See the photo, and the rest of the interview, after the jump.

Alexa put her head in the water, resurfaced, and said matter-of-factly, “Daddy, it’s just a nurse shark.” I knew then we wouldn’t have to worry about her. There was also a 13-year-old in the water, and at one point, he began to freak out. It was also an inspiration that a kid that age would be open to jumping in with such a big “fish.” We weren’t sure how she would handle it, but she showed no fear. For me, the photo shows a moment of incredible and touching interaction. She was three years old at the time (she has her learner’s permit now). My favorite photo is one of my daughter Alexa swimming with a dolphin, which I took several years ago near Freeport, Grand Bahama. Read on to find out his take on kids, tricky photography, shark fishing, and the plight of the world’s oceans.

He lives in Key Largo with his family, where he was nice enough to take a break from running his gallery and photography school for a quick Q&A with Kristen Gunderson. When he’s not submerged in a remote tropical lagoon, Stephen serves as a columnist and photography director to Scuba Diving magazine. For 30 years, he’s traveled the world shooting everything from starfish to great white sharks for publications like Glamour, Time, Newsweek, and National Geographic, and he’s even published a book, Wonders of the Reef. As the world’s most widely published underwater photographer, Stephen Frink knows a thing or two about the ocean.

Stephen frink photos