Charles "Flip" Nicklin (born 1948) is a

nature photographer Nature photography encompasses a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to place a stronger ...

best known for his underwater photographs of

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

s. He has been called "one of the world's leading whale photographers."

Early life

Nicklin's father Chuck is an underwater

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

. He taught Flip and his brother how to

scuba dive Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scuba'' is an acronym for ...

at a young age—by age 14, he was an assistant dive instructor to his father and teaching others how to dive. Nicklin's family owned a

dive shop A dive center is the base location where recreational divers usually learn scuba diving or make guided dive trips at new locations. Many dive centers operate under the guidelines of ISO 24803, in which case the facilities must meet the ISO mi ...

near

Pacific Beach, San Diego Pacific Beach is a neighborhood in San Diego, California, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 and Clairemont to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While formerly largely populate ...

called the Diving Locker.

Work

Photography

Nicklin was one of the first photographers to capture images of whales by swimming with them in the wild. He has worked extensively with ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', supplying their magazines with photographs of whales. In 1976, he began working with the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

as a deckhand and diving assistant for underwater photographers Bates Littlehales and Jonathan Blair. In 1980, he submitted his first proposal for a whale story to ''National Geographic'', which they rejected. He has since completed at least eighteen whale-related projects on their behalf, however. Nicklin frequently photographs whales underwater via

freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving, is a mode of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breat ...

rather than scuba gear. As a freediver, he is able to reach depths of . Above the surface, he photographs them from boats, small airplanes, or helicopters. He believes that his work helps promote conservation of whales by illustrating the evolving relationship that humans have with them, as well as by highlighting whale research and researchers.

Books

Nicklin has written several books about his experiences photographing whales in the wild. In 2007, he coauthored ''Face to Face with Dolphins'' with Linda Nicklin, and in 2008, the two coauthored ''Face to Face with Whales''. In 2011, a

coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and which can serve to inspire conversation o ...

written by Nicklin titled ''Among Giants: A Life with Whales'' was published.

Activism

In 2001, Nicklin co-founded the whale research association "Whale Trust." Other co-founders are whale researchers Jim Darling and Meagan Jones.

Awards and honors

In 2012, the

North American Nature Photography Association The North American Nature Photography Association or NANPA is an organization dedicated to photography of nature. The association's headquarters were originally in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and now are in Alma, Illinois. Established in 1994, NANPA jo ...

(NANPA) named him "Outstanding Photographer of the Year." In 2015, he was a featured

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

speaker at the NANPA Summit.

References

{{authority control Artists from San Diego American underwater photographers American nature photographers 1948 births Living people