Underwater photographer dives into her work

     By Sonya Padgett
     View staff writer
      Nicole Atwood wants to be a marine biologist ... or a marine zoologist ... or an underwater photographer.
      Well, she hasn't quite settled on an occupation yet, but the 17-year-old knows whatever it is, the job must be related to the ocean.
      To give her some ideas, Atwood, a northwest-area resident, was at UNLV Jan. 20, along with her mother Lisa Atwood, to hear underwater photographer Patricia Jordan talk about her work.
      "I'm not sure what I want to do yet, something in marine science," said Nicole Atwood, who intends to start at UNLV as a freshman in the fall. "I want to check some different things out."
      Lisa Atwood was optimistic that Jordan's lecture would provide her daughter with a starting place.
      "We sent her to careers camp at Sea World last summer," Lisa Atwood said. "She told me she'd like to take pictures underwater, so she's considering maybe (taking) a photography class."
      While in town for the Dive Equipment Marketing Association convention last month, Jordan visited UNLV as part of the University Forum lecture series to show slides of her photographs, which represent the many places she's been and the variety of sea life she's encountered.
      Jordan has photographed almost everything the sea has to offer, from the beautifully delicate soft coral of Fiji to the fist-sized blue-ringed octopus, the deadliest creature in the sea. She's built a solid reputation as a marine photographer, and her work has appeared in magazines such as "Discover Diving," "Pacific Diver" and "Diver Alert."
      Since Jordan first dived in 1973, she has logged more than 1,000 dives throughout the world, including dives in the South Pacific, Indonesia, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Red Sea.
      Growing up in New Jersey, the 57-year-old Jordan didn't plan on becoming a diver and underwater photographer. But nearly 10 years after her first dive, Jordan bought a camera after a diving trip to Aruba and started taking pictures underwater.
      "What I really wanted was a photo of me underwater," she said. A local man in Aruba snapped her picture underwater and told Jordan he would send it to her.
      She never received it. Finally, Jordan bought a camera.
      "I said, `I'll get my own camera and take it myself.' When I got that camera, I was hooked," she said.
      Jordan left her steady 9-to-5 job as a secretary to spend much of her time scuba diving with a camera.
      The only education Jordan has in photography is a class on using black-and-white film. Everything else she's learned through trial and error.
      "I see it (picturesque shots) and my challenge is not to see it," Jordan said. "Many people have the ability to operate a camera, but they don't see it."
      All of her knowledge about marine life comes from books she reads.
      "The more I know about an animal, the easier it is to photograph," Jordan said. "If I know where it lives, when it feeds, I know where to find it. And I think I've become more knowledgable. It adds to the fullness of the experience of diving."
      To hear Jordan talk about her work, it's apparent diving and photography are her purpose in life.
      "It certainly does bring me a lot of joy," she said. "It's like hitting the sweet spot on the tennis racquet. To me, the greatest sound to my ears is the click of the shutter. If you get one image that's gorgeous, it's all worth it."