Mark Dimalanta

"Life seldom gives you second chances, I took mine and ran with it..." A young doctor who put down his stethoscope and picked up his camera. I travel, surf, and shoot so that the whole world can see living through the eyes of a PENTAX. For me, photography started in my early childhood, while viewing my father's old travel photos. I was always moved by great photography, and always hoped to inspire others with my photos. SLR photography began when my parents gave me the Pentax Program Plus as a gift for my birthday, almost 22 years ago. In 1987, I received the honor of "most accomplished photographer" by the Quill & Scroll Journalism Society. Having documented most of my life on film, and now onto digital, photography has been a never-ending rollercoaster of excitement. I was the fraternity historian in college, and photo editor of my college newspaper, The Long Beach Union. I continued documenting with photos throughout medical school and on into practice. My life came to a crossroad in 2004, while lying bedridden after numerous surgeries and after facing the possibility of losing my mobility indefinitely; I began to rethink the rest of my life. I fell back onto what I always knew and loved, and picked up my Pentax Pz1p and started shooting again. Soon after, I bought my first digital SLR, the Pentax *ist D, and a new chapter in my love for photography began to unfold. Fast forward 3 years later... because of the miracle of modern medicine, the love of my family and friends, and faith... I have almost fully recovered. I am able to walk again, married the love of my life, met many new friends, and am back to surfing and photography, full speed. Life is too short my friends. I never thought I would shoot and surf alongside my greatest heroes upon Surfings greatest stage, the banzai pipeline, north shore, Hawaii. But it all came true this past year. We often waste too much time planning out our future. The simplest lesson I was fortunate enough to ever learn was this... "The best way to prepare for life is to LIVE, to really LIVE." Believe in your dreams, they still come true...