Nature
Beneath Cold Seas
The underwater wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. WINNER, National Outdoor Book Awards.
David Hall
9781887354905 • Cased with jacket • 160 pages • £20
'An extraordinary work that stands alone in its achievement,' Christopher Newbert
'Quite exceptional,' Peter Rowlands, Underwater Photography Magazine
'A stunning, wildly colorful marine world,' Discover
'A dazzling book filled with dazzling sea creatures, showing us an astonishing marine domain,' Shelf Awareness
The ocean remains one of the last great unknowns – and is now the frontline of global conservation priorities. From the candy-stripe shrimp to giant sunflower stars, the Pacific coast of North America features the most diverse and spectacular marine life of any coldwater ecosystem on the planet. David Hall’s stunning photographs reveal seldom-observed behaviour and predator-prey relationships in this rich web of life. Through his remarkable images, Beneath Cold Seas reveals a glimpse of a magnificent world rarely enountered. Its sumptuous pages will captivate anyone with an interest in diving, marine conservation, or beautiful photography.
This video features some of the amazing underwater photos, accompanied by composer Matthew Mayer's piano work "Beyond":
David Hall is an author and award-winning photographer whose work has been featured in National Geographic, Smithsonian, Natural History, Time, bbc Wildlife, and numerous other magazines.
“Coincidence had it that I had just returned from my first trip to British Columbia in September when I received an electronic copy of David Hall’s excellent book. As a result I know that these waters are not easy to operate in with strong currents, cold temperatures, variable visibility and low light levels. However, looking through this coffee-table book you would be forgiven for thinking that these waters are just an emerald version of the tropics with vibrant colours and exotic inhabitants. The level of consistency and standard of imagery is quite exceptional and it captures the wild spirit of this corner of the planet page after page.
“The highlights for me were the split level shots which combined moody surface light with perfectly balanced artificial light. Indeed in many of them the split was carefully chosen to create a downward angle rather than a horizontal one and the artificial light seemed to penetrate unnaturally far through the water.
“Beneath Cold Seas has taken more than 15 years to achieve, but the hard work has been worthwhile and it is difficult to imagine that there will ever be a better collection of photographs to come out of this area.”– Peter Rowlands, Publisher/editor, Underwater Photography Magazine
“Start with the frontispiece photograph of a Blue Rockfish gazing at a mango orange peony of a Lion's Mane Jelly…and you can tell you're in for a stunning photography book. Using state-of-the-art equipment, innovative techniques and electronic strobes, David Hall shows us an underwater world surprising to those who think colour and diversity belong to the tropics.
“Purple and tangerine sea stars prey on mussels amid dark aqua sea urchins; a Mosshead Warbonnet peeks out from a kelp bed; a semi-camouflaged Red Irish Lord nestles over a Sulfur sponge; a harbor seal scratches its back underwater; an adult wolf eel looks like a cranky gray monster; migrating sockeye are seen at dusk against a sunset sky; pale Plumose anemones are as graceful as a ballet; opalescent nudibranchs resemble fireworks.
“David Hall has created a dazzling book filled with dazzling sea creatures, showing us an astonishing marine domain.” --Marilyn Dahl, book review editor, Shelf Awareness
