These pictures were taken in the Republic of Palau, about 600 miles this side of the Philippines. In all but a few cases, the camera was a Canon S1 IS digital, surrounded by a plastic underwater housing, which allows a diver to take pictures as deep as 130 feet. The water was 84 degrees on average and just a bit warmer than the air. Everyday we took five dives: two in the morning, two in the afternoon, and for those of us who wished, a night dive. We lived on the 100-foot boat the entire week as we moved through the 300-plus islands of the small country.

As for my background, I grew up in Lawrence, graduated from Lawrence High School in 1968 and later from the School of Business at Kansas University. For most of my working years, I’ve been in the banking field and am currently managing the UMB Bank branch at 18th and Grand in downtown Kansas City, Mo. My wife, Marie, and I just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary and live at Lake Lotawana, Mo.

Long before I knew what a camera was, my father, Jim Schubert, who still lives in Lawrence, took many black-and-white pictures of the family with an Agfa Shur-Shot, a “box” camera. It produced excellent, clear pictures. I can attribute much of my interest in photography to watching and learning from him.