Hi, I'm Christian Siegenthaler. Born in 1974 and grew up in Switzerland. After training as a structural draftsman, I studied hotel and restaurant management (Higher Technical School HF). For twenty years I have built up and profitably run various catering businesses. In the Swiss Army I was a first lieutenant in the mountain infantry. My big ambition besides photography is foreign languages. Since 2019 I have been running my business in real estate photography, aerial photography, and virtual tours. As a freelancer, I work successfully for well-known real estate developers in Switzerland. Thus, Underwater Photography is a perfect balance to my daily business.
My diving career began in 1998 with AOWD training in the Maldives. 10 years and around 500 dives later, I became fascinated by underwater photography. First with simple, water-compatible action cameras without artificial light. After a brief stint with underwater system cameras, I finally purchased a Nikon D90 in a Hugyfot housing in 2009. Then I shot all Nikon cameras from the D7X00 series in a Nauticam housing. I'm currently still traveling with the D500. I am an absolute fan and advocate of Nikon's crop camera system. My previous diving trips have taken me to various parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, Palau, and French Polynesia. I also love diving in European rivers and lakes. My favorite Combo for Macro is the D500 paired with the Nikkor 105mm Lens. For Wide Angle and CFWA & WAM I prefer the Nikkor 8-15mm (mostly combined with a Kenko 1.4 TC). My Strobes of choice are INON’s Z-330 with either 4600K or ND4 filters – and for Macro and Snoot I rely on Backscatter’s MF1 and OS1 with color filters.) I now have more than 2’500 dives on my belt – and the journey goes on 😉.
I am always open to learning new techniques and experimenting. Many parts of my equipment are either modified or completely homemade. Along with underwater photography, traveling and meeting new people gives me great satisfaction.
Awards: 3rd place in the macro category (Swiss Underwater Photo Challenge 2020) | 2nd place category various topics (Taucher Revue fotosub 2022)
I regularly post on Facebook (Makrogehtimmer / Marine Pixels, etc. | https://www.facebook.com/christian.siegenthaler.779/ )
