Photographer Spotlight: Yuping Chen

Where do you live ?

I live in Beijing, China.

How long have you been diving? What made you want to learn to dive and where did you start?

I’ve been diving 5 years, and I took my open water diver course in Phuket, Thailand.

It was a family vacation, we were walking along Patong beach. There is a dive shop---ScubaCat, their logo is a cat wearing scuba gear. It looks really funny. And I like cat very much, so I got curious and went into the shop… Then, my life has changed.

When did you start shooting underwater? Why did you start using a camera?

I started shooting underwater in 2009, as soon as I got certified as an advanced open water diver.

When I stayed underwater, I was enwrapped by the fascinating world, and I wanted to record everything.

What was your first camera setup? What camera system do you use now?

My first camera is a Canon G10 with Canon housing , this small camera had been many places with me.

I’m currently using a Panasonic GX1 with Nauticam housing, and 2 Inon Z240 strobes. I bought this camera in the autumn of 2012.

Underwater photographers seem to have an ability to look at the underwater world and know what sort of picture could be made, in a way that's not obvious to the non-photographer looking at the same site. Is that something you are born with or a learned trait?

I think every excellent underwater photographer is an artist, so the inborn talent for art is important. The learned trait and experience in shooting, both are essential.

Variable current and a fair amount of organic material in the water column seems common in this area, how would you advise budding photographers to learn to deal with each?

Always pay attention to the briefing before each dive, we should know more information about the dive site and prepare for unexpected situation, mentally and physically.

What is your most memorable underwater moment?

Diving with Humpback whales is my most memorable moment.

Before my friend and I went to Socorro Islands (Baja California, Mexico) last February, I’ve been told we probably have a chance to see Humpback whale in that area, but only on the surface, and no guarantee. Yes, we saw them a couple of times, the huge tail and spouting on the surface. We thought we’re lucky. Then, you just can’t imagine what happened.

It was an afternoon dive, we did back roll entry and tried to descent to the reef, about 30 meters deep. They just appeared in front of us, a whale mother and her calf.

Everybody was excited and a bit shocked, we didn’t try to approach them, we just watched. The mother was cautious, I thought she observed us too. The calf was eager to play with mom. We saw the calf was rolling below the mother and touched her softly. Then we found another whale stay deeper, I guess it was a male…It was truly amazing, I think I will never forget it.

What type of photography do you prefer (wide-angle, macro, etc.)?

I do enjoy shooting macro stuff, and I’m lucky that I live in Asia, nearby some best muck-diving locations.

I’ve been diving in some places those famous for big stuff, Palau, Maldives, Galapagos, Cocos Island… Yes, I was excited when I saw whales, the school of hammerhead, Mola mola…

But in my heart, those beautiful, unique, tiny critters are always my favorites.

Any scary or funny moments underwater?

I’m so scared of sea snakes. Unfortunately they are pretty common in South East Asia. Every time I saw sea snakes，especially at night dive, I’m troubled with nightmare.

Any awards or honors? Where have you been published?

I won the 2nd place in macro category for 2013 Underwater Festival Shootout.

I haven’t been published, yet.

I’m a beginner in this, actually I knew nothing about photography until the end of 2012. At the time, I decided to take underwater photography seriously, because I realized my growing passion for the ocean has always been there.

Everything was very new to me, I started with basic knowledge about camera, and tried to get more chance to shoot underwater. I’m really enjoying the learning process.

What are you proudest of?

From the very beginning till now, I would love to write down my feelings of my diving trip, post them on online travel forums with the pictures that I shot. I'm very glad to share my happiness of diving, and introduce some new diving destinations and information to other divers.

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of net-friends read my post. Some of them were attracted by the amazing and beautiful underwater world of my writings and pictures, they start their own diving life. And to some other divers, the nice underwater images shooting by my small camera make them realize that expensive equipment is not necessary, the most important thing is to have eyes for discovering beauty.

I'm very proud that there are more people believe that scuba diving is one of the best and amazing activity we can do anywhere in the world from my work. In my opinion, one more diver, one more marine environmentalist.

Are there any underwater photographers you admire and why?

There are many excellent photographers to name. First one is David Doubilet. I’m a huge fan of him. His images always make me feel the passion and soul of the Ocean. I think Mr. Doubilet is that person who we call them “the grandmaster”.

I also admire the work of Alex Mustard. He is full of great ideas about techniques, about new camera equipment, and he enjoys sharing it with us.

And I’m lucky that I have the chance to meet William Tan and Lixin Wu, they both are famous underwater photographer, and have decades shooting experiences. I’m too shy to show my images to them. Finally they saw and complimented my work. Then they gave me some advices for my camera equipment, told me how to observe marine life and catch the unique moments...They let me believe I can do better, I’m greatly indebted to their encouragement.

What advice do you have for beginning photographers?

Don’t take your camera into water until you can control your neutral buoyancy very well and feel really comfortable underwater.

Learn some general knowledge of marine biology and animal behavior, knowing your subject will help you to get good images.

Then, have fun!

Where are you going next?

I’m having a diving trip in Mexico on February. I will do several cenote dives in Cancun, then go to Socorro islands, Baja California. Yes. Humpback whale, I’m coming again. And I’m looking forward to dive in Sri Lanka this April.