Carving a niche in underwater videography has taken Mike Laptew about 12 years. But recent successes, including a video contract with National Geographic, have made it well worth the effort.
“I don’t know if it gets any better than National Geographic,” said Laptew, owner of North Kingstown-based Laptew Productions. In addition to landing his first video contribution to a National Geographic program, “Strange Days on Planet Earth,” airing this spring, Laptew this year released his sixth video for retail, sales of which comprised 80 percent of his revenue in 2007.
The video, “Stripers Gone Wild,” took the former spear-fishing champion and marketing executive about four years to complete, due to the nature of the filming he does.
Laptew free-dives with his underwater camera, meaning he uses only a diving mask and a snorkel. He does so to get close to the fish in an unobtrusive way – bubbles from standard diving gear would scare fish away, he says.
There are few, if any, other underwater videographers in the Northeast, he said, because the water is colder here and inclement weather can disturb the clarity of the water. He often must repeatedly go to the same places to get his shot, sometimes spending 10 days at a location to get two days of footage.
The effort is necessary because it’s the fish-eye view that’s most sought after among his clients, who range from associations, to small lure-manufacturing companies, to fishing resorts, Laptew said.
Fishing resorts such as the Crocodile Bay Resort in Costa Rica contract Laptew to create promotional DVDs that portray their accommodations and fishing opportunities.
Politically charged associations such as the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) contract Laptew to record documentaries for advocacy purposes, he said.
The RFA documentary he shot about the ill effects of commercial long-lining on broadbill swordfish was sent to every governor in the country, in addition to members of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.
Local companies, such as Tattoo Tackle of Portsmouth, contract Laptew to produce footage of the way the company’s hand-crafted fishing lures perform underwater.
That’s how National Geographic found Laptew’s work, he said. A production assistant was searching for stock footage of striped bass online and saw Laptew’s footage on Tattoo Tackle’s Web site.
Laptew decided to purchase a high-definition camera after meeting with representatives from the international magazine because they wanted high-definition footage and were willing to pay more for it.
Laptew wants to be ahead of the curve, before clients and consumers start demanding high definition.
Laptew will present his first high-definition underwater video at the East Bay Anglers’ 23rd fundraising seminar Jan. 8 at Barrington High School. He will present a film about the best fishing techniques, combined with an underwater perspective on how fish behave.
“We helped Mike launch a new career,” said Will Barbeau, president of the 35-member East Bay club of local anglers who meet monthly.
About 13 years ago, the club wanted video instead of slides of fish to accompany the speakers at the seminar, he said. But they couldn’t find anyone filming underwater.
That’s when Laptew – who had been creating underwater video as a hobby – offered the club his assistance, Barbeau said.
Laptew said the experience was an epiphany, because it led him to think about other clients who might want the product. After spear fishing for 15 years as a hobby and working in the marketing department of Pitney Bowes Inc., a Connecticut-based global office equipment company, for 23 years, Laptew thought he could marry the two skill sets, minus the spear, and create his own business.
As for the future, Laptew said, “I think the opportunities are going to increase exponentially for what I do. … There’s a real value in somebody that can create and edit good content for distribution on the Internet.” •
