The world of underwater images ranges from beautiful wide-angle reef scenes to tiny unusual animals and even dabbles in the surreal. Francisco Sedano Vera, or Paco, as he likes to be called, has mastered a technique that defines his style. His subjects are beautiful as photographs, but become works of art once he processes them with a specialized Photoshop plug-in.
Paco is relatively new to underwater photography having mastered his style in just four years. He was recently awarded first place in the 2019 Ocean Art contest in the Underwater Art category for his fractalized image of a seahorse. It isn’t his first win, having bagged 2nd place in III Open Fotosub Biodiversidad Calahonda.
Paco was raised in the subtropical coast of Granada (southern Spain,) a location incredibly rich due to upwelling currents. He loves macro photography and his preferred place to practice underwater photography is Almuñécar. His kit includes an Olympus EPL-2 + Olympus housing + 9-18mm + 60mm + Nauticam CMC macro lens + Subacqua Helios 1700 focusing light + Sea&Sea YS-02 and YS-D2 strobes + DIY snoot. His favorite piece of equipment is a 60mm Zuiko macro lens. He says “it is just an amazing lens: tiny, cheap, sharp, sealed and provides true 1:1 macro. It is good for small creatures and fish portraits.” In his opinion, considering price, size and quality, it is the best macro lens ever.
Over the last two years, Paco has improved a lot thanks to the feedback of great photographers such as Alejandro Ibáñez Yuste and others who he has met at different events and competitions. His advice to other aspiring photographers is to challenge yourself by attending competitions and meeting other photographers.
Photography is not Paco’s only focus. He is also well educated and concerned about the environment. He says, “I am currently doing a PhD in the Marine Biology Laboratory of the University of Seville to try to understand the impact and ecological processes associated with the introduction of coastal defense structures. I do underwater photography in my free time and use my images to raise awareness about marine conservation through my social media (sedano_uwphoto on Instagram / Francisco Sedano on facebook) and the organization of photo exhibitions.”
When asked what the most challenging thing he has ever photographed was, he answered, “A seahorse giving birth. It was finishing giving birth to all the babies when I started the dive and I did not have time to set properly the camera or the strobes, besides my colleague wanted to record the video and I was also worried about disturbing this magnificent moment. Therefore, I decided to relax and enjoy the last seconds of the birth, my most exciting day underwater so far. Finally, we could capture a couple of seconds. To see for yourself, visit this link and wait until the end!
If you would like to see more of Francisco Sedano Vera’s work, you can visit https://www.Instagram.com/sedano_uwphoto https://www.facebook.com/francisco.sedano.14, or Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/90784457@N04
If you would like to be featured as an under water photographer, please email waterdogphotography@gmail.com and request more info. We are looking forward to seeing some great work on this page!
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