Before traveling to Rhodes, where my first-ever snorkeling experience awaited me, I took the preparation really seriously. I bought semi-professional fins, a hi-tech snorkel with an automatic dry valve, and a prescription diving mask, since I still wore glasses back then. To top it all off, I also bought an underwater housing for my camera. After a quick test in the pool came the real test in the sea – and for a long time, I believed this photo was the result. It isn't. I remembered shooting some seagrass back then, but this specific shot was taken a few years later. Even so, I choose to remember it this way, flawed as my memory may be. I want this to be my first "official" underwater photo – index zero. And even though I have taken many better or more interesting underwater shots since then, I still think this imagined first attempt turned out great, and I really like the photo even today. Water is truly my element; when traveling, the clarity and visibility of the sea is always one of the deciding factors for me, and I can spend hours in the water. With a camera, of course. I have gone through quite a few of them over the years, and every single one made it below the surface. However, my original snorkeling gear hasn't changed – except for the prescription mask, which I no longer need after eye surgery. Everything else, housing included, I've been successfully using for almost twenty years now, and I have a feeling it will serve me well for many more years to come...

Blue Shift #0, 2011