lionfish
Taken in March 2015 in Marsa Bereka (Ras Mohammed) off Sharm at about 8 meters.
Taken in March 2015 in Marsa Bereka (Ras Mohammed) off Sharm at about 8 meters.
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Apr, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The shot was taken at the end of a dive in Marsa Bareka, just into the national park of Ras Mohammed in the Red Sea near Sharm - we were coming shallow so this was no more than 10m underwater.Time
This was the first dive, ending about 11:30, the sun was nearing overhead and the water was just great.Lighting
Seeing the sunbeams immediately made me look for the right shot and hang about the coral head. Obligingly this Lionfish came out for a look and I was able to use the natural light almost like a hair light in a studio. I also used flash to backfill from the left to give depth and highlight the subject against the diver (my long suffering wife!) and the boat in the backgroundEquipment
I used a Canon G7 Mk II in the WP 47 housing with a Sea and Sea YS02 strobe connected via a light fibre cable. the Strobe was on a flex arm, with the internal flash masked and the whoe rig is on a tray with a handle providing the pillar for the flash.Inspiration
The light and sunbeams were exciting and the soft coral provided a great intro with the Fire coral as a nice counterpoint. The Lionfish was hanging about the pinacle in a fairly territorial manner, so gave me a chance to line him up with the diver (a assume 'he' by the way!). It succeeded because it followed the rules of composition underwater: shooting up at 45 degrees, using flash and the rule of thirds.Editing
A little, there was some sand in the water producing scatter which I removed, and also enhanced the sunbeams slightly to give them the emphasis I was seeing naturally.In my camera bag
When diving - spare o-rings, cotton buds, silicon gel, a spare camera and housing just in case, batteries for the strobes, video lights and cameras. In addition fresh water to rinse, greyscale slate to get white balance and above all tethers and hooks to secure the kit on entry and exit.Feedback
Know your site and subject - get close, if you can't touch it, don't shoot it. Shoot up so that you get depth of field by the changin colour of the water column and put a diver in the picture so that you can achieve a sense of scale. The 'normal' rules of land photography apply as well - rule of thirds, focus and exposure. Shoot on 100 ISO and drop it 1/3 of a stop to offset the glare from the sand and fish. Above all ensure that you have mastered your bouyancy, and know what's around you - no shot is worth damage to the reef, or to yourself from enraged aquatic life!
