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An abstract, dramatically lit image of a chimaera, or spotted ratfish. This unusual, deep-water shark-adjacent fish is a rare visitor to Monterey waters. This individual is sporting some unpleasant parasites above its pectoral fins
 

Among the crop of fantastic up-and-coming underwater shooters, Sage Ono has already carved out a prominent spot for himself. His unique eye, nearly fanatical obsession, and willingness to put himself through hell to capture incredible pictures have led to phenomenal competition success and several high profile publications. Sage's knack for simple but impactful compositions and his unusual take on common subjects really make his work stand out.

If you have combed the winners of any underwater competition or the underwater categories in wildlife and nature competitions in the last few years, you’d likely be unsurprised to find Sage’s name amongst them. Enjoy this fantastic selection and find out what makes Sage tick, what motivates him, and how he approaches his underwater image-making.
 

DPG: How and when did you begin making pictures underwater?

I started out with a GoPro in 2015. Once or twice a year, my family would leave landlocked Georgia to go to Florida or the Caribbean to dive. With only a few dives a year, it was hard to get any better. It wasn’t until I was out of college and moved to Monterey in 2022 that I was able to truly dive—pun intended—into underwater photography. I struggled to adjust to cold water diving, but the more I do it, the more it grows on me.
 

An early-days portrait of a queen angel. Sage says: “I like to think I have come a long way since this picture.”

DPG: What equipment do you currently shoot with and why that gear?

I am currently shooting a Nikon D850 in a Nauticam housing, with two Retra Pro Max strobes. I primarily shoot the Nikon 60mm for macro and the Nikon 28–70mm behind a Nauticam WACP-C for wide. In suboptimal conditions such as we are often subjected to in Monterey, the 60mm macro autofocus speed makes it easier to shoot in the surge and get closer to reduce the particulate between the lens and the subject. Many of our subjects are also too big for the 105mm. For wide, I have come to love the versatility of a zoom lens behind the WACP-C. It feels similar to shooting a fisheye behind a mini-dome at its widest, but can shoot much tighter scenes when the need arises. In general, the sheer quantity of options in Nauticam’s wet lenses makes it hard to imagine shooting a different system.
 

A stalked jellyfish swaying in kelp. The Nauticam WACP-C is one of my favorite tools for underwater image-making. It is so versatile and covers a huge range of subject matter without needing to change lenses

DPG: Do you have a preference between wide angle and macro photography?

I am pretty strongly in the macro camp. In wide-angle photography, you are restricted to the scenes and conditions available to you. When you’re diving the same sites all of the time, it gets difficult—for me at least—to stay creative. Add to that the temperamental conditions, and it is tough going. Macro, on the other hand, has so much flexibility that it’s hard to imagine ever running out of ideas. The compositional control you get shooting a smaller frame makes a world of difference.
 

A slender filefish hidden in a gorgonion. Graphic lines are fantastic inclusions in underwater macro pictures and, with some patience, this shy critter eventually lined up perfectly between the branches

DPG: What is your favorite animal to encounter/photograph underwater?

My answer to this depends on the day. Over the past two years, I have been exploring more freshwater underwater photography, and I have discovered that I absolutely love lampreys! They have a pretty bad reputation for their gnarly mouth, but seeing them in action is fascinating. Like salmon, they build nests called redds in which they’ll spawn. Unlike salmon, they are fairly small so they have to move rocks one by one by suctioning onto them and then spasming around. It’s pretty cute.
 

Sage has a relatively newfound love of lampreys! While most people would probably turn their noses up at these slimy, eel-like fish with the weird mouths, he has come to find them quite endearing

DPG: Do you have a most memorable marine life encounter or experience?

I like to think of underwater photography as a form of gambling: You never know what you’re going to see on a given day, but when you win the jackpot and see something new, it is huge! In recent memory, the best “jackpot” I’ve had in the past few years was a jellypalooza—where loads of weird open ocean jellies got blown in to shore. Everywhere I looked, the ocean was full of gelatinous drifters. It was challenging since I was trying out the Nauticam EMWL for the first time, but well worth it in the end, as I created some unique and cherished pictures.
 

Sage had a very unique opportunity when some stunning and incredibly weird and unusual gelatinous creatures were blown inshore. Most of these Sage had never seen before, some not even in pictures, so capturing images of them felt like a true privilege

DPG: What is your favorite image you have ever captured and the story behind it?

It’s hard to pick an all-time favorite, but I think I’d have to default to my image “Ruby and Gold.” That picture has really carried my photography career in a lot of ways. It’s a simple image featuring some tubesnout eggs on kelp, but it epitomizes the strongly geometric compositions I like to shoot. I shot it on a fairly ordinary summer dive in Monterey; poor visibility, green water, and a fair amount of surge. The eggs were about 15 feet off the bottom, but nicely arranged, so I spent about 20 minutes shooting straight down on the bending kelp to get the black background. I didn’t think it was the type of image that would be well received, since it lacked a strong subject, but thanks to some kind words from friends, I was glad to be proven wrong and it ended up doing quite well in some big competitions.
 

“Ruby and Gold”: tubesnout eggs attached to a strand of kelp. This image was awarded in DPG Masters, Underwater Photographer of the Year, Ocean Art, and Wildlife Photographer of the Year

DPG: What animals or destinations are still on your must-shoot list?

It goes without saying that I would love to dive all of the gorgeous warm water coral reefs around the world. However, as a photographer, I am more interested in less-popular subjects. The first that comes to mind are spawning Dolly Varden trout in Alaska, because their colors are absolutely ridiculous. Second would be platypuses in Tasmania. I don’t know how I would go about doing either of those, but if anyone has leads, I am all ears!
 

A gorgeous, and unfortunately imperiled, California golden trout. This stunning freshwater fish species is restricted to just a few waterways in what was once a sprawling range. Sage says: “A lot of blood, sweat, and tears—OK, no blood!—went into finding this species.”

DPG: What other photographers inspire you?

Oh man, that list is way too long to give here. All of the local Monterey photographers, my fellow freshwater fiends, and the folks in the photography support group I am a part of. Artistically, I would say Angel Fitor and Ralph Pace. They manage to consistently create such innovative shots that it feels almost unfair. Conservationally, Shane Gross has created a blueprint for not only how to make great images, but also how to successfully tie them in with a conservation message. There are plenty more, but I’ll stop there to keep it brief.
 

Juvenile fish shelter in the stinging tentacles of an egg-yolk jelly. This picture is somewhat reminiscent of an image by Shane Gross, one of Sage’s favorite photographers. Shane has a similar image of a larval fish hiding among the tentacles of a lion’s mane jelly

DPG: First of all, congratulations on all your recent competition success over the last few years! It has been fun to follow along that journey from WPY to UPY to this most recent Monterey Shootout. Has that success opened up new opportunities for you or allowed you to go on new adventures?

Thank you! I am incredibly grateful for the luck I have had in competitions over the last few years. It has definitely opened some doors for me and made opportunities possible that I would never have dreamed of before. I have started to venture into the storytelling realm, and having the competition success in my back pocket has helped me to pitch stories and gain support for projects that would have seemed too ambitious otherwise. So far, I have published stories about California’s kelp forests, and the history of studying jellies. I’m currently working on a few other projects related to my freshwater work that I hope to get out this year.
 

Blue rockfish frolic through a kelp forest. This picture was part of my “Rising Star” portfolio that was awarded in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year

DPG: Speaking of Monterey, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about it as it is your backyard. What makes Monterey so special and why do you continue to dive there?

Take this with a grain of salt since Monterey is the only dive community I have been a part of, but best as I can tell, Monterey Bay has the best diving and photography community in the country, if not the world! With more than half a century of scuba history and an ocean-minded community centered around the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo, and fantastic dive services, Monterey has developed into a paradise for underwater photographers. The water can be cold and the conditions unreliable, but when it’s good, there is nothing like it. A 50-foot kelp cathedral full of fish and crystal-blue water dwarfs even the best coral reefs with its majesty. Add to that plentiful charismatic species like seals and otters, as well as a plethora of colorful nudibranchs and the occasional jelly bloom, and it is hard to find a reason to leave.
 

Green water, huge abundance of life, and towering kelp forests are all aspects of Monterey’s underwater landscape that contribute to making this small slice of ocean among the best on Earth for divers and photographers

DPG: What is advice you would give to up-and-coming shooters who want to improve their photography skills?

From a creative perspective, I feel like the goal of photography is to reach a point where you have a clear vision and/or style for the kind images you want to make, alongside the technical mastery to do it. The best way I have found to do so is to essentially “steal” every good shot you see! This forces you to understand the thought process that went into capturing the image, but also to reverse engineer how conditions, settings, and technique correlate to a finished image. I say “steal” facetiously instead of copy, because the aim is not to recreate the results of someone else’s effort, but to understand it well enough that you can differentiate your own vision. All that is to say, trust yourself, shoot a lot, and be an exacting critic.
 

A rainbow nudibranch, moments before chowing down on some spicy prey—a tube anemone
 

To learn more about Sage and see more of his award-winning underwater work, please give him a follow on Instagram and visit his website, www.sageonophotography.com.