For most of us older than the millennial generation, our first exposure to the mystery and excitement of the underwater world came through watching the “Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau,” and episodes of “Sea Hunt.” Laura Tesler remembers watching those episodes with her mother and thinking how cool it would be to learn how to dive. In 2006, she did just that.
Laura’s father was a professional photographer and she remembers growing up with a darkroom and the smell of orbit bath. Her first camera was a Nikon FG-20 and for years she shot mostly topside. In 2007, she added a point and shoot camera, and used it to learn to be a better under water photographer. Eventually, she made a large investment in camera equipment and her photography continued to improve along with her diving skills.
These days, Laura uses a Nikon D500 housed in Nauticam housing. She shoots with two Sea and Sea YS-D2J strobes and her lenses of choice are Nikkor 60mm, 105mm, and a Tokina 11-17 wide angle fisheye. She also uses a 1000 lumen focus light and recently added a Gopro 8 as a “sidecar.” Ultralight arms and tray components complete her setup, along with, and this is impressive, she builds her own strobe cables! Her clever engineering makes her homemade strobe cables her favorite piece of equipment. They do not break, even when bitten by sea lions or caught in kelp. They are also less expensive to make than to buy and they are thick and strong. (But we think mostly they are cool because she made them herself!)
When asked what helped make her a better underwater photographer, Laura had this to say, “My formal educational training is as a fisheries biologist, so I think learning the life histories of the fish, identifying the fish, and understanding their habitat associations has really allowed me to really look for and place the subjects in their best natural settings. I also try very hard to understand lighting, mastering lighting can make or break your photos.”
Lighting can be a real challenge for someone who shoots mostly in the beautiful pacific northwest waters. Some of the best diving Laura has ever done was in British Columbia near her home. She claims it will rival the best of the tropical diving in diversity and beauty. Because the visibility can be challenging for wide angle photography, Laura loves to test her skills on macro subjects and shoots the 60mm lens quite a bit. However, she does enjoy using her 4.5 inch wide angle dome port which allows her to get in very close to subjects for close focus wide angle shots.
Laura says some of the most difficult subjects to shoot are jellyfish. It is difficult to capture them correctly to show their beautiful translucence. She also thinks that shooting fast moving subjects like sharks takes skill and persistence. When shooting very small subjects like tiger shrimp, (less than .25 inch,) Laura finds that patience and a lot of practice are her allies. One of her favorite techniques is shooting Snell’s window pictures. The illusion of fish in trees is always her favorite. She also really likes shooting a shallow depth of field and getting a nice creamy bokeh in the background.
Laura’s advice to new photographers is to keep trying. She says, “Sometimes I take 500 pictures a shoot and keep 5 pictures. Make sure your diving is perfect with tip top buoyancy. Keep your fins off the bottom! Be a solid and safe diver. Realize that your buddy list will shrink down to a very few buddies when you take pictures… don’t be afraid to try new things!” She also has this parting thought, “I have had so many people say to me they had no idea that anything lived under the ocean in the Pacific Northwest. It is really a pleasure to see people learn about giant Pacific octopus, the richness and diversity of kelp forests, and that some rockfish can live almost 100 years! I also think it’s funny for people to find out that I am a woman and not a man. For a long time, people would see my pictures and leave comments like “HE takes such good pictures!” I wish I saw more women diving cold water. I think that statistic is changing over time. It would be great if we could encourage more women (and people in general) to dive our beautiful temperate waters.
You can see more of Laura Tesler’s work on her website at
Or visit her social profiles at
Instagram.com/LauraTeslerPhotography
Facebook.com/LauraTeslerPhotography
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!
Subscribe now!
The images on this page are copyright protected by the featured photographer and may not be copied or used without written permission. All other images and content are copyright protected by Brook Peterson and may only be used with written permission. Please do not copy or print them. To discuss terms for using these images, please contact Brook Peterson at waterdogphotography@gmail.com
© Brook Peterson 2020
