NEW
About Me
Hi. I am Kristina Abdeen Vacková; the life-lover, traveler, photographer and blogger. From September 2018 also a mother of my beautiful son Zein, and a wife of my husband, Kareem, who co-own a dive centre in Dahab.
I have a travelling spirit and lifestyle; so I can never stay in one place too long. I have the need to live my adventure and let my freedom fly. My home is everywhere and nowhere both by the sea or mountains. But my base is only one; a Bedouin town in Egypt - South Sinai called Dahab,
In the past five years I have worked mainly as an underwater photographer, the previous ten years also as a diving instructor, tec diver and journalist. I have moved away from teaching diving to a degree, so I can share my photography experiences with people with the same passion. But obviously buoyancy is the most important skill, so... sometimes it starts with basic OW courses anyway!
I graduated from Literature and History of Arts in Pedagogical and Philosophical Faculty of Charles University of Prague. After 10 years of being a workaholic, I decided to close my marketing and public relations company to move out of the Czech republic and my “comfortable material life”. I have lived in Dahab since 2008, the most peaceful and spiritual place in the world. I divide my time between being a seasonal photographer (and sometimes instructor) work in Egypt, Indonesia or Mallorca and travelling the world in the rest of the year.
I have lived and worked mainly in Egypt and Indonesia, but also Maldives, Thailand, Yap Micronesia, French Polynesia, Tanzania, California, Mexico, French Polynesia and the Mediterranean Sea in the warm months.
I travel the world writing articles, taking pictures and diving everywhere where they need some publicity or help with social media, and if necessary, I still can teach! :D to make some money for travelling.
In 2016 I finally discovered freediving. Not as a person holding breath while fighting a depth, not yet. But I have started to take pictures of freedivers in private sessions or during competitions and championships. This work has uncovered a whole new world for me, as Dahab is one of the best places for freedivers.
In 2013, I won 3rd place in the Amateur Category of the WorldShootOut International Photocontest in EIiat, and it changed my life completely. The prize I won was a diving week in Yap, Micronesia. I went there for two weeks of diving holiday, but I did not return back to Dahab as before. It turned into two years of travelling and discovering the world and my personal limits, and, of course, photography. Travelling the world with diving and photo gear really has pushed the limits further forwards!
In Spring 2015 the Universe brought me to a life border, to find myself, I decided to walk Camino de Santiago; the pilgrimage, This was another breaking point in my life. I walked 1.278 km starting in France, through the Spain, and ended up in Mallorca working few months later. My companions on my personal pilgrimage were my camera and lenses, laptop and hard drive. This journey changed my life again and forever. It brought me back to myself and showed me how to enjoy life and all its' beauty. This made 100% sure about my Gypsy Hippie lifestyle, I was happy being me. I stopped making plans, I realised that NOW is the most important moment of living.
Up until the end of 2015, all of my pictures had been taken with only a compact small camera,, and I am really proud of it. For four years I was shooting with Canon G15 and Ikelite housing, which finally broke on the boat ride in Komodo. In September 2015 I bought my first proper DSLR camera. Currently I am shooting with Canon 7D Mark I, Nauticam housing, two INON strobes Z240. For my wide angle pictures I use Tokina 10-17, for macro Canon 100 or 60 mm.
My pictures are getting published, same as some of my articles, in some of the Czech magazines and abroad, as well. I photograph mostly underwater life - landscapes, fishes, macro and corals, but I also photograph divers and "the underwater events" -
I can make a documentary of your first dive experience, take pictures from your open water course, underwater wedding or just pictures of your underwater adventures.
I also sell my pictures through the stocks agencies (shutterstock, iphoto, fotolia).
DIVE Magazine UK published an article about me on their web site.
I hope there will be more future popularity :-) And also, I have been interviewed few times for professional photography websites. All about it you find in Publicity section if my website.
http://www.uwphotographers.net/2015/09/uwp-kristina-vackova-czech-republic.html
https://www.facebook.com/kristina.vackova
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?gallery_id=1085444
www.kristinavackovaphoto.com
