First Encounter by Brian Skerry

Photo: Brian Skerry

How amazing is this photo of Brian Skerry’s underwater assistant, Mauricio Handler, in front of a giant whale off the coast of Auckland Islands? I can’t even imagine how awesome this must feel to be within arm’s reach of a giant underwater creature such as a whale and not have it be scared away by the camera.

Anyway, this photo above was the winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest in the category of “The Underwater World”.

Brian Skerry is a National Geographic photographer who has an impressive portfolio of images very similar to this, which really show his ability to get up close and personal with these sea animals that most of us have hardly seen in person even once. According to The Boston Globe, Brian Skerry is living his childhood dream of photographing for National Geographic. Heck, if this was my job, I’d be happy too!