Up until recently I’ll admit photographing saltwater crocodiles in their natural habitat was not high on my list of shots to get. At least not face to face in the water. But that’s exactly what I set out to do with five other crazy divers one calm February morning in Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen). Our adrenaline was already pumping as we had just finished up our first dive of the trip with two dozen Caribbean reef sharks. It was an incredible way to start off the trip so our spirits were high as we were heading back to the main boat for some coffee. Through the noise of the boat engine and water breaking we heard our expedition leader, Michael Aw, shout Niño (pronounced neen-yo) in a suggestive tone to our guide Noel Lopez. Unless you have been to Jardines, the word Niño means nothing to you but for me Nino had meant a few restless nights alone in the dark with my wild imagination. I knew we would meet some saltwater crocodiles on our trip, I knew I would be getting in the water and photographing them, but I hadn’t realized just how quickly it would happen. The fact that the time had finally arrived was a bit unsettling.
