Janina Cooper was born and raised in a small town in Germany. She grew up with a vast love and curiosity for the oceans, lakes, and streams. Her family encouraged these interests, and her father took her into the forest and wetlands to look for amphibians and taught her how to snorkel on family trips to the Mediterranean, Baltic, and the North Sea.
In the fall of 2017, Janina quit her job as a veterinary technician to join her husband in Georgia, USA, with their two dogs. A few years later, the family moved to Washington State.
As a water dweller at heart and an avid snorkeler, she was beyond excited to get dive-certified in June 2019. She immediately realized she wanted to take pictures of the amazing underwater realm.
Another move in 2022 from the beloved Washington State to Mississippi and several years of polishing underwater skills and saving funds finally led to fulfilling the dream of getting an underwater camera set up. When Janina took her camera underwater for the first time in January 2023, it opened a whole new world and was a life-changing experience. Since then, except for training dives, the camera accompanies her every outing and has become the primary focus for her diving.
Janina and her husband drive to the Florida Panhandle on weekends when the schedule allows. They have also visited southeast Florida and Washington State a few times since. She strives to dive as much as possible and is captivated by exploring all the facets and techniques of underwater photography. She is most fascinated by the various ways to utilize light in image creation and hopes to get more opportunities to employ different creative techniques while exploring new places.
Her favorite subjects range from charismatic megafaunas such as sharks, marine mammals, and reptiles to the small, awesomely strange macro critters such as frogfish and everything in between. Freshwater can be just as exciting as saltwater to her, and she finds beautiful underwater scenery just as awe-inspiring as “peak of the action” critter encounters.
Her biggest hope is that by creating underwater imagery, she can help people see the beauty and uniqueness of this world and inspire a love for the exceptional life forms in our planet’s wild, watery habitats.