' New York Times bestseller Spearhead — his footage became the book's cover art — and in the Scenes of War documentary produced by the Pikes Peak Library District, where he tells his story in his own words — including a remarkable encounter with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

His son — my father — ran the Bamberger's photo studio for Macy's for decades, shooting catalog and commercial photography. I grew up surrounded by cameras, lights, and the smell of darkroom chemicals.

On my grandfather's side, Jean and Cle Kinney — his third wife and her husband — were children's book authors. Jean wrote and Cle illustrated a series of books — What Does the Tide Do?, What Does the Cloud Do?, and What Does the Sun Do? — each inspired by a question from one of their grandchildren. Mine was the tide. My cousin Trey (Anastasio... you may have heard of him) was the cloud.

The Other Career

Before I came back to photography, I spent 35 years in the insurance industry — at MassMutual, MetLife, and Manulife Financial — leading marketing teams, driving product strategy, and navigating the kind of large-scale organizational change that comes with major acquisitions. As head of life product marketing I was involved in the product design and development process and served as a company media spokesperson, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Business Insider. I led the MassMutual acquisition of MetLife's agency distribution, and our team's work earned patents and was featured in national television advertising.

For the last decade I've worked as a leadership consultant and executive coach at Bates Communications (now part of BTS), writing about remote leadership and specializing in executive presence and team effectiveness. I hold an MBA from Boston University's Questrom School of Business and a BS from New York University. I'm a certified Bates ExPI™ coach — the same executive presence framework I used to coach C-suite leaders is what I bring to understanding how presence translates through the camera lens.

Executive Headshots

When I'm not underwater, I photograph executives and professionals at my studio in Sherborn, Massachusetts. The corporate experience gives me something most photographers don't have — I've sat in the chair my clients sit in. I understand that their time is valuable, that they make decisions quickly, and that they are deeply discerning about how they present themselves. I don't need to guess what executives care about. I've lived it.

Based in Sherborn, Massachusetts

My home base is Sherborn, a small town about 25 miles west of Boston. When I'm not diving or behind the camera, you'll find me making music, chasing roads on a bike, or planning the next expedition.