Juvie eagle ray and friends

[Mike Poole]

I always like to try and get one in for the theme, makes me think a little (!) but this one had me scratching my head for anything other than underwater stuff.

Anyway, here's one from a site called Orimas Thila in the Maldives. We were there to try and get up close to grey reef sharks as they come to this location to get cleaned by the little cleaner wrasse, but the current was too slow, and they all kept their distance. This Juvenile Eagle Ray was becoming accustomed to divers and while I could have got better IQ by getting closer, about 6 feet was his comfort zone.

The majority of the other fish in the shot are Red Toothed Triggerfish, and theres a couple of grey reef sharks in the lower left to add to the mix.

Canon 7d in a Subal housing
Token 10-17mm fisheye at 17mm
ISO 250
1/200th f 4.5
2 x Inon z240 strobes
Full frame as shot

Mike

[haseeb badar]

Hi Mike -- This looks amazing , the Eagle ray looks nice and sharp and the little fish all around provides a nice setting and texture . I literally have no experience in under water images but by the looks of it i wish that the trigger fish should have filled the space in front and on top also to give that a more peppered look , but not a deal breaker in any sense . Colours also looks fine to me . Overall enjoyed viewing this image . TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Mike, I think this is one of your best underwater images.

Agree on the eviction of the two fish, but I can also see just upping the blue in saturation a bit more and even a little tickle of Clarity say +8 here, just to add a tad of Contrast to the look & feel. I also like the lighter areas which provides some directional light from above.

TFS
Steve

[Karl Egressy]

Great underwater image. The Ray is nice and sharp enough.

[John Robinson]

Makes a nice change Mike ! The face/head on the ray is amazing.
Like I say- you have to be there to get the shots
joHN

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Mike - Another fan of your underwater images. This works great. I love the look of the ray as compared with the mostly silhouetted other fish plus all the blue water. Good suggestions above.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Superb image Mike, wonderful comp and content. TFS.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Mike ..... as always a lovely UW photograph from you .
Great work and a pleasure to view .
Good suggestions made by Steve and others .

TFS Andreas

[Mike Poole]

Thanks for the suggestion Peter, good idea.

Mike

[Mike Poole]

Thanks for looking and commenting everyone, much appreciated.

Mike

[shane shacaluga]

Nice pic! Love the vastness of the water you have managed to capture with help of all those triggers

You sure those were sharks bottom left

They look more like Giant Trevally or some other of the Carangidae family

[Mike Poole]

Nice pic! Love the vastness of the water you have managed to capture with help of all those triggers

You sure those were sharks bottom left

They look more like Giant Trevally or some other of the Carangidae family

Cheers Shane. 100% those are grey reefies. There were 22 of them in view at one point but were too camera shy on the day.

Mike

[Morkel Erasmus]

Cool shot here Mike, love the luminance and the activity all around.
Good suggestion from Peter if you don't mind cloning (I'd try crop it out if mine).