Underwater
Bunaken Island in Indonesia is a top dive location. The resort (Bunaken Oasis) is superb and the diving features lots of two of my favourite species - turtles & clownfish. What's not to like?
Here’s a video from the trip and a few images below.
We’re just back from a week at Bunaken Oasis and what a fantastic trip it was.
Bunaken Oasis is stunning, as you’ll see from the photos below. The owners, Elaine & Simon, have spared no expense in setting up this 5* dive resort and spa. They’re underwater photographers themselves, so the camera room & every element of the diving experience has been designed with care and attention to detail - it really is first class.
The diving is superb, the best reefs I’ve seen in the last ten years. It reminds me of reefs from twenty-five years ago, before 75% of the world’s coral was savaged by global warming. Bunaken still has abundant hard and soft coral and it’s a real joy to see.
My focus this trip was turtles and anemonefish. Bunaken is exceedingly rich in both, so every dive yielded numerous opportunities - few examples below.
We’ll be producing a video in the next few weeks so you’ll be able to see for yourself, but I can honestly say this was one of the most enjoyable & productive trips I’ve ever done.
Thank you to all the staff at Bunaken for giving Libby & myself a truly memorable experience.
One of Bunaken’s many turtles
The infinty pool at sunset
Cottage 5 - what a view!
Got to love a clownfish!
I returned to Cuba in June this year following a fantastic trip I had there in 2019. Whilst it would be true to say that the weather dictated that this visit was not as photographically productive as the previous one, it did still have several highlights. One was a really memorable session photographing Caribbean reef sharks near the surface.
The area, Jardines de la Reina, is very rich in sharks and they are always present on the dives. I’d noticed they had a habit of following us back to the boat and at one particular dive spot there were lots of them. I asked if I could return the next day and instead of doing the planned dive I’d just stay around the boat near the surface. The plan worked a treat & I must have had around 20 sharks circling me - perfect shooting conditions!
I was particularly keen to get a few shots with the boat in the background to give the image context and whilst it was difficult to isolate the sharks because there were just so many, I did get a few.
If you’d like to see what it was like at the time the video is below, with thanks to Alex Beck for the production.
This was a September 2022 trip to photograph the famous Farne Island seals. The weather was kind to us - but the water clarity was not! As you'll see it was pretty murky & the seals didn't really want to play. It was great fun though :-)
I recently completed a shoot with the Quackers Swim School photographing families underwater. It was great fun, as you’ll be able to see if you watch the shoot video below.
However, my real interest is in photographing babies because they exhibit the most remarkable response to being underwater. The best description I’ve found of the behaviour is by Anthony Smith from his publication, The Human Body.
”A reflex that seems so unlikely that for years no one was aware of its existence. A baby suddenly immersed in water will seal off its lungs and begin to paddle and kick. The mouth may be open, but the epiglottis (cartilage and tissue which covers the larynx during swallowing, preventing food ‘going down the wrong way’) diverts water away from the lungs. The urge to breathe is suppressed and immersed babies appear content in their watery environment. This ‘diving reflex’ disappears after six months or so, just when babies start to breathe through their mouth. Once this is gone, immersion in water does not come so naturally. But for our first six months, even before we can crawl, many of us are more comfortable underwater than we will ever be again”
I’ve not had the chance to photograph many babies so far, but I’ve captured a few displaying this remarkable behaviour, as you can see below. However, I’ll be working with Quackers baby classes throughout 2022, so I’m hoping to get lots more opportunities fingers X’d.
When I deliver my underwater lectures there are often scuba divers in the audience & the question I get asked most (usually after the lecture) is about lighting underwater. This is because I make a big thing about it in the lectures - for me it is one of the most important factors in capturing a good image, underwater or surface.
So, whilst I realise this article is irrelevant to most folk it does give me somewhere to point divers for my thoughts.
There is no doubt that a “eureka moment” in my development as an underwater photographer was the realisation that, in the face of all the other competing demands (diving issues, camera settings, composition) I had relegated lighting to the "sorted" list i.e. just apply lots of even light & you're bound to get an image! This is of course true & should be the starting point... but with thought you can get so much more.
After I decide a subject is worthy of the time (a big decision because I often take 10 minutes or more on a subject & a dive only lasts 60 minutes, so it had better be worth it) my mental lighting checklist is;
1. always shoot up towards the surface if possible. It makes your subject more dramatic & the view of the surface is both beautiful & orientates your viewer
2. make sure your viewer sees enough of the background to appreciate the underwater scene. There are exceptions of course, but for me this is true 95% of the time
3. whilst observing the direction of the ambient light (sun position) & emphasising this with your flash - be subtle. Over lighting is a dead giveaway, as are flash shadows. It destroys the ambience - your viewer should have no idea you have lit it artificially
4. try to light along the subject - this provides subtle shadows which emphasise contours & bring out a 3D effect
5. following on from the last point do not have the flashes on the same power setting. Real life is hardly ever like that - one side is more in shadow
6. constantly keep moving the flash position & your position. Digital images are free - take lots! I do this in the hope one will be good :-)
I've never formally written this list down before & I could go on. Suffice to say I now pay more attention to lighting than anything else... & the day I started doing this I think my images improved.
The underwater scene is often beautiful - show it to your viewer
Although there is no background in this shot I think the spotlight effect suits this gorgeous nudibranch
Showing the surface gives your viewer orientation
Firing the light along this Hairy Frogfish really shows why he gets his name
Always try to shoot upwards
I fired the light down from above this Common Seahorse. It’s important to try different lighting angles (& strengths) to get the most dramatic effect.
