The Role Of Underwater Photography In Marine Conservation With Christine Shepard (Interview)

Underwater photography might be seen as a highly-specialized form of photography, but many of the marketing and business principles we can learn from it also apply to many other genres.

For example, when I started my own portrait and wedding photography business after spending 4 years photographing divers and creating videos of their SCUBA diving adventures, I discovered that many of the skills I’d learned underwater, such as having to think on my feet and make swift decisions to find the perfect angle for a photograph, were a great help in wedding photography.

Not only that, but underwater photography has the power to show people who have never experienced the marine environment for themselves the wonders of that amazing world, and helps educate people on the value of conserving it for future generations.

I was thrilled to sit down with amazing underwater photographer Christine Shepard to talk about her exciting life photographing sharks and how she works hard to help both the science and conservation of our precious marine resources.

About Our Guest: Christine Shepard

Today, I have nature and wildlife photographer Christine Shepard here with me from Miami, Florida.

Christine is recognized as one of the world’s most promising young wildlife photographers. Her raw creative talent, vibrantly optimistic attitude, and formative years of experience working alongside leading marine scientists make her a sought-after professional.

From 2010 to 2014, Christine served as the Media and Virtual Learning Manager for the University of Miami’s Shark Research Program, helping to build the program into a world leader for experiential education and citizen science in marine conservation.

She translated the scientific findings of her colleagues into visually engaging multimedia packages for the public, primarily through photography, video abstracts, interactive websites, online and printed educational materials, and social media.

Christine was recently a “Highly Honored Winner” in Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Competition for her captivating image of a Great Hammerhead shark, which will be exhibited at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. from October 2014 – October 2015. She was also a finalist in two categories of the 2014 BBC’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

She has worked with the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet science news show to share her enthusiasm and passion for the oceans, hosting multiple educational segments for Shark Week., and she’s been personally featured in Oprah’s O Magazine as a role model for young women to live their best life.

Episode Summary

Here are some of the great topics we talked about during our chat in this episode:

• How Christine got started in nature and wildlife photography…
• The experience of becoming a full-time freelance photographer…
• Christine’s advice for other photographers wanting to make the jump into becoming a full-time photographer…
• The main qualities a photographer needs to stand out from the crowd and get noticed…
• The main outlets for nature and wildlife photography…
• Christine’s marketing tips…
• How to balance safety concerns with the need to come back with the images you want…
• Christine’s experience of working with sharks…
• The importance of photography in helping to educate people about sharks and their conservation…
• Christine’s dream project…

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