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Ron Church Web site
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Please visit the Ron Church Web site for a more detail account of his biography and accomplishments. more...
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Tani Bell-Church talks about her interesting life with Ron Church as a father - Photos by Tani Bell
During his highly active and successful life, ocean explorer Ron Church contributed greatly to man's understanding of the sea. He shared his vast knowledge in underwater photography and marine life with thousands of people. For over 20 years he photographed in nearly all the world’s oceans. Ron received many honors for his work, including the NOGI and the International Underwater Photographer of the Year award. He was recognized as one of the foremost underwater photographers of the world.
 Stepping in his footsteps is his daughter Tani Bell. After contributing entertaining stories from Alaska to Dive Global on a regular basis, we got curious about her own background.
Charlotte talks with Tani Bell, about what it was like to grow up with a father who's passion was to explore the ocean's world and her own experiences in the underwater world.
Charlotte: First of all, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Tani: I grew up it seemed in the ocean. The first days I can remember in life was being in a pool learning how to swim as a very young girl with my father, Ron Church. I now live in Alaska and still spend as much time underwater diving as possible, sometimes 3-4 days a week, photographing anything interesting that comes between me and my camera, doing surveys on the new Underwater Park and other locations.
On the cold undiveble days, I paint from my photographs, write about my experiences or work on one of my several Web sites. I just finished painting a dive gear wash out room inside a private hanger at the Juneau International Airport. It was rather peaceful in this private huge hanger, listening to the Alaska Airlines planes land and roar off. Just me, a big float plane at my back, Nina Simone on the stereo, all my paints and a big canvas (wash out room) to create my visions on!
 Charlotte: You are the daughter of the famous Ron Church; the first American member on the Cousteau team. You grew up in an explorers family, what was that like?
Tani: As a child, I just thought all the amazing things I experienced, all the attention with my father, the trips, places, and people we met. Getting an Iguana for Christmas after his Galapagos trip, I thought was just normal life, well, except for the Iguana!
How many kids grow up playing with dolphins, walrus, petting morays behind the scenes at Sea World, and getting special kisses from Shamu? We played with baby octopus on European beaches, chased Garibaldi in Catalina, tried to follow my father down the anchor line of the Calypso as he descended for one of his dives, holding my breath, following him as long as I could until I could go no further! My sister Rondi and I had no fear of the Ocean. It was more of a comfort and natural place for us to be. Our playground!
In 1974 we were featured in the nature magazine Ranger Rick, Rondi was on the cover, we thought that was pretty cool! I remember asking my Dad if that meant I was famous! I was so young.
My Dad came to my school one day to give a slide show from adventures on the Calypso and sea life in general. After the show all the kid’s surrounded my Dad asking for autographs and asking more questions! I was pushed out of the way by the crowd, just watching the frenzy! That was the first time I realized our life was something very different, that he was very different from most fathers!
Charlotte: Did you accompany your father on many of his trips?
 Tani:
We went on a few trips when he was with the Calypso team, one to Cabo San Lucas before there was anything there except for the very end of the Hacienda Hotel, but the most memorable trip was to Europe. My father was already there, Jacques Yves Cousteau was about to fly to France from New York, so we flew from California to New York to be escorted by Jacques Cousteau to France and my father. My sister Rondi and I were 6 and 7, needless to say it was a great adventure for us, but I am afraid Cousteau tried his best to pretend we were not with him. We were both terrible menaces but we had a great time!
After arriving in France, we traveled with the Calypso team along the coast, stopping at different locations they filmed. I must say that the Calypso’s Crew were some great, fun guys. I think we were there entertainment, playing hide and seek, food fights, telling us grand stories and more! We fell in love with them all!
When my Dad had to dive, as I said before, Rondi and I followed his bubbles as far down the anchor line as we could possibly go. Then peered into the dark water until his bubbles appeared again, coming up from the abyss. We both loved him so.
Charlotte: Your mother is also a well-known photographer. You are a photographer, writer, painter and a poet. Did they inspire you to become an artist yourself?
 Tani: My parents were and are my complete inspiration as an artist, photographer and writer. The first painting I did must have been after my father returned from Alaska with the Calypso Team because it is a walrus on an ice pack. I was 7 years old, and have not stopped painting or drawing since.
I remember my Dad had this incredible room, wall to wall drawing tables, light tables, film all over and my hearts desire of canvas, paint, pencils, pastels and more! He urged me to explore my desire in art that eventually lead to talent. He gave me all the encouragement and tools that I needed, I took it from there.
I remember spending countless hours in the darkroom watching him turn paper magically into beautiful images! I was hooked! After his untimely death (from a brain tumor), my mother, Shirley Richards, took over, becoming a very prominent, professional photographer. The gentleness and simplicity of her work takes my breath away!
She has studied and worked with some Master Printers and her skill shines through in her work (see her Web site). Others think so also as the University of Texas has a collection of her Architectural work, she has won several awards, been in many magazines and private collections. Her work shows her true self, simply put, amazing!
She mainly shoots architecture in B&W and does sepia tone prints. If I could only be as good as she! Ah yes….I am the painter!
Charlotte: You've been writing about John Lachelt's encounters, but what's the most amazing underwater experience you've ever had?
Tani: My most amazing experience underwater has been with Steller sea lions in Alaska. They are as big as a brown bear, teeth included, extremely fast, bark, bite at you and make false charges to see if you are a threat to their harem Then they will put on the most beautiful ballet you could ever witness, with such grace and power underwater.
 You can be surrounded, feel tugs on your fins, bulls sweeping with in inches of your head at warp speed, and females blowing bubbles at you while hanging just out of reach, upside down! The first time will definitely give you a jolt of fear, but then you calm down, watch and see! I say “see” because that is something so many of us don’t do, really see the truth or beauty in something so special, they just swim by!
Other than capturing a great Bald Eagle by hand while at a remote location on land, the next best close encounter underwater was with an Octopus. My husband and I discovered several Octopus dens from the bone piles they left out in front from their prey. I laid on the sea floor, put my hand out in front of the den. In a minute, this red coiled up arm starts to roll out, uncoil and gently wrap it’s tentacle around my wrist, exploring my hand and fingers. Never a pull, just gently. Then it let go and as it had coiled out to me, returned the same way. This from a creature who has inspired many stories of fear and danger!
I felt so blessed, I wondered if my father’s spirit was within me, and that maybe the creatures under the sea knew or sensed that. I always spend the last bit of air I have in the shallows, playing with the little fish who think they are BIG fish, or invisible, scaring my husband because I don’t ascend until much later!
My father always called me his little Mermaid. I loved that book, I still have the same book that I made him and my mother read to me over and over. Of coarse it is tattered and worn now, but I still read it now and then.
Charlotte: How do you deal with being underwater in the cold Alaskan waters?
 Tani: I learned to SCUBA dive in Alaska. So diving up here is rather natural to me. It’s when I go warm water diving that it feel’s so weird. It’s like swimming in a fish bowl compared to Alaska, hardly any gear, hardly any weights, there are no surprises because you can see everything. This is not to say other destinations aren’t extremely beautiful, they just aren’t as challenging if you are a Sports Diver.
Alaska offers much beauty and challenge, and is always full of surprises. Like my first dive, the snow was blowing horizontally, we were all bundled up in towels, hat’s anything we had for our surface interval, looking around at each other laughing! Of course I picked winter to get certified. The water was actually warmer than the temperature on land! It was quite comical!
You get used to the cold; this first time in is the hardest. In Alaska, anything above 43 degrees is pretty warm, and then it drops to the 30’s, now that’s when it hurts a bit and instead of doing two tank dives’s, it becomes one, so you make the most of it.
Charlotte: I read somewhere you even got married underwater...?
Tani: We thought about getting married underwater but we chose to get married at a remote harbor outside of Juneau since most our friends and family had boats, and we practically lived on ours. It was a true Alaskan Wedding as the bride, myself, wore extra tuff’s, known as “Alaskan tennis shoes” (they are sturdy rubber boots) and most the guests wore the choice clothes for Alaska, Carhartts. It rained the whole time, so we really did get married underwater! After the wedding nuptials, we jumped off the biggest boat there into the cold Alaskan waters, along with our best man Rexx, our Golden Retriever! It was talked about for months! So much fun!
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