The newest artist to join Ptarmigan Arts, Marcelle McDannel is a cold-water diver and underwater photographer who goes to great lengths, or to be more precise, depths, in both warm and cold temperatures to capture images of life below the surface.

Striving to share the sense of awe she feels during these experiences, McDannel’s photographs are the result of singular and occasionally multiple dives in the same locations followed by hours at her computer where she works to pull out the fine details.

“I spend a lot of time trying to make an artistic piece from the photos I take, portraying them in a way that is not just informative, but visually captivating,” McDannel said. “I want people to see the magical feeling of watching sea kelp attached to rocks wave back and forth in the swells, with the sea churning and the light filtering through.”

Among her many photographs on display are a giant Pacific octopus she encountered while diving Resurrection Bay last summer, a sunken ship’s wheel she spotted while diving near Juneau this past March and a giant plumose anemone she noticed while diving Whittier last Christmas Eve.

Using a small Olympus camera in underwater housing, McDannel uses a simple system in order to more easily get in and out of the water and to be able to make her settings ahead since making adjustments while under the water and wearing thick neoprene gloves would be challenging, to say the least.

Raised in southern California, McDannel grew up snorkeling, sailing, rafting and hanging out around warm water. She moved to Alaska when she was 23 and started diving when she was in her 30s, taking classes in swimming pools with her first dives and certifications in Cozumel, Mexico, and Catalina Island, California.

Her numerous dive experiences in other warm water locations include the Caribbean, Red Sea, Hawaii and the Channel Islands. One of her most memorable dives was off the coast of Costa Rica in Cocos Island where she encountered large schools of Hammerhead sharks.

“It was amazing to be sitting in blue water, surrounded by these graceful and beautiful fish swimming in rhythmic patterns,” she said. “Being suspended in a water column watching 200 to 300 magnificent sharks swim by was the most amazing experience of my life.”

Eager to seek out cold water destinations so she can dive closer to home and as often as she wants to, to see and photograph less-photographed life in Alaska waters, and to learn to be an overall better diver, she received her cold-water certification 10 years ago and has been diving warm and cold waters ever since.

A favorite cold-water dive destination is Smitty’s Cove in Whittier where she and her dive buddies have easy access to the water all year-round by walking in off the boat ramp with numerous opportunities for photography.

“The water clarity and visibility is great in the winter and I’ve gotten a lot of my best shots there,” she said.

Often asked what are in these waters that are worth her getting into the cold water for, she responds with stories of her dive adventures. Like seeing the giant plumose anemone in Smitty’s Cove, leaving Anchorage at 8 a.m. to make the 9 a.m. Whittier tunnel drive, she and her friends putting on their undergarment gear while in the car — multiple layers of socks, long underwear, fleece onesies, the dry suit bottom and boots.

“Basically you dress, sit in the car and sweat and wait for the tunnel to open and then when you’re on-site, put on the outer layers, hood, gloves, fins and mask, and your dive gear — air tank, regulators, weights,” she said.

During this trip, the tide was high and the water temperature around 42 degrees, with her group staying down for about an hour and doing just the one dive. While the water was pretty, McDannel said that there wasn’t much to photograph and it wasn’t until she was about to get out of the water that she noticed the lone anemone.

“Everyone was already out of the water and heading for the car, but I stayed, sunk myself down, laid out on the rocks in front of the anemone and kept myself as still as I could to not disturb the scene and to let my camera capture the details,” she said. “In the water I’m not thinking about the technical process, but how cool something looks and how to best photograph it while controlling my buoyancy.”

That image, one of her favorites, is on display at the gallery.

Beyond the beauty of experiencing life underwater, McDannel also dives to escape the stress of her work as a criminal defense public defender.

“Diving requires all of your attention and focus, overwhelms your senses and is a wonderful way to submerse yourself in a totally foreign environment that is both different and incredible,” she said.

Continually pushing herself to find new dive sites, McDannel is eager to explore Kachemak Bay and places like Kodiak and Unalaska. This October she’ll dive Kachemak Bay, then Monterey, California, in November. In January, she’ll return to the Caribbean and is planning to go to Scaravoy, Norway, to snorkel with orcas and humpback whales in November 2024. Within the next five years, she’s hoping to dive in Antarctica.

“I’ve been reading stories about the crazy and legendary explorers of Antarctica since I was a kid and dreaming of the day when I would set foot on that continent,” she said.

As she continues to explore underwater photography, McDannel is always on the lookout for something new that is both challenging to capture and not so commonly photographed.

“In the Caribbean, you’ve got 100 feet of visibility and there are colorful fish, reefs and corral everywhere,” she said. “Diving in Alaska is a challenge and makes you look a lot harder for the beauty. Sometimes I’ll be out in the water and there’s only one fish or the fish are camouflaged, so I have to search for things to shoot or ways to shoot. I’m learning to notice things I haven’t noticed before and how to take a picture that will be visually interesting and still reveal both how cool the creatures are and the experience of seeing them.”

McDannel’s photographs, Alaskan Underwater Imagery can be seen at Ptarmigan Arts and on Instagram, @alaskanunderwater.

Underwater photographer Marcelle McDannel takes a selfie during a trip to Utah in June 2021. Photo provided by Marcelle McDannell

A Giant Pacific Octopus, as captured by underwater photographer Marcelle McDannel in Resurrection Bay in August 2022 is one of numerous photographs in McDannel’s new year-round display at Ptarmigan Arts. Photo provided by Marcelle McDannell

Giant Plumose Anemone, an underwater image by photographer Marcelle McDannel, taken October 2022 in Smitty’s Cove, Whittier is now on display in her year-round exhibit at Ptarmigan Arts. Photo provided by Marcelle McDannell

A sunken ship’s wheel, photographed by underwater photographer Marcelle McDannel in Juneau’s Auke Bay in June 2023, is one of numerous images now in McDannel’s year-round display at Ptarmigan Arts. Photo provided by Marcelle McDannell