Featured Photographer | Wim Van den Bossche 

My name is Wim Van den Bossche. I'm 40 years old and live in Lochristi, Belgium, with my wife and two kids. I started diving quite late in 2017 but quickly became addicted to it, became a PADI divemaster and became the chairman of our local dive club. When I'm not in the water, I am a manager for Volvo Trucks, but I am always thinking about next time I get in the water. 

Photography has been a life-long passion for me, and about 18 months ago,  I started investing in underwater photography gear. Currently, I’m using an Olympus OMD-M1 mark 2 in an Olympus EP14-housing and a Sea&Sea YS01 Solis strobe with a snoot. Depending on the plan (and visibility) I use my 60mm M.Zuiko macro with a flat port, or my 8mm M.Zuiko fisheye paired to a dome port. What excites me about underwater photography are the challenges it brings, the unknown, not knowing what critters you will see.  Some dives the visibility might be bad and I have to struggle to get the right shot, these are the challenges that excite me. 

I do most of my diving in local fresh and salt waters. Lake Grevelingen and the Eastern Scheldt are about an hour’s drive from where I live and are my absolute favourite location to dive and photograph. It’s always fun to see how people are baffled by the variety of life and colours hidden in our local cold waters! In the south part of Belgium, we also have some nice old quarries that are now submerged and where you can find relics from the past. Most often it’s dark, cold and deep; so for sure not everybody’s cup of tea…but I enjoy these more challenging dives every now and then.

Of course I also love the more tropical waters, so let’s hope this pandemic is over and done with as soon as possible!

Pike,
De put van Ekeren, Antwerp
'This is a beautiful freshwater pond called "De put van Ekeren", which translates into “The pit of Ekeren”, although it’s much less scary than it sounds!'

Long spined bullhead ,
Dreischor Het Gemaal, Lake Grevelingen 

 
 Widow’s rose
Dreischor Het Gemaal, Lake Grevelingen 

Hermit crab,
Den Osse, Lake Grevelingen

Smooth blenny,
Strijenham, Eastern Scheldt

European lobster,
Dreischor Het Gemaal, Lake Grevelingen

Coral,
Frans Kok Reef, Lake Grevelingen
'On this dive, we had the best visibility of the year so far, a perfect maiden dive with the new fisheye! '

Baby cuttlefish,
Zeelandbrug dive spot, Eastern Scheldt

Common prawn,
Den Osse dive spot, Lake Grevelingen

Black goby,
Geersdijk dive spot, Lake Veerse

Sap sucking sea slug 
Wolphaartsdijk, Lake Veerse

Juvenile cuttlefish,
Geersdijk dive spot, Lake Veerse

Cichlid
TODI Diving Experience, Beringen

The Buddies,
Pit of Ekeren, Antwerp, BE
'Known as “The Buddies”, this is one of the underwater sculptures you can find in Ekeren.'

Black blenny,
Frans Kok Reef, Lake Grevelingen

Peacock tubeworm,
Bergse Diepsluis Oesterdam dive spot, Eastern Scheldt

Coral,
Frans Kok Reef, Lake Grevelingen

Two Dutchmen,
Bergse Diepsluis Oesterdam dive spot, Eastern Scheldt
'I was in great presence here; René Weterings and Raymond Wennekes. Two multi-award winning photographers and always ready for tips and advice'

Find Wim on Instagram @wimvdb_photography

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