Mark Green became an open water diver on his honeymoon when he and his wife were in Fiji. But it wasn’t until a few years later—in 2019 when the couple went to Bonaire—that Green became hooked on the activity.
Wanting to pursue it further, he went to Tempe’s No Limits Scuba to become a certified dive master, as he had plans to become a diving instructor.
“During my early dives, I realized I wanted to create memories of everywhere I went and everything I’d seen, so taking a camera with me became a necessity,” he says.
Green bought his first camera in 2021, a point-and-shoot in a polycarbonate housing, taking it on two trips.
Almost immediately, he realized his visions of what he wanted to capture underwater were more than the camera could handle and he upgraded to an Olympus EM1 Mark 3 in a Nauticam housing.
That became the camera he has used since. He took classes, did workshops, and began building his skills. Soon, he was capturing beautiful images of underwater life—from big sunken shipwrecks and natural landscapes to minuscule fish and organisms, all taken in stunningly intricate detail.
“Basically, I first bought a camera because I wanted to create memories of what I’d seen,” he says. “Now it’s become a passion to capture beautiful images of our underwater world. So far, my favorite places to shoot have been the Red Sea and Fiji because these areas offer so much diversity and interesting subjects to shoot.”
Up next is another trip to the Red Sea, and then a trip to Tulamben in Bali.
Green explains that time underwater is limited and learning about a dive site and the creatures you may encounter is paramount to creating good images.
“I don’t just shoot anything. I look for subjects with interesting backgrounds that add depth to the image and that I think will create an interesting photograph,” he says, explaining that an underwater photographer needs to be very intentional.
“You have to have an idea about the image you wish to create before the dive, because you can’t change your lenses underwater,” he explains. “You have to think about what the site offers, set your camera up, and then shoot everything that way, such as wide-angle or macro.”
He also says that you have to be ready for the unexpected, as you never know what you may encounter.
Learning to dive with a camera was challenging.
“It’s definitely a learning experience and beneficial to become a proficient diver before taking a camera underwater,” he says.
Learning to stay extremely still to take the types of photos he captures is another learned skill. In fact, sometimes Green may only have the tip of a finger on a rock to steady himself and is basically hovering in the water, while trying to take a photo of something that’s less than a half of an inch in size.
Green’s wife, Jen, helps him scout for macro subjects and is also often the model in the background of Green’s photos when he is photographing wide angle.
Even though it’s only been a few years since he began experimenting with underwater photography, Green has already been recognized in some major photographic competitions.
He received an honorable mention in the prestigious competition Ocean Art in 2022 for his image Winner Gets the Worm Hole of two fish interlocking; is currently a finalist in the Italian Sienna Awards (the winners will be announced this winter); and Scuba Diving Magazine published a full-page photo of one of his images in 2023. He also had six images reach the semifinals of The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition in 2024 which attracted 6,500 entries.
Green, who works as a real estate appraiser when he isn’t on dive trips, has lived in Tempe since 2016.
His next steps?
“I hope to get to a point where I can organize photography specific trips with a structured learning experience,” he says. “I love to teach and share my knowledge.”
Follow his adventures and photographs on Instagram at @markgreen_UWimagery.
"I first bought a camera because I wanted to create memories."
"It’s become a passion to capture beautiful images."