Deep Water Storytelling: A Conversation with Becky Kagan Schott

Few people can say they’ve spent their lives exploring the most inhospitable corners of our planet, but for Becky Kagan Schott, the "deep, dark, and cold" is where she feels most at home. A five-time Emmy Award-winning cinematographer, photographer, and technical diving instructor, Becky was recently honored with the prestigious 2025 NOGI Award for Arts—often referred to as the "Oscar of the ocean world"—for her career-long contributions to underwater imagery. As the co-founder of Liquid Productions, her work has been a staple on National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and the Smithsonian Channel for years.

I recently spent 12 days with Becky in Antarctica and had the chance to sit down with her to discuss her journey from a 12-year-old Pittsburgh diver to one of the world’s leading underwater storytellers.

Inside Scuba: Becky, most people associate you with Florida’s springs or the Great Lakes, but you actually started in a very different climate, didn’t you?

Becky Kagan Schott: It surprises people, but I was actually born in Pittsburgh! I started diving in cold, dark quarries there after doing a resort course in Florida with my dad when I was almost 12. I knew immediately I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I got certified at 12, and shortly after my family moved to Orlando.

Inside Scuba: Was it the springs that led you into cave diving so early?

Becky: Honestly, at 13, I just wanted to see marine life, but I had no money and no car! The springs were free or five dollars, so I hitched rides and spent every weekend in the water. I started hanging out at a local dive shop at 14, and that’s when I saw those "Grim Reaper" signs in the caves. They actually scared me, so I did what any normal 14-year-old would do: I took a cavern diving class to face it. By 16, I was cave diving, and by 18, I was a NAUI instructor.

Inside Scuba: When did the camera enter the picture?

Becky: I always had one. Even at 12, I’d take those little disposable film cameras down to 30 feet just to show my family what I was seeing. It got serious in high school. I used an Ikelite housing for disposable cameras, then moved to those yellow Sea Life cameras, and eventually to my first digital setup, an Olympus 4000.

Inside Scuba: You eventually went to school for journalism. Was the plan always to combine news and diving?

Becky: In college, I actually started as a Marine Science major and even did an internship as an aquanaut at the Aquarius laboratory in Key Largo. I lived down there for a month, but I realized I didn't like it at all. I didn't want to study just one thing for the rest of my life; I wanted to tell stories about all environments.

I switched to Journalism and spent six years working behind the camera at NBC and CBS stations. It was a strategic stepping stone. I had met people shooting for Shark Week who told me they started in news, so I knew it was a way to get a steady paycheck while I bought the high-end gear—rebreathers and camera systems—that I needed to eventually launch Liquid Productions.

Inside Scuba: What was your big "breakout" moment in the industry?

Becky: When I was 25, I was hired as a third shooter for a Discovery Channel series called Quest for Sunken Warships. They needed a technical diver who could shoot. We went to Truk Lagoon, and it blew my mind. I was mostly a cave diver until then, but after that project, shipwrecks became a massive passion for the next decade.

Inside Scuba: You’re well-known for both your still photography and your video work. Do you have a preference?

Becky: I love it all. Video is dynamic, but stills are a unique challenge because you have to tell an entire story in a single frame. Most of my career was video-focused for documentaries, but in the last ten years, I've done much more still work for magazines and clients like Seiko.

Inside Scuba: Let's talk gear. I noticed you have a massive monitor on your housing that everyone seems to be "ogling" over. Do you use strobes for stills?

Becky: (Laughs) I’ve used a monitor for a long time to help frame shots. Interestingly, I hardly ever use strobes. I use video lights for almost everything—specifically Light & Motion Sola lights. Since I’m often shooting stills and video on the same dive with my Nikon Z8, video lights allow me to switch between the two instantly without changing my setup.

Inside Scuba: You’ve mentioned you’re drawn to challenging environments. Is that what led to your "Polar Era"?

Becky: My husband, Dave, jokingly categorizes my career into "eras"—the Cave Era, the Shipwreck Era, and now the Polar Era. I’ve done about 20 polar trips now. It wasn't necessarily a choice; I just started getting hired for ice diving jobs like Discovery’s Bering Sea Gold in Alaska, and it grew from there. I embrace it because it’s hard. I’ve always focused on environments that are difficult to document—that's my niche.

Inside Scuba: Speaking of challenges, your famous walrus shots are incredible. Were you in the water with them?

Becky: No, you can’t be in the water with them; they are 2,500-pound animals that get curious or scared very easily. I built my own pole cam system for that, which took years to perfect. Shooting with a pole cam from a moving Zodiac is actually harder than my deepest wreck shots because you’re shooting blind while fighting the drag of the water.

Inside Scuba: What does the future look like for Liquid Productions?

Becky: More polar work. I’m targeting specific species now—walruses, belugas, and narwhals are high on my list. I’ve been doing this for 18 years, and honestly, I still feel like I’m in a dream. I just have a passion for it, and it still blows my mind that so many people are attracted to the work I do in a variety of extreme environments.