The carpenter who quit his day job to become an underwater photographer

It's everyone's dream – packing up the day job, waving farewell to your colleagues and taking up your true passion.

But the reality doesn't always happen. Unless you are Matt Draper, who quit his job as a carpenter two years ago to become an underwater photographer in Byron Bay.

The result? Well, you can see for yourself. And it's perhaps no surprise he's pulled in a healthy 70,000 followers on Instagram.

"I was over the construction world and how everyone just wanted to make money," says the Kiwi, originally from Wellington.

"I had a lot of creative friends and I thought, there's got to be more. So I thought I would come to Byron and bought a water-house for my camera.

"I took pictures of surfers, then some turtles and it kind of went from there."

From turtles to face-to-face moments with sharks, Matt's past two years have been a non-stop underwater adventure taking him all over the world.

The 30-year-old says his secret to the perfect photo is down to "interacting" with the animals he shoots, and respecting the fact it's their space.

He explains: "I want to take awesome photos, fostering the ocean. I have always been really connected to animals. I love the fact it's wild and raw.

"I suppose for me, I like to make a connection with the animals when I am in their space, and that helps to get that emotion you see in my pictures."

So, what about sharks?

"It's just another living thing, they're not out there to get us," he tells us. 

If you want to see more of Matt's incredible shots, head to his site.