My Big Break Brian Skerry

Brian Skerry is one of the world’s best known underwater photographers. He has been a contract photographer with National Geographic since 1998, and has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater over the past 30 years. To see more of his work visit www.brianskerry.com

- Keith Wilson

Working for National Geographic is something that most photographers can only dream of. But as Brian Skerry can testify, this is when the pressure really begins. Brian joined the legendary magazine in 1998, but three years later, he felt he had yet to prove himself. “Although I had done a few stories, until you hit a few home runs you’re never going to be fully accepted.”

His first ‘home run’ was not an easy undertaking. He proposed a winter assignment to document the birth and early life of harp seal pups on the sea ice in Canada. “I chartered a 65-foot crab-fishing boat, I hired helicopters, I hired guides; I was doing all this stuff and probably biting off more than I could chew.”