I grew up and still live in a landlocked part of southwest Germany. My husband and I started diving during a Hawaii vacation in 1995 and immediately fell in love with the underwater world. In 1998 we discovered freshwater diving in Germany. Since in our part of Germany there are quite a few small (mostly man-made) lakes we were able to dive another beautiful environment twice a week (in a drysuit). During our first dive vacations we visited the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Maldives, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. In 2001 we discovered muck diving in Malaysia. The small creatures fascinated me.
However, it wasn’t until 2004 that I started taking pictures underwater. At that time, I had already logged more than a thousand dives. One of the reasons I didn’t start earlier was that I had witnessed some underwater photographers with bad buoyancy skills, bad etiquette and no respect for the environment. My goal was (and still is) to take picture with respect for the wonderful underwater environment. No picture is worth damaging or harming even the smallest part/creature of the reef. I am glad to say I met a lot of underwater photographers with the same philosophy.
At first, I used a compact camera with only an internal flash, but soon I got an external flash and a close-up lens. Macro photography became my passion, but I still like to take pictures of reef scenes and freshwater scenery too. After a few years with several Canon compact cameras and one external flash I switched to a Sony compact camera with two external flashes in 2017. In 2021 I switched to the mirrorless Sony A6600.
Since we retired recently, we try to spend a few months in Florida and one month in Bali (Indonesia) every year. Back home in Germany we go diving during the spring, summer and fall months. Being underwater feels natural to me. We almost always dive without a dive guide because for us it is more fun to explore the underwater world on our own. My husband and best Buddy Michael doesn´t take pictures so he is my critter spotter.