It is a great time to grab your diving gear and your Sony gear and head to the water. In this week's Instagram Follow Friday, we're featuring a group of Sony photographers who have mastered the process and photographing underwater. From macro photography, to epic scenes, to graceful wildlife images – these underwater photographers are outstanding! Check out their accounts and give them a follow. Then make sure you tag your own Sony shots on Instagram with #BeAlpha for the chance to be featured on AlphaUniverse.com, and give @sonyalpha a follow for your daily dose of creative inspiration.

It is a great time to grab your Sony Alpha gear, your diving gear and head to the water!

Andy Mann – @andy_mann

Sony Artisan of Imagery Andy Mann is a National Geographic photographer and storyteller for SeaLegacy. Mann is an expert at making storytelling images of adventure, wildlife, and environmental issues. The image below takes our breath away (not just because it’s underwater!) Mann shot this on the Sony Alpha 9 at 20fps with the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master lens. Learn how you can find your voice, style and purpose using some of Sony’s latest gear from Mann HERE.

Cristina Mittermeier – @Mitty

Cristina Mittermeier is a Sony Artisan of Imagery and co-founder of SeaLegacy – a nonprofit that harnesses the power of storytelling for ocean conservation. Her Instagram page is full of stunning images from her adventures with SeaLegacy. We adore the image below and the story she shared in her caption: “It took everything I had to remain still and hold back laughter as this little one swam right up to its reflection in the protective dome of my camera housing. After sizing up the bird in the mirror, it proceeded to pull on the cords of my camera’s strobes and then pecked at me with its curved little beak.” Check out more of her behind the scenes work HERE and by following her on Instagram. 

Paul Nicklen – @paulnicklen

Along with Mittermeier, Paul Nicklen is a co-founder of SeaLegacy and a Sony Artisan. What we love about Nicklen’s work is the intimacy he gets with his subjects. Whenever we look at his images, we feel we are right there experiencing an epic moment with wildlife. To learn more about his process, check out this Behind the Shot article HERE. And be sure to give Nicklen an Instagram follow for a daily dose of underwater stories!  

Alexander Schmidt Márquez – @alexsharks_

Alexander Schmidt Márquez Is a underwater photographer and shark diver in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He posts some fantastic images of sharks, manta rays, whales, and more on his Instagram page. The IG Reel below is of a Mola Mola, one of the two heaviest known bony fish in the world. He shot this footage on the Sony Alpha 7S III. 

Marcel Rudolph-Gajda – @live_and_let_dive

Marcel Rudolph-Gajda is a wildlife photographer with a special focus on underwater photography. His Instagram account is a great place to get inspiration. Rudolph-Gajda shoots with the Sony Alpha 7R IV. The image below was taken with the Alpha 7R IV along with the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master and two DS160 strobes. This photograph was taken at 16mm,  ISO 100, f/8, 1/160-sec.. We love how he dialed in his settings to allow for the viewer to still get a sense of the motion happening in the scene. Check out his Instagram account and give him a follow. 

Lewis Burnett – @huntingforparadise

Lewis Burnett is a photographer and videographer based out of Australia's South-West. Burnett believes that our society has lost the vital connection with the natural world that allows us to not just survive on this crazy planet, but thrive. He hopes that by capturing the endless beauty that nature has to offer he will inspire people to live a more simple, happy and environmentally conscious life. He took the images below on the Sony Alpha 1 and the Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master. His settings were: 1/320-sec, f/16 and ISO 400.

Joshua Vela-Fonseca - @joshuavelaf

Science and wildlife storyteller Joshua Vela-Fonseca is based in the Galápagos. He has dedicated his work to the conservation of the Galápagos and the love he has for it comes through in his photographs. His Instagram feed has tons of strong imagery, both topside and underwater that celebrate the wildness of the Galápagos. We particularly love the image below of penguins diving and swimming. The image gives a strong sense of place and motion. We also love the composition. Check out his work on Instagram! 

Andry Savin – @uw.art

Andrey Savin is a solo diver and photographer. Originally from Russia, Savin moved to the Philippines in 2018 to pursue underwater photography and videography. He frequently shoots with the Sony Alpha 7R IV and did so for the image below, along with the Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens. This image received second place in the Portrait category of the 2021 Ocean Art Contest from the Underwater Photography Guide.

Sarah Vasend – @sjvasend

Sarah Vasend is an emergency veterinarian and avid scuba diver and underwater photographer. This image taken with the Sony Alpha 7R II and the Sony 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens won second place in the macro category of the 2021 Ocean Art Contest from the Underwater Photography Guide. We love how Vasend described her experience of taking the image, “This was my first time diving Komodo and I had heard great things, but I was most excited for this subject which Komodo has in abundance. I took advantage of the green water and poor visibility that we experienced by shooting macro almost exclusively and it did not disappoint.”

Veronika Nagy – @veronikanagy

Veronika Nagy is a UX Designer, visual artist, photographer, and scuba diver passionate about capturing the underwater ecosystems. She is based in the Pacific Northwest, and many of the photos on her Instagram feed reflect that locale. We love the fluid simplicity of the images below. The leading lines from the split shot along with the reflection of the jellyfish are simply eye-catching. For more fantastic underwater shots, check out Nagy’s Instagram!