Origins "Why I created the sub-motion.com site"

Welcome to all friends and readers.

The majority of you reading this first post will know me through scuba diving, whether you were a former student, customer or colleague and I appreciate you spending the time to view through my new website 'sub-motion.com'

In this first post I'd like to talk about the origins of the site and how it developed in to what you see before you, so I'm going to take you back a few years to a very wet and stormy low season spent on Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. I was working for a new brand Dive Center on the island, the weather was awful, the dive shop was quiet, no one was walking the narrow soi's (streets) and I'd not had a single customer enter the shop that day. It got me to thinking about how I could attract more people to dive. I spent the afternoon thinking about a new Facebook page that I could use to promote diving that wouldn't interfere with my personal page. I'd quickly come up with the name 'sub-motion' and started to build a page along with a the logo. The idea was to post my Underwater Photography images in the hope it would attract people to come and dive with me.

And that's as far as I got, I didn't even share the page. The weather improved, I returned back to my home on Koh Lanta and the new high season started so my days were filled from 6:30 in the morning till 7:00 in the evening.

The page remained dormant until this year when the realities of the Global Pandemic really hit. Diving operations ceased with effect from 23 March along with my only source of income. Unlike many western countries there are no furlough provisions here in Thailand, luckily I'd saved some money from the 5 months of the season, obviously that money doesn't last forever so I started thinking about resurrecting what I'd started 5 years before in the hope I could begin a source of income.

Hungry Hawksbill Turtle

Having no prior knowledge of how to build a website, I took to Youtube for some inspiration and guidance and within a day or to I had the beginnings of this site. My first thought was to offer a print service for my Underwater Photography, my ideas grew and I realised I could offer prints on lots of other items, this also lead me to begin to take segments out of my photographs to create abstract designs for print on a whole host of other items including Bags, Backpacks and Clothing. The website and my print partners are now fully operational, so please take the time to look though the items and please go ahead and buy something.

I'll be adding and updating the site and products constantly over the coming weeks and months as the world returns back to some kind of normal.

The Biggest Fish In The Sea

I will also shortly be partnering a couple of independent local artists here on Koh Lanta, I'm super excited to work with these local people to offer you a fantastic range of handmade products in the coming weeks. Also it will greatly help the local community here who have been previously 100% dependant on tourism and have now lost their livelihoods. I'll update with more details in the coming couple of weeks.

Please sign up to the site to get the latest news, leave comments or join me for chats it's easy to do with one click using Facebook or Google sign up, or get in touch with me through the contact page. I'm happy to hear any feedback or suggestions on what products you would like to see or if you'd like information about Underwater Photography, tips, tricks, lessons and courses here on Koh Lanta.

Thanks again for visiting and remember please buy something. It would mean the world to me :)

Matt