The Santa Barbara Underwater Film Festival to honor Ernie Brooks is slated to be an outstanding event in the history of underwater photography. With a VIP reception on September 13, and an evening of underwater photography’s finest presenters, this event will be talked about for years. Ernie Brooks is famous as a classic underwater photographer who has worked in medium format black and white to produce timeless images. His work is frequently compared to Ansel Adams.

Several additional important presenters will be on the program who were not scheduled earlier.
Valerie Taylor, shark diver, underwater actress, and professional photographer, will join the program to introduce Stan Waterman. Valerie and Stan worked together on the classic diving film, Blue Water, White Death, and are the last remaining stars of the movie. Laurent Ballesta, from France, is an award winning underwater photographer who is the first person to film a living coelacanth while diving on a rebreather, hundreds of feet down.

Other presentations during the evening will include:
• Zale Parry (actress) – Retrospective on the “Sea Hunt” television program
• Stan Waterman & Rodney Fox – Sharks: Blue Water, White Death
• David Doubilet – National Geographic Underwater
• Howard & Michele Hall – The World’s Best Diving
• Chuck Davis, Louis Prezelin, Ralph Clevenger, Richard Salas, Tim Angulo –
The Crew of the “Just Love”
• Mike deGruy – Remembering Our Friend
• Ernie Brooks – Silver Seas

Special introductions for the evening will be provided by Wyland, Dan Orr, Bret Gilliam, and Doug Cummings, as well as a few surprise guests. The master of ceremonies for the evening will be Leslie Leaney of the Historical Diving Society USA.

A special VIP reception will be held on Friday evening at 7:00 P.M. on Friday, September 13 at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum at the Santa Barbara Harbor. Space for this opportunity to mingle with the presenters will be very limited, so be sure to sign up for this event early. Hotel information can be obtained through www.santabarbaraca.com.

Tickets for the VIP Reception with Film Festival Reserved Seating are $150.00 (plus ticketing fees) and are in short supply. General admission tickets with open seating are $38.00, plus ticketing fees. To order tickets, call the Arlington Ticket Agency at 805-963-4408. Tickets can also be ordered through Ticketmaster.

Both the Historical Diving Society USA and the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum are public 501(c)3 charities and work together to preserve diving history. For more information on the Historical Diving Society USA visit www.hds.org. To learn about the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum visit their facility in Santa Barbara or go to www.sbmm.org.

Come spend a weekend in beautiful Santa Barbara and see the best in underwater photography and films at this very special event!

• http://www.hds.org/2013/04/21/a-tribute-to-ernie-brooks/