The former carpenter who gave up his job and now takes breathtaking images of marine life (3)

The 30-year-old confessed: 'I love the silence underwater. To interact with such large, wild apex predators with no noise being exchanged is something that truly needs to be experienced.

'Most people have a vision in their head of swimming with a shark to be fearful, but to me it’s the complete opposite. Very calming.'

The artist's priority is to spread awareness about environmental issues as well as replacing fear of the ocean with fascination.

He's had a few scary moments, though.

Despite photographing dangerous sharks, one of his most nail-biting encounters occurred when he came face-to-face with a humpback whale.

He said: 'I was once interacting with a very curious female humpback whale calf that was getting extremely close to me.

'I had to be very aware of the whale’s actions and try my hardest to keep distance between her powerful tail and me.'

And it's not just keeping safe around large sea creatures that's tricky, the timing is, too.

'I will spend an hour or two patiently timing each time I dive down,' he said. 'Sometimes I will stay underwater for over three minutes holding my breath.'

Most of his work, which is mainly captured on a Canon 5D MKIII and a 15mm fisheye lens inside an Aquatica dive-rated housing, has been taken in Australia but he has also ventured to Hawaii, the Kingdom of Tonga, back to New Zealand and to Indonesia to snap sea creatures.

To follow his work and to buy prints, head to his website. 

DRAPER'S ADVICE FOR PERFECT UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

He said: 'My perfect conditions are super blue water with no swell, no wind and 49 to 98ft visibility and an interesting subject.

'Since all of my images are captured while free diving under natural light – the middle of the day gives me the best lighting conditions.'

This humpback whale almost appears to be attempting to put its huge fin around Draper. He took this picture in Vava'u in the Kingdom of Tonga

Draper posted this picture, which he took in Byron Bay, on his Instagram page with a caption that read: 'An incredible image my good friend @scottwilsonimagery captured of me photographing this beautiful manta ray at our local diving spot'

This breath-taking picture shows a group of cownose rays drifting through the ocean at Byron Bay in Australia

Draper snapped this great white shark as it drifted through the ocean around the Neptune Islands, Australia

All of Draper's images were captured while free diving under natural light and Draper said the middle of the day gives his the best lighting conditions. Pictured right is a manta ray in Byron Bay

This image is called Cleaning Station, and is of rather mucky green sea turtles swimming through the warm waters of Hawaii

The image on the left shows a great white shark and trevally fish off the Neptune Islands in Australia. Pictured right is a humpback whale in Vava'u in the Kingdom of Tonga

This image is called Three's A Crowd - and shows humpback whales in Vava'u, gracefully making their way through sun-kissed waters

The image on the left shows a Humpback Whale in Vava'u. The Instagram caption Draper posted for the image on the right read: 'The ocean is my absolute happy place, where all my worries go away and the weird thing is the more time I spend under there - the less I feel at home on land and as a human. Image of me by my friend and talented photographer @scott.portelli.'