Cathy's Crew
Theunis Neethling
It's pronounced "tee-en-us", or you can just call him "Tee" like we do. Tee has been in Grand Cayman since 2007. He likes Grand Cayman so much he talked his sweetheart, Karien, into moving from their home in South Africa to marry him that same year. They had a lovely wedding at Grand Old House. Tee has been diving since 1997 and became a NAUI instructor in 2001. He continues to work on his own underwater photography whenever he is not teaching our many classes. Not only is Tee an excellent teacher, he also crews the M/Y Photo Journey when we have charter guests and is constantly inventing new gadgets to make life easier.
CJ Viggers
CJ's home is the ocean, or at least it was for two years when he and his wife, Giselle, lived on a 38' Catamaran taking in the east coast of the US, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. After this trip of a lifetime, CJ and Giselle settled on Grand Cayman. CJ has a background in graphic arts, 10 years of experience in fine art reproduction; he is our resident Photoshop specialist -- if you need help with a photo (or some sailing tips), just ask for him. CJ started diving in California in 1988 and is a NAUI Master Diver. He has traveled to Cozumel, Honduras, Belize, Bonaire, Thailand, Australia, Hawaii , Turks & Caicos, the Bahamas--and he shoots with his trusty new Nikon D700 in an Aquatica housing.
Lin Fronda
Lin is one of Herb's retail angels who is also a graphic artist and event photographer. Originally from the Philippines, she spent two years working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia before coming to Grand Cayman in 2006. She has experience shooting weddings, products in studio and outdoor events; Lin knows her way around Photoshop, Pagemaker, Freehand and Illustrator. She looks forward to diving more, learning more and seeing more of the world through her own eyes and camera lenses.
Barbara McKenzie
Ever wondered who has worked for Cathy for the longest? The answer is Barbara (sorry for those of you that guessed Herb!). Barbara moved to Grand Cayman from Jamaica in 1987 and met Cathy through Barbara's cousin, who worked for Cathy at the time. Her cousin then moved to the US, so Barbara filled the gap. She keeps our shops, offices and Cathy and Herb's home spotless and runs her own cleaning company. Barbara also works her magic on Cathy's gallery prints by matting and mounting them so they are ready for you to buy. She has two daughters in Jamaica who come most summers to visit, and Barbara goes back when she can - and when she does we miss her singing!
Addie Wee
Hailing from Singapore, Addie has lots of experience and stories from diving around Asia since 1998. She became a PADI Instructor in 2001 and loves both diving and photography - so why not combine the two? Addie moved to the Cayman Islands in 2006 to work on the Brac. Now on the big island, her favorite part of the week is out at Stingray City working as an underwater photographer for the divers on the Sunset Divers' trips. She's also available for private photo buddy shoots. When she's not in the water you can find her in the shop or organizing Cathy's gallery collection.
Jenn Mark
Jenn was born and raised in California and first worked in Grand Cayman from 1998-2003. She worked at the Photo Centre back in the days when she still shot with a Nikonos V and a Nikon F100. She moved back to California for seven years and decided she missed the islands and the diving too much, so she returned in 2010. Jenn has been diving since 1987 and has been a PADI instructor since 1999. She returned to the Cayman Islands after talking her husband, Tony, into the island lifestyle. Jenn is currently in the process of updating her underwater photography knowledge to digital and deciding which camera will be her new camera of choice. She manages our Photo Centre and is always happy to help.
Tony Mark
Tony hails from sunny southern California. He has been a photographer and filmmaker for 20 years. He was formally trained at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and has over 15 years experience working in Hollywood in feature films and television. Tony’s talents have won him an Emmy in film editing and several awards in both filmmaking and photography. He fell in love with Grand Cayman above and below the water while on vacation with his wife, Jenn, who just happens to be the Photo Centre manager. He started diving in 2007 and is working on obtaining his PADI divemaster certification. Tony teaches all of our videography and editing classes. He shoots with a Nikon D700, D200 and a Sony AX-2000 video system. He also shoots all of our wedding and event photography and videography.
Daniela Ryan
Daniela is an island-born Caribbean gal. She grew up swimming and scuba diving in the beautiful waters of Grand Cayman and holds her Rescue Diver certification. She is an avid history and photography
buff, and her current camera of choice is the Nikon D90. She continues to fine tune her own personal photography skills while helping our wonderful customers improve as well.
Tessa Ryan
Tessa was born and raised right here in Cayman. She loves photography, and her current camera is the Olympus E-PL1. Tessa enjoys the outdoors and taking pictures of all the beautiful Cayman scenes. In addition to helping our customers with all of their retail camera needs, she spends her limited free time as a full-time student at the University College of the Cayman Islands where she majors in Economics. Stop by and see her in our upstairs store.
Maria de las Alas
Maria hails from the Philippines. She moved to sunny Cayman in 2006. She has been diving since 2010, and loves to spend time by and under the sea. Maria is an avid reader, and is always happy to recommend the latest photography manual or beach novel for your vacation. Maria is also our resident computer expert with a degree in Computer Engineering! She enjoys taking pictures above and underwater with her Olympus PEN camera and even enjoys catching a lionfish or two.
Madeleine Rowell
Madeleine was raised right here in the Cayman Islands and is currently attending high school. She lovers her Nikon D7000 and enjoys shooting portraits and close-ups. Her hobbies include playing a variety of musical instruments and, of course, diving. Sorry -- no photo yet.
Diana Willington
Diana is a charmer with a quick smile. She was born in Scotland and during her short 30 years has lived, worked or traveled in England, America, Australia, New Zealand, South America, South East Asia and even China. She is a dive master, soon to be dive instructor and looks forward to learning everything there is to know about underwater photography. She was a technical operator (camera, sound and editing) in London, so we are looking forward to seeing how we can use those great talents. She is also a right wing player for the Sunset soccer team.
Kat Ramage -- Good luck to you Kat, we miss you!
After seven years in the Cayman Islands, the government requires that people leave so that they cannot
expect to become voting citizens. Kat could not leave the water and the diving, so she looked for a wide open location that needed an underwater photography instructor. She always loved Bali, so that is where she went. She would love to stay in touch with her past students, so let me know if you need her email address.
Here is her original bio: Holding tight at 39, this sparky Texas gal started diving in 1983 and caught the Cathy Church bug after taking one of her famed SuperCourses in the mid 90s. A PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Kat has traveled all over the world to fuel her passion for diving and underwater photography --landing here with us in 2004. Kat was our lead instructor, and shoots with a Nikon D300/Subal setup.
Updated Dec. 17, 2011