About Light Factory

Light Factory was created as a playground for my love of caves, the underwater world and photography. Diving the Mexican cenotes for close to 10 years has brought me to the point where I wish to bring light into these marvelous caverns and caves, with the goal of showing them to the world as I see them, through my unique vision.

The beauty that lies beneath our feet, in the kilometers of galleries and tunnels that I dive almost daily, beauty which is seen only by a small fraction of the world’s population, is what motivates me to be a photographer. Plunging with my camera into the submerged caves, bringing to light a vision I have in my head and immortalizing it for others to see and for as long as it will still remain unspoiled, is what I hope for.

Light Factory is my answer to all this, a photography project within a very special niche in this field – not just underwater photography, but underwater photography in caves. I learn every single day from every single dive and from every person I am diving with and I think this will never change.

If you want to join me in my passion for photography, caves and diving take a step into my Light Factory and get in contact.


About Richard Schmittner

I am a German photographer based in Tulum, Mexico. I started my adventure in the underwater photography world after meeting Russian photographer Anatoly Beloshchin in 2009 and seeing his wonderful work.

In 2010 I first borrowed a camera from my friend and instructor Jeff S. Clark and an underwater housing from my buddy Baard Hermansen, and began taking photos. Around that time the idea to buy my own camera took seed, mainly because I did not want to ruin my friends’ equipment and have to pay it back.

In 2015 I bought my Canon 5D Mark III and in 2016 my UK-Germany aluminum housing was acquired and completed my equipment configuration which is the one I presently use.