Articles

Giant Pacific Octopus, Hood Canal, Washington, USA
 

Since she was young, Veronika Nagy always felt a strong connection to water, despite not growing up near the ocean. It wasn’t until 2017, when she moved to Washington state in the Pacific Northwest that she learned to scuba dive. Immediately Veronika knew being underwater was life-changing but wasn’t sure where it would lead her. Initially, she mainly stuck to tropical destinations, the benefit of remote job flexibility. She focused on honing her diving skills and carried a GoPro to document and share her underwater adventures.

As many photographers know, it is a slippery slope with regards to gear. With time, her interest in underwater photography grew and Veronika bought a cropped-sensor mirrorless camera, the Sony a6500. Soon after, she upgraded to her current system, the Sony a7R Mark IV in a Nauticam housing. Shortly thereafter, she went on a couple of underwater photography workshops, which were hugely helpful. The pandemic hit and she finally committed to a drysuit and started diving locally in the Puget Sound, and more recently on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It opened her up to cold-water diving and how fortunate she is to live in a place with such rich waters full of fascinating marine life and colors—rivaling any of the top warm-water destinations around the world. Diving a couple times a week in challenging conditions has also accelerated her growth as both a diver and an underwater photographer.

Veronika loves capturing and sharing the beautiful, bizarre, other-worldly, and amazing life we have living in our oceans. This passion also led her to a deeper understanding of how vital these ecosystems are to all life on Earth. Veronika hopes her photography can help raise awareness, pique curiosities, and ignite passions in others so we can help preserve our oceans, marine life and these crucial, fragile ecosystems.
 

Green sea turtle, Big Island, Hawaii, USA
 

Hooded nudibranch, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada
 

Lion’s mane jellyfish, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada
 

Lobster riding a radiolarian, Kona, Hawaii, USA
 

Rock greenling, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
 

Hooded nudibranchs, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada
 

Opalescent squid with a snack, Puget Sound, Washington, USA
 

Red Irish lord, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada
 

Stubby squid, Puget Sound, Washington, USA
 

Spotted ratfish, Puget Sound, Washington, USA
 

White-lined Dirona nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
 

To see more of Veronika’s superb work, check out her website, www.veronikanagy.com, and her Instagram page.