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Tiger shark heading straight for me in the Bahamas
Tiger shark heading straight for me in the Bahamas
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Feb, 2016Views
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Awards
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Legendary Award
2020 Choice Award
Contest Finalist in Everything Nature Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Symmetry In Nature Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Powerful Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Underwater Games Photo Contest
Member Selection Award
Contest Finalist in Evocative Wildlife Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Adrenaline Rush Photo Contest
Runner Up in A World Of Blue Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 4
Contest Finalist in A World Of Blue Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Clean & Simple Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Wildlife In Remote Places Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Genius
Love it
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
Greatwhitesean
July 02, 2016
I'm very much alive and looking forward to seeing more sharks one day. ????
kevinschr
July 03, 2016
So easy, so clean but absolutely breathtaking. The picture is incredible but I'm not able to imagine how awesome it must be to see that in real.
PRO+
Henrymarbel
August 03, 2016
Beautiful picture! I can see it in animals and sea contest, but I hardly understand why it's in the "energy" contest, could you please clarify so I can vote it please? Thanks so much. Great gallery!
Greatwhitesean
August 08, 2016
Hi. Sorry for late reply. I have been super busy and only just got back on ViewBug. I am not actually too sure why it is in the Energy category. I think I may have entered it by mistake thinking it was another category. Thinking outside the box though you could say water energy. ;). Thank you I appreciate your comments and glad you like my gallery
ryansnodgrass
September 02, 2016
Positively stunning... heading off to snap some great whites this week, you just gave me a great idea for a shot!
Platinum
Platinum
MikeW
October 31, 2016
The view you want, but don't want! Excellent capture; glad you made it in one piece!
kathygudmundson
November 23, 2016
Holy smokes! Your heart must have been pumping extra beats that day! Simply magnificent photo.
Greatwhitesean
November 24, 2016
Was more relaxed than in normal life. Feel at home in the ocean with sharks. :). Many thanks.
PRO
PRO+
PRO
KLClosely
May 16, 2017
So, I have to know.......You have absolutely no fear in a moment like this?? Please describe what you were feeling at this moment. Thank you.
Greatwhitesean
May 18, 2017
Excitement coupled with calmness. Staying calm so I can line up the shot and knowing this shark isn't there to attack me. It's inquisitive but as long as stay calm the situation is a good one.
thedaintyarmadillo
May 31, 2017
I feel like anyone getting an almost completely symmetrical photo while staring into the face of life threatening danger deserves to win this contest! Yowza!
PRO+
Premium
okie918
January 18, 2019
This photo is amazing!! How scared were you and were you in a cage? Nice job
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at a special place called Tiger Beach off the coast of Grand Bahama Island. A shallow dive site at around 13 metres to the seafloor where we was living on an old converted trawler boat called the Dolphin Dream for a week of amazing shark diving. This particular place is probably the most famous dive site for big Tiger Shark action and it didn't disappoint.Time
It's difficult for me to pinpoint an exact time of day as we were aiming for 4-5 dives a day but the weather on the open ocean can be challenging and also meant we sometimes had to cut days short and move on. I'm pretty sure on this particular day the weather wasn't brilliant and we got a couple dives done early and then moved the boat on to calmer waters. This dive I'm pretty sure was an early afternoon dive where the ambient light for diving shallow water should be at it's best.Lighting
With the ambient light coming through the ocean not being as good as a clear day it meant my strobes were essential to lighting the shark and really bring out the blue in the ocean. Colours are lost easily underwater starting with red, orange e.t.c. so artificial light is great for bringing the colours back in that we can miss with the naked eye. As the shark was swimming close to the seafloor it was essential for me to have the strobes pointing slightly up as I didn't want to blast out the sand and over expose the it. I must admit on this shot I didn't get it perfect and some sand was still illuminated by the light of the strobes and became over-exposed. I also needed to tilt the strobes at an angle away from my camera to the right and left as I also didn't want to over-expose the white on the shark. It was also important to have my strobes positioned behind my dome port slightly as in the wrong position you can get a lot of back scatter with the microscopic bits floating in the ocean.Equipment
The camera I used for this shot was an Olympus OMD-EM10 with Panasonic 8mm Fisheye lens. This was put into a custom built Nauticam housing specific to the camera and it's controls. I then had fibre optic cables running from the housing where the flash is to each strobe so they would be triggered by the flash on my camera. I use 2 INON Z-240 strobes when shooting underwater.Inspiration
I have always been fascinated with sharks from a young age watching the film jaws and countless nature/wildlife programmes you find across the different natural history channels. So once I started diving I knew I wanted to dive with as many sharks as possible and then the fascination with photography and specifically underwater photography where a trip to Tiger Beach to see the Tiger Sharks is a no-brainer. There are countless photos shared by many underwater photographers of the Tiger Sharks of Tiger Beach and the amazing shallow water allows for many amazing shots that just scream for you to visit and get your own. This particular shot of a Tiger Shark head on I imagined before I went and had to be patient to make sure the symmetry was right before I pulled the trigger.Editing
Post-processing is essential in underwater photography I feel as colours are lost so easily underwater, so it creates a much better image to get those colours back into the photo. Reds especially as they are the 1st to go and adding red back really brings underwater shots back to life. I also cropped the photo slightly to get the symmetry bang on to where I wanted the shark direct centre. There was also minor spot removal as backscatter is a major issue in underwater photography and sometimes if the sea isn't the most clear it can be difficult to get a shot completely clear of microscopic dots. Clean up is essential. I also reduce the highlights a little where my strobes weren't exactly perfect and over-exposed the sand in the corners.In my camera bag
My camera of choice is Olympus OMD-EM10. The reason being is that with it being small and compact it meant the underwater Nauticam housing was a lot cheaper than if I were using a DSLR. A versatile little camera that is able to use a host of different lenses. In my my bag for an underwater wide angle photography trip it is essential for me to have my trusty Panasonic Fisheye lens with 4" dome port. It is the lens I use most for wide angle where you can get nice and close to the subject. I also have the 9-18mm and specific dome port for those larger animals that can be a little more skittish and not get right up to the camera. When shooting macro underwater I have the 60mm macro lens with port and I have a Nauticam CMC-1 to attach to the port for greater magnification of the super macro subjects. I then have my 2 INON strobes, video light and the arms and clamps necessary to connect everything together. This is specific for when I'm shooting underwater.Feedback
My advice for those wanting to capture something similar is to take the opportunity to dive with sharks and begin to understand their behaviour and gain experience before going for that killer shot if you are not used to diving with a wild apex predator. If you are new to diving with sharks it will take a little bit of time getting comfortable with them around you, which can then mean the shots you can picture taking might not work as your thoughts are elsewhere through nerves. I started off diving with smaller sharks to build up my knowledge of behaviour and to allow myself to be more relaxed before I worked my way up to big Tiger Sharks outside a cage. It is essential to stay calm with such a big shark and keep an eye out for each other when you are in the water with them as you can't always watch behind you but you can always watch each others back. They are inquisitive sharks that like to come and check you out (great for photos) but very rare they will show aggression as long as you are watching it all the way when it is close. Also dive with people who are experienced when it comes to shark diving and behaviour as they will know any tell-tale signs when it is best to leave the water and give the sharks space.
