My name is Byunggil You. I am from Korea and currently run a dive shop called Flare Dive in Okinawa, Japan.
At the age of 25, while travelling to Cairns, Australia, I started scuba diving and fell into the underwater world. From my first dive, I was fascinated with the ocean world and the feeling of being weightless.
By 2015, my passion for diving drove me to pursue it professionally, and I also began exploring underwater photography. I bought a housing for my old Canon compact camera and most of my first images were commemorative photos of new divers. I gradually fell in love with the fresh challenge presented by photography in this special environment. As my subjects were mostly guests of my dive shop, I had the opportunity to capture their wonder and joy as they discovered this new environment. My photographs allowed me to preserve their treasured memories and unforgettable stories. I continue this practice today, so the ‘diver’ is the subject of most of my photos.
Shooting a diver in the dark caverns of Okinawa begins with a lot of conversations with the diver, determining a pose, and confirming hand signals. In caves where light is scarce, I often rely on a strobe or video light to illuminate my subjects. After successfully capturing an image as I imagined, I am so happy that I often laugh out loud with the model in the water.
It’s not easy to photograph the beauty of the water and the diver together, but seeing the guests rejoice, exchange hand signals, and get the photos they want makes me love this job. My goal is to continue to take pictures of divers and become an underwater photographer specialising in taking pictures of divers using underwater terrain.
Baby squid Makiminato point, Okinawa, Japan
Emerald cave Itoman, Okinawa, Japan
Sea turtle Kerama Islands National Park, Okinawa, Japan
Emerald cave Itoman, Okinawa, Japan
Diver with red fan coral Kerama Island National park, Okinawa, Japan
Anemonefish Makiminato point, Okinawa, Japan
Jackfish schooling Aguni Island, Okinawa, Japan
Emerald cave Itoman, Okinawa, Japan
Fan coral Minna Island, Okinawa, Japan
Giant stride entry Kerama Island National Park, Okinawa, Japan
Triangle cave Itoman, Okinawa, Japan
Diver in cavern Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan
Sea turtle Kerama Island National Park, Okinawa, Japan
Diver in cave Itoman, Okinawa, Japan
Diver with sea turtle Kerama Island National Park, Okinawa, Japan
Diver in cave Dream Hole, Manza, Okinawa, Japan
Sea turtle on tire Nakayukui point, Manza, Okinawa, Japan
Find more from Byunggil on his Instagram @flare_okinawa
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