News
Underwater photography – without getting wet!
First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room. The image above. It’s a starfish, and those are its spines. OK great, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about an underwater (just about) photography idea you might not have considered before: rockpools!
If you’re a warm water diver who enjoys a bit of underwater photography, chances are your camera gear spends more time in storage than in the water. Even us hardy UK divers often leave the camera at home when diving our local site, there’s no denying it’s another thing to worry about.
This is where rockpool photography comes into play. Don’t get me wrong, this type of underwater photography certainly brings its own challenges. Swap buoyancy control for slippery footing, gas management for incoming tides, and a foggy mask for a hidden view finder. But here’s the thing; keep your battery charged and when the mood strikes, you can be out the house in 5 minutes, driving to the beach to take some underwater pictures. Rockpool photography enables one key thing, spontaneity. And when you can be spontaneous, your expensive underwater camera is much more likely to get used!
Macro
Get comfortable – rockpools are spiky! If you can bring yourself to embrace the fashion faux pas, gardening knee pads would be a blessing. Personally, I just can’t do it, so a rolled-up jumper has to do. Getting comfortable is particularly important when it comes to the first type of shot I’m going to talk about – macro. The Tompot Blenny above was in about 20cm of water which meant the viewfinder was totally submerged. I also had a tiny depth of field because of the macro lens I was using; look at the surface of the rock on the left to see the focus go in and out. Put these things together and you can guess how many shots it took to get that front eye and head fringe sharp.
Macro in rockpools is great, it allows you to bring to life the overlooked critters hiding right under our noses. It definitely takes some time and patience though and getting comfortable makes the experience much more enjoyable.
When you think there’s nothing to see, keep looking. At first glance, most rockpools look fairly uninteresting. But in a similar way to when you look at the night sky and the stars gradually reveal themselves, the more time you spend looking in a rockpool, the more you will notice.
This Beadlet Anemone, a pretty common sight in UK rockpools, happened to be dealing with a stray claw that had recently been shed by a moulting crab. I didn’t even notice there was something unusual until I was lining up the shot, and it wasn’t until I got home and zoomed in that I realised exactly what it was.
There is more going on in most rockpools than you might think. It’s quite a departure from open water diving where you have space to take everything in, but I promise – keep looking, it’s worth it!
Capture behaviour. You can be forgiven for assuming that rockpools are quite static. They are just full of creatures waiting for a high enough tide to get back to the sea, right? Not necessarily. When I crouched down to take the shot above, I thought there was only one crab. To my surprise, I noticed that there were actually two! The larger of the pair was carrying a smaller crab underneath it, chasing away other critters as it went.
After researching the behaviour, I discovered the two crabs were in a mating embrace. When this happens, a male crab carries a female away from other males where he will guard her for up to six days. During this time, she moults her hard shell (now I think about it – perhaps it was her claw I found in the anemone above?!) in preparation to mate, leaving her vulnerable. Throughout this time, she is totally reliant on him for protection.
Observing behaviour as it unfolds and capturing it with your camera makes you feel connected to rockpools in a more meaningful way than you might be used to. Next time you’re out, watch out for interactions between creatures, you might be surprised how dynamic these habitats are!
Don’t wait for something amazing. If there’s one thing that you are almost guaranteed to see in rockpools, it’s prawns. They are generally semi-translucent, small, and not particularly interesting. But when you get very close, all sorts of colours, textures and intricate physiological features are unveiled.
The Rockpool Prawn above was only about 1.5cm in length and I only really bothered photographing it to practice with my macro lens. It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed the fascinating blue silver detail in the eyes, similar to a fly. Spiky ridges along its back, bright yellow bands and colourful green eye stems were also revealed under the scrutiny of the macro lens
This silly little creature that I generally ignored, was turning into something far more interesting. Don’t wait for something amazing, get shooting because you might be surprised how amazing the mundane is when given some close attention.
Give it a go! The image above was taken during a trip to Wembury Beach by my partner and it was her first time trying underwater photography. She was using a ten-year-old camera and managed to capture a picture as good as any I took.
This shot has such good composition and beautifully captures a moment in time. By getting down low and facing the Hermit Crab head-on, it looks like it’s posing for a portrait. The sprinkle of sand on the top of the shell and the vibrant blue colouring on the legs are the icing on the cake. I love this picture and it’s proof that you don’t have to be a pro to take a great shot. Get out there and give it a go!
Wide-angle & under/over
Put things into context. If you don’t have the equipment/eyesight for macro photography and aren’t sure how your wide-angle setup can be used in a rockpool full of tiny creatures, keep reading.
You might recognise the two Shore Crabs above from an earlier image. That earlier picture was taken using a macro lens whereas this one was an under/over image using a wide-angle lens. Wide-angle is great for this type of shot. The larger dome gives you more glass to position the water line where you want it, allowing you to capture both over and underwater worlds in one shot.
I find this type of picture great for giving some context to your images. They aren’t just random underwater scenes; they are moments in a recognisable environment.
Animals are optional. Now, despite me saying how many hidden creatures will reveal themselves if you look for long enough, those of you with a patience deficiency have another option. Rockpool landscapes are incredible varied and fascinating, particularly if you use a wide-angle lens to capture under/over pictures.
The collage above is a collection of rockpool landscapes I took one evening at Wembury Beach. You can see how different the textures and colours between rock pools within metres of each other can be. From the surface, they look fairly similar, but capturing them in this way allows you to showcase the diversity that’s hidden beneath the water’s surface.
A final thought
If you’re anything like me, one word comes to mind when you imagine taking your underwater camera into a slippery rockpool – awkward. To a certain extent it is, and honestly, it takes a bit of getting used to, but compared to scuba diving, rockpool photography is so convenient. It’s easy to dismiss, but stick with it, stay patient, follow some of the tips above, and you’ll be surprised what you can find just under the water’s surface. Get out there and give it a go and don’t forget to tag me if you post anything online, I’d love to see it!
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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