ryansnodgrass

Blacktips - Breaking Formation

We were diving with blacktip reef sharks in Bora Bora on our honeymoon. Was trying out a new housing I had constructed for my Sony SLT A65... I think it works....
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We were diving with blacktip reef sharks in Bora Bora on our honeymoon. Was trying out a new housing I had constructed for my Sony SLT A65... I think it works.
Read less

SLT-A65V

Aperture f/6.3 ISO 100 Shutter 1/400 Focal Length 100/10

upload_date

Feb, 2015

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Outstanding Creativity

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Magnificent Capture

+38

Superior Skill

+19

All Star

+13

Genius

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

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Behind The Lens

Location

Bora Bora on a fantastic day in the lagoon area between the center peak of the island and the outer rim. We were surrounded by about 25-30 female blacktip reef sharks. Each one is about 5' in length. My favorite part is how they peel out from the center and only the two main subjects are looking my way. It happened so fast you'd never catch it in real life.

Time

This was taken late morning on the verge of lunch time with sun high in the sky which can be a blessing and a curse.

Lighting

The lighting on days like this is feast or famine. Normally when diving you're either facing at the sun with strobes or away from it and if you're shallow you are facing down not horizontal. This makes it easier to control the lighting but at the surface with the sun overhead the ripples of light haphazardly dance across your sensor and can easily mess up a shot. A twitchy trigger finger can go a long way in making sure you get one where the sensor isn't being blinded. The payoff is nothing short of spectacular lines and great movement!

Equipment

I was using a modified Ikelite housing, a Sony a65, and a shaved down Sigma 10-20mm, constant aperture, wide angle, rectilinear lens. That is a mouth full... I had to shave it down to fit inside the port and having a constant aperture underwater is really nice. Everything is low light and having the artificial color of a strobe isn't always what you want. The housing was modified so the zoom ring would work. Oh and I had on a weight belt to hold me down.

Inspiration

I absolutely love sharks and unfortunately they can be very hard to find anymore. I dove in the Philippines for two weeks and didn't see one because the local population had all been killed. What's amazing is that they remind me of cats. When they are happy they gracefully cruse along like cat's slowly waving tail. However, when they get worked up or irritated by you they arch their back and start whipping their tails or twitching. Once you know how to read them there are many species which are a joy to see up close and personal... close enough to watch them look you up and down!

Editing

I'm quite proud of this photo because post processing is practically a requirement in underwater photography and I only slightly touched up the color to look like it did in person. It's vivid because it was vivid! I only regret not cropping it so it would show better online.

In my camera bag

I almost never bring anything on the boat that isn't going down with me because it's too risky (for me) opening up the housing and letting in moisture that could damage equipment or fog the lens. Back on land I have a waterproof sd card holder, spare o-rings, and lots of silica packs... everything else is pretty standard.

Feedback

Get close, then get closer! I was only about 4' from the closest shark and should have been 2' away. When there is less water between you and the subject there is less chance for particles being in the way. Unlike normal photography you really have to plan what environment you're going to shoot before the dive. This is because it's harder to change settings underwater and by then you've missed the shot or your group left. Having everything set before a dive and only adjusting the aperture as a way to control how bright a background is, is a good place to start. I often will adjust my stobe power as well to change the foreground. Everything else (iso/shutter speed) is on lock down. For reference think twilight photography as a starting point for anything 30' or deeper when picking iso and shutter speed. Underwater setups are not very customizable and often companies have only fine tuned a hand full of options (which still may not be what's best). As a result try to work the problem backwards starting with the style of lens and then find which body, housing, port, lens combo others are using and copy it. The risk doing it of something that's not standard is more blurring on the edges. Wide angle lenses are my favorite because you can still take ok close ups but be able to back up for a big shot. Also the distortion you see above the water isn't noticeable underwater (except fisheye) because your eye doesn't know what it's supposed to look like anyway.

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ryansnodgrass

Blacktips - Breaking Formation

We were diving with blacktip reef sharks in Bora Bora on our honeymoon. Was trying out a new housing I had constructed for my Sony SLT A65... I think it works....
Read more

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

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Behind The Lens

Location

Time

Lighting

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Inspiration

Editing

In my camera bag

Feedback

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ryansnodgrass

Blacktips - Breaking Formation

We were diving with blacktip reef sharks in Bora Bora on our honeymoon. Was trying out a new housing I had constructed for my Sony SLT A65... I think it works.... Read more

Views

Likes

Awards

Emotions

Top Ranks

Categories

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

Same photographer See allBehind The Lens

Discover more photos See all

Behind The Lens

Location

Time

Lighting

Equipment

Inspiration

Editing

In my camera bag

Feedback

See more amazing photos, follow ryansnodgrass

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

We were diving with blacktip reef sharks in Bora Bora on our honeymoon. Was trying out a new housing I had constructed for my Sony SLT A65... I think it works....
Read more

Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.