John Blakey is a native Floridian who now lives in Palm Bay, Florida. He is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach with a Degree in Aviation Electronics Engineering.   John became a certified Scuba diver in 1990 and soon started underwater photography as a hobby.  His primary influence was the work of famed underwater photographer Cathy Church.  John joined the US Navy in 1996 and was assigned to a submarine.  One of his job skills while on-board was taking photos through the ships periscope.  He was sent to a military photography school where he learned the fundamentals of photography including how to develop his own film.  After graduating from the military photography school John soon started to use landscapes and buildings as his main subjects and black and white photographs as his preferred median.