Sacha was born on the Canary Island of Tenerife. He started diving in 2008 and has participated in major underwater photography championships, winning titles like Spain Champion (2017), Canary Islands Champion (2017) and six times Tenerife Champion. He has won the Jury Prize at the Second H2Ocean Contest of the National Geographic magazine (Barcelona, 2019), “Best photographer of aquatic environment" at the Spanish First National Biodiversity Festival (2015) and several underwater open contests like the “Open Fotosub El Hierro” (2022), Open Fotosub Online “El Hierro, un Puerto de Vida” (2019), Open Fotosub Lanzarote Mar de Lava" (2016), the "Open Fotosub Tenerife-Güimar" (2015) or the "Open Fotosub Island of La Gomera" (2014 & 2015). He regularly contributes with publications such as diving guides, tourist guides, research papers, doctoral theses or diving and underwater photography specialized magazine covers. He has participated in the NaturaJazz cycles organized by the Museum of Nature and Man of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He is co-author of the Canary Islands Fish Guide, a guide with photos, texts and illustrations of the main 202 species of fish that live between 0-50 m deep in the Canarian coasts.
Interview:
Can you tell us a bit about your background, and how you got started taking underwater photos/video?
I was born in Puerto de la Cruz, a small fishing village in the Canary Islands (Spain) and from a very young age I have been passionate about nature and photography. I studied photography and I dedicated professionally to the image but it was not until 2008 when I began to dive and enjoy the underwater. From then I knew that underwater photography would be one of my great passions in life.
What gear have you used in the past?
I started taking underwater photos with a small compact camera (Canon G9) in a Canon housing with internal strobe. One year later I was already impatient to make the leap to Reflex with a Nikon D7000 in a Nauticam housing and an external flash.
What system are you using now?
NIKON D850 with Nauticam housing
Lenses:
Nikon AF-S Fisheye Nikkor 8-15 f/3.5-4.5 e ED
Sigma EXDG Fisheye 15mm f/2.8
Nikon AF Micro-NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8D
Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro VC
Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
and Kenko 1.4x Teleplus (only with Sigma 15mm)
Lenses:
Nikon AF-S Fisheye Nikkor 8-15 f/3.5-4.5 e ED
Sigma EXDG Fisheye 15mm f/2.8
Nikon AF Micro-NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8D
Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro VC
Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
and Kenko 1.4x Teleplus (only with Sigma 15mm)
Tell us a bit about the kinds of diving you do, favorite locations, etc?
I dive mostly in Tenerife, the island where I live. The climate is fantastic and allows me to dive practically every week throughout the year enjoying diving from the shore and night dives. As I have been diving for a relatively short time, I have not yet had the opportunity to travel much, and for the moment, outside the Canary Island I have only been able to visit destinations of Maldives, Cape Verde, and other points of the Spanish peninsula.
Tell us a bit about the Spanish Championship of Underwater Photography 2017?
The 19th edition Spanish Championship of underwater photography (NAFOSUB 2017) took place in Arona, in the south o Tenerife (Canary Islands). This year, the Spanish federation of underwater activities changed the regulations of the competition to adapt it to the rules of the CMAS European and World Championships so all the competitors had new things to study.
Each diver took photographs in the same 4 diving zones, each dive of a maximum duration of 90 minutes. We had to present to a jury a total of six photographs, each one belonging to an established category: a) Whole fish, b) Close-up of fish, c) Close-up of not a fish, d) Close-up of a cartilaginous fish, e) Wide angle without a diver & f) Wide Angle whith diver. The total sum of points obtained by each photo obtained the classification. This is my fourth year attending the event and I was very lucky and won.
To see more of Sacha's work:
