Featured Customers | Carlo "Charlie" Patriarca In Stunning Detail

Charlie Patriarca is originally from Como, Italy. He began underwater photography in the early '90s with a Nikon F90 in an Ikelite housing, participating in numerous national and international competitions. He later switched to digital format with a D300 and currently uses a D780 in a 200DL housing. His favorite lenses are the 10.5mm fisheye and the 14mm for wide-angle shots, and the 60mm and 105mm for macro photography. He alternates between diving in the freshwater lakes and rivers of northern Italy, the Mediterranean, and tropical seas.

Ecsenius namiyei, commonly called black comb-tooth blenny or Namiye's coralblenny. Malapascua Island, Philippines. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca 

The Periclimenes sarasvati is a small, transparent shrimp with delicate purple and white markings. It lives in symbiosis with sea anemones and other marine invertebrates. Walea Island, Sulawesi. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca 

Serpula vermicularis, known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. Portofino, Italy. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca 

Portrait of a Giant Morey (Gymnothorax javanicus), Palau, Micronesia. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca 

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish in the world and feeds mainly on plankton through filter feeding. Despite its size, it is a gentle and slow-moving species. Maldives. Nikkor 10.5mm. © C.Patriarca

A longfin snake-eel (Pisodonophis cancrivorus) family Ophichthidae, hiding in the sand in shallow waters. Malpascua Island, Philippines. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca

Green turtle swimming near the reef in the Indian Ocean. Maldives. Nikkor 10.5mm © C.Patriarca 

A Xeno Crab (xenocarcinus tuberculatus) on a wire coral. Malapascua island, Philippines. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca 

A longnose hawkfish, (Oxycirrhites typus), camouflaged on a coral in the waters of Walea island, Sulawesi. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca

Saddleback Clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus). Malapascua Island. Nikkor 60mm. © C.Patriarca

A nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) rests inside Kuda Giri wreck. Maldives. Nikkor 10.5mm. © C.Patriarca 

A school of humpback red snapper or paddletail snapper, (Lutjanus gibbus) in Kuda Rah Thila, Maldives. Nikkor 10.5mm. © C.Patriarca

Carlo "Charlie" Patriarca is an underwater photographer from Como, Italy. He's been shooting underwater for roughly three decades and participating in numerous Italian and international photo competitions along the way. He currently shoots with a Nikon D780 inside an Ikelite 200DL Underwater Housing and alternates between wide-angle and macro. You can see more of his underwater work on Instagram @aspas72 as well as his underwater portfolio.