Álvaro Herrero, also known as Mekan, is a professional underwater photographer with more than 20 years of experience in the diving industry and over a decade dedicated professionally to underwater photography.
Photograph of Álvaro Herrera, Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025
His work focuses primarily on marine wildlife photography, documenting animals and their natural behavior in different parts of the world. Alongside his wildlife work, he specializes in cave, deep technical diving and exploration photography, often using rebreathers and DPVs to access and document remote and challenging underwater environments.
He also leads nature and underwater photography expeditions in different parts of the world. Teaching is another important part of his work, giving underwater photography masterclasses internationally and sharing the techniques and experience he has developed over years of working in very different underwater environments.
His photography has received more than 35 awards and recognitions in international competitions. He was named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025, and his work has also been recognized by Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Red Bull Illume, GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition and the Siena International Photo Awards, among others.
Beyond the technical side and the recognition, what continues to drive his work is the opportunity to experience extraordinary moments underwater and translate them into images, bringing people closer to animals, places and environments they may never have the chance to witness themselves.
The Scene
Photographed by Álvaro Herrero. Alpha 7R V. 16-35mm f/4 G PZ. 1/40-sec. f/8. ISO 3200.
This image was taken in one of my favorite cave systems near Tulum, Mexico. It is a relatively shallow cave with incredibly white limestone and an extraordinary concentration of formations and speleothems, making it a beautiful environment for underwater photography.
I had this particular location and composition in mind for several years, but I had never found the right opportunity to photograph it. During one of my cave photography workshops, I took a student to this section of the cave, and seeing it again made me decide it was finally time to create my own interpretation.
I returned with two professional diving friends, using rebreathers and DPVs to reach the location efficiently and maximize our time there. This was very much a previsualized image. I knew the place, had the composition in mind, and the dive was specifically planned around finally bringing that image to life.
The Power Of A Wide-Angle Power Zoom
Photograph of Álvaro Herrera, Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025
For this image, I used the Alpha 7R V with the 16-35mm f/4 G PZ lens, shooting at 16mm.
Although fisheye lenses are some of my favorite lenses for underwater photography, for cave photography I often prefer rectilinear wide-angle lenses. I like my images to represent these environments as naturally as possible. Caves are often defined by formations such as stalactites, stalagmites and columns, with strong, straight lines that become an important part of the composition. For me, preserving those lines and representing the geometry of the cave as naturally as possible is essential.
The 16mm focal length gave me a wide enough field of view to capture the scale of the cave while maintaining its geometry and avoiding the more pronounced distortion of a fisheye. This was particularly important for this image, where I wanted the structure, lines and formations of the cave to remain as close as possible to the way I experienced them underwater.
How I Got The Shot
Photograph of Álvaro Herrera, Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025
For this image, I used an Isotta underwater housing with a 9-inch dome port. The large dome helps improve optical performance underwater and reduce corner distortion and softness, which is especially important when working with a rectilinear wide-angle lens in a cave with so many straight lines and detailed formations.
I used 60,000 lumens of Bigblue continuous video lights and a backlighting technique commonly used in cave photography, with an assistant positioned behind the model diver. The diver was an important part of the composition, as it gives the viewer a clear sense of scale inside the cave.
My settings were 1/40-sec., f/8 and ISO 3200.
I used ISO 3200 to increase the sensor’s sensitivity and achieve the required exposure while maintaining an aperture of f/8 for sufficient depth of field and sharpness throughout the cave formations. I worked at 1/40 sec, which is relatively slow for underwater photography, but the 16mm focal length makes small amounts of camera movement less apparent. The divers were also highly experienced and able to maintain a very stable position during the exposure, allowing me to work at this shutter speed without introducing noticeable motion blur.
We used rebreathers and DPVs to reach the location efficiently and maximize the time available to work on the image. The complete dive lasted around three and a half hours.
The Edit
I do all my post-processing in Adobe Lightroom. For me, cave photography is a 50/50 process: 50% is creating the image underwater with the right settings, composition and lighting, and the other 50% is the work that happens in post-production.
I always shoot with the final edit already in mind. A very important part of my process is recovering detail from the shadows, using the residual light that bounces off the white walls and formations of the cave. I spend a significant amount of time working on white balance and color grading, trying to reproduce the colors as naturally and as close as possible to what I experienced inside the cave.
Finally, I use Lightroom’s AI Denoise and carefully add some texture and sharpening afterward to compensate for the slight softness introduced by the noise reduction.
It is a detailed process that I never like to rush. For me, post-production isn’t about changing the reality of the scene, but about bringing out the information that was already captured and translating the experience of being inside that cave into the final image.
See more of Álvaro’s work on Instagram @mekanphotography.
