The first "Real Thing"

It was in October 2007, while I was living in England working as a professional model that a  fashion photographer friend of mine, who later turns to become a nature photographer too, Brian Daly, invites me to take an apnea course.
I just had a little problem .... course ... where exactly are we going freediving?
"In Somerset" he told me, is funny how most Europeans feel no cold, and they make it sound so normal .... until it got me! "But it will be at the end of October! After the beginning of winter ... aiaiai!
But he ended up convincing me .. and we went on. I followed with my old 5mm scuba suits , with a couple of holes here and there....
For those who know me I am very tall and thin. (then, the other profession!)
So, to choose a wetsuit it is not easy. Super Large in height and Small in measurements ... wich one should I choose!
One can imagine that comfort is not the first option!
Anyway, when the cold is great n o matter what suit you are wearing it will be useless. I was the only woman on the course and the instructor Emma Farrell was early to say, "you enter the water last!"
I thought Ihh I do not want any special treatment for being a woman, Let's all go!l! It was only to enter the water that some of my feminist side was literally down the drain. That IS cold! The water was so dark that we said that "after 10 meters you have to take a knife and fork to cut trough the water"

Me and Brian

The boys club

After many bottles of hot water that we wahsed down inside the neck  of our wetsuits, two days after the course AIDA 2Stars finished and I was completely blown away, or rather tottaly addicted!

So it begins my passion for freediving.

The Beginning...

And when they ask me "and how did you start freediving"?
It's quite hard to remember ... I grew up on the island of Florianópolis, with beautiful sea and surrounded by more than 80 different amazing tropical beaches.

My brother was hooked to the sea. Since he was little he would go spearfishing and to catch fish for his tank, wich almost made my mother crazy! With him is that I first remember holding my breath in the pool. Only we were totally "Kamikaze" (children and adults please don't try this at home! :) Actually he had instruction and was part of a club at the time. We used hyperventilation, and we compared how long iwe would hold our breasths. Today I know the technique is totally wrong and that instead of helping the athlete to stay longer holding the breath, its very countereffective and should be completely avoid for safety.  But this is how it used to be at the timeand this is how we played.

When he was about 12 years old my mother use to make ​​me wake up very early, sometimes around 6 am to catch waves with Body Boards, or "Morey" as we use to call back then.
Getting smashed by a wave in the head, alone in the sea, you end up losing all of your fear and become intimate with the sea . Also, when you ride down your first wave the sesation is unforgettable, and the love of the sea when catchs you, will not let go anymore!
My father, they say, was also passionate about the sea and was a great fisherman and also a sailor. It might be that the love of the sea is in our blood..
Since then along with different friends I practiced surfing, windsurfing, and also sailed, but was in 2004 that I found the greatest identification i could have with the sea: beneath the surface!
Along with my partner at the time took a trip to Egypt, and it was love at first sight.
It was in this time between a course after another, from scuba to technical diver by falling more and more paxionate by the sea, its colors and great beauty that I ended up taking underwater photography as hobby.
And that's where the story changed .....

On one of these trips to the Bahamas between tiger sharks and dolphins I realized I needed more breath hold to photograph some creatures that do not like to be disturbed by the bubbles ...