Several years ago, I had been following Susannah H. Snowden-Smith on Facebook and Instagram, when I took a vacation to Grand Cayman Island. I was walking from the beach to my hotel when I saw a table set up with lots of beautiful pictures from the Caribbean Sea on display. That was when I first met, Susannah. She was sitting at that table and the stunning images were all hers. At that time, she was fairly new to Grand Cayman, having moved there just a few years before. Originally from Rhode Island and Connecticut, she decided to carve a niche for herself in the Caribbean as an underwater photographer and has now lived there for almost seven years.
In that time, Susannah has become quite accomplished. She has placed in the prestigious Underwater Photographer of the Year competition three different years for four images. Three of which were wide angle, and one macro. She has also won the Wrecks of the World annual contest and been awarded the title of Grand Master from UnderwaterPhotography.com. She also places regularly in the British Society of Underwater Photography monthly contests.
Her accomplishments don’t end there. Susannah is also a seasoned scuba diver and journalist. Shooting with a Nikon D500 in Subal housing she has honed her skills to include publications in Scuba Diving Magazine. She uses Sea&Sea YS-250’s for lighting and her lenses include the Tokina 10-17mm, Nikon 12-24mm, and Nikon 105mm. Other favorites in her kit are the Saga +5 and SMC-1.
I had the opportunity to interview Susannah and learn about her story during the height of the global pandemic when all communications became virtual. Her responses to my questions were fascinating:
Q: How long have you been diving and shooting underwater?
A: I’ve been diving for over 30 years; I knew in high school that I wanted to pursue underwater archaeology and getting certified was the first step. I’ve always been interested in photography–my dad was an avid amateur photographer, and I developed a strong interest from him. I got my first camera when I was ten years old; I wanted “a camera like my dad” and got a simple 35mm camera for my birthday. For my first “real” camera I saved up my money and bought a Sea & Sea Motormarine 35, which I dabbled with in pools and occasionally when I was newly certified.
Q: How did you begin learning underwater photography and what made you pursue it?
A: I grew up spending summers in Rhode Island and spent as much time as possible in the ocean. My love for photography was as much a passion for underwater photography. I am also fascinated with underwater archaeology, and studied archaeology in college in pursuit of that. However, I didn’t want to be a scholar, I wanted to combine my love of underwater photography and underwater archaeology. I was able to combine these passions and become the underwater photographer on excavations. I first worked professionally in underwater photography as the photographer on the underwater excavation of a 1st C. BC Roman shipwreck in 2009; to date I’ve worked as the photographer on five different ancient shipwreck underwater excavations around the world. I learned a lot shooting on excavations through trial and error and eventually realized I could use more education in underwater photography (there was at least one occasion I recall crying because teaching myself strobe positioning, in a rustic camp, on the side of a cliff, in Turkey, from a book, was so frustrating.) I will always be grateful to the Women Divers Hall of Fame for providing me with a grant which I used to attend a Backscatter Digital Shootout. The education there filled in some of the gaps I had. A lighting course with Alex Mustard was the next step in furthering my understanding. Parallel to that I started to become more interested in photographing the natural world underwater, including behavior. I was a photojournalist prior to my transition into underwater photography. In that work I always sought to shoot unique images of ordinary subjects. I aspire to do the same with my underwater photography. My husband and I moved to Grand Cayman in 2014 so I could pursue underwater photography year-round. Here on island I am able to experiment with the creative ideas that I come up with just by jumping in the water in my backyard. 😀 I sell my underwater fine art images here on island and on my website.
Q: Do you have a location in the world where you prefer to go diving?
A: I love living in Grand Cayman for the ability to experiment and hone my skills. But there are so many places I want to go shoot: Iceland, Philippines, Indonesia… I worked two seasons on an underwater excavation in Sri Lanka, but now I’d like to go back and photograph the whales.
Q: Do you prefer macro or wide-angle photography?
A: I actually like them both equally. I got my start shooting wide angle, which apparently is a bit of an anomaly–I’ve been told that most people start out as macro shooters. I also love shooting macro and super macro. I like to mix it up depending on what idea I’ve got percolating at the moment. If I’ve got an idea for shooting daytime fluorescence super-macro, then that’s the gear of the day. Likewise, I may be in the mood for wreck images or wide-angle double exposures.
Q: What is something that made you a better underwater photographer?
A: Experimenting and meditating on new ideas and then trying them. Following Wetpixel, DPG and other sites on Facebook. Pursuing educational opportunities including online articles and videos.
Q: Do you have a favorite photography technique?
A: I love coming up with creative ways to shoot the “same” subjects. This includes daytime fluorescence, wide angle snoot, double exposures, using gels on my strobes, neutral density filters, long exposures, and a couple of other ideas I’m currently working on.
Susannah has been active in the underwater photography community. Approximately a year-and-a-half ago she founded the Cayman Society of Underwater Photography (CAYSoUP),. She says, “We are a passionate group of underwater photographers in the Cayman Islands. The goals of this group are to share knowledge and ideas to help each other learn and grow, provide education, support each other, and have fun. Our name was inspired by the British Society of Underwater Photographers. We started as a dozen or so underwater photographers meeting in restaurants, talking shop and techniques, and have now grown to having regular monthly meetings with a speaker. I hope to continue growing the society.”
Any underwater photographer is welcome to join this group via their FB page: Cayman Society of Underwater Photography (CAYSoUP).
Susannah is busy on the domestic front as well. She is now a mom! She has a beautiful daughter who is just over a year and a half. Being pregnant with her daughter kept her out of the water for part of 2018-2019, and now she dives around her schedule. She discovered she was pregnant when she was on a shore dive in Grand Cayman. No matter what she did, she couldn’t control her buoyancy and she was blowing through her air. She said, “When we surfaced, I pulled my husband aside and said, ‘I think we need to test! :)’ So, my little one has already been on her first dive! She’s a great little swimmer already, and loves checking out my underwater camera.”
Susannah is also an avid windsurfer and used to drive a windsurfing van with all her boards and sails in it. She had to take a break from it when she moved to island, but said she recently got some new gear so soon you can find her racing over the water as well as cruising under it!
When asked what one piece of advice she would give to a new photographer she responded, “Take classes or attend a workshop. You need the basement before you can build the house: learning basic/introductory strobe positions and settings will save unfathomable amounts of frustration.”
You can find Susannah H. Snowden-Smith at www.SusannahPhotography.com
Instagram.com/susannahphotography
Facebook @Susannah H. Snowden-Smith Photography.
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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