Jim Mensay

 

Jim is a native Houstonian and was certified in 1989 while living in Colorado.  After over 400 dives he finally took his first underwater image with an Olympus 4040 point and shoot in an Ikelite housing.    The point and shoot got upgraded to a DSLR, then another, and another.  He now has over 1,000 dives logged and takes his camera gear on every dive.

 

He is currently shooting a Canon 5DMII in an Aquatica housing with dual Ikelite DS-125 strobes.  He mostly shoots macro (using a Canon 100 mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens), and occasionally switches to  wide-angle (using a Canon 16-35 mm lens behind a 6” dome).

 

As an avid adventure traveler he also enjoys capturing images of big wildlife, like bears in Alaska or big cats in Africa.  For that he uses a Canon 5DMIII with a Canon  EF 70-20mm f/2.8 L IS II USM lens,  or a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM lens, or a Canon EF 600mm f/4.0 L IS USM lens.

 

As a PADI Assistant Open Water Instructor, Jim assisted his wife Debbie (a PADI Open Water Instructor) and as DJ Dive and Travel, they gave private lessons and taught and certified divers in various locations like Cozumel, Bonaire, and Bora-Bora Tahiti.  They also organized and led small group trips to quite a few exotic locations.

 

Jim and Debbie first became members of HUC, Houston Underwater Club in the 1990’s and Jim served as a Board of Director member for HUC and helped coordinate the Virtual Dive Bubble at Seaspace for several years.  They then became members of HUPS Houston Underwater Photographic Society and Jim has served as President, Vice-President, Trip Coordinator, and a Board of Director Member.  He was awarded the 2011 Member of the Year award from HUPS and the 2012 Photographer of the Year award for the Intermediate Category.  In 2014, one of his images was selected as the Best of HUPS image for the Advanced Category for that year.

 

Currently some of his images are on display at the Aquarium at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.  His images are also submitted for judging in the monthly HUPS photo contest at the monthly HUPS meeting.

He says that his favorite dive destination is the one he is currently at, but has especially enjoyed diving in Bali Indonesia, Cebu Island Philippines, Phukett Island Thailand, Yap Island Micronesia, and anywhere in the Caribbean.  Jim has enjoyed adventure travel and topside photography in Alaska, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Indonesia.

 

Jim and Debbie have been married since 1976 and Jim retired as a crude oil marketer in 2013.  Their passion for adventure travel allows them to capture Tomorrow’s Dreams and Images TODAY.