Dmitry Miroshnikov is an amazing Photographer from Moscow, Russia. His works highlight the breathtaking beauty of worlds underwater. Find out more about this talented photographer and underwater photography in this interview.

When did your love for photography begin?

It all started 5 years ago. My boss was a diver too, and he asked me if I wanted to learn how to dive. I did... and all of my vacations instantly turned into diving ones on live-aboard ships. On one vacation I met Alexander Safonov, a famous underwater photographer. Talking to him was very interesting, and I wanted to try underwater photography for myself. It's not a cheap hobby—housing for cameras costs a lot more than the cameras themselves, but, by chance, Alexander was upgrading to a new camera with a new housing, so I bought his old housing with a good discount. I started learning underwater photography with a bit old, but nice Canon 350D camera. I think it's a good idea to buy used equipment when you first start shooting.

What scenery/person you have captured would you say inspired you the most?

The surrealistic sight of dolphins, birds and sharks hunting together in a huge feeding frenzy, attacking the sardines - "Surrealistic Run" picture.
Another picture that I like, is "The Empire of Colors". It's named after Magritte's painting "The Empire of Light," where the night landscape co-exists with the day sky. On my photo the same contradiction exists: I've made photos from the deep, where all colors are dimmed. But in my photo, birds and fishes that are deeper are painted in more intense colors.

What tools of the trade do you use most often?

Canon 5D Mark II camera in Subal underwater housing. Most of the time, I shoot wide-angle with Canon 16-35/2.8LII lens. Sometime, when I go for macro, I use Canon 100/2.8L Macro lens. I use two Inon Z-240 strobes for lighting. All the equipment weights about 18kg, and I always carry it with me as a carry-on luggage. There is also 25kg of diving equipment in a check-in luggage. I also carry a notebook with me for post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Most of your work features underwater photography. What do you love the most about this type of photography?

First of all, it's a wildlife photography, so I have work hard to find my subjects of shooting. It's very exciting to have a lot of different factors combined together come into play - good subject, good background, good natural lighting. It's also very hard technically - most of automatic features of camera (such as expose metering) doesn't work underwater.