Lemon Shark in the open

[Mike Poole]

I find it quite difficult shooting small in frame underwater - we often don't have the dramatic backgrounds available to us for technical reasons, mainly due to the water absorbing the colours the way it does.

For this one I tried to use the surface of the water to try and create a little drama.

Canon 1dx in Nauticam housing
Sigma 15mm fisheye
ISO 400
1\160th f10
Strobes were set to fire, but the distance was too great to be effective, so this is a natural light shot.

Mike

[Mike Hitchen]

Cool shot, Mike. The call on the surface light was a good one and it works very well as a background.

Where was this taken?

[Mike Poole]

Cool shot, Mike. The call on the surface light was a good one and it works very well as a background.

Where was this taken?

cheers Mike, this was about an hours boat ride from palm beach, Florida.

Catch up soon.

Mike

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Mike - I never thought about how difficult it must be to isolate a underwater subject and create a waterscape type image. I like the way the shark pops against the blue bg but I find the surface light to be drawing my eye away from the shark. I would look at a more pano crop eliminating 2/3 of the surface light.

TFS,
Rachel

[haseeb badar]

This is a fantastic shot Mike , i simply loved it . Great use of natural lighting and very nicely framed . Good job !

TFS !

[Jonathan Ashton]

Mike I like this very much, what a super shot wonderful clarity and detail.
(I have to say I think it unlikely I would ever be taking pics of sharks with a 15mm lens - my judgment was completely clouded after watching "Jaws" all those years ago! I appreciate this is an outdated stance but hey they have BIG teeth!)

[keith mitchell]

Mike I,m really enjoying looking at this and fascinated how you got it,do like your thinking regarding the surface water it works really well,great job.

Keith.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Mike ....thumbs up for this UW scape !!!!
All does work for me , specially the surface breaking the continuity of usual UW images .
Lovely colors and tones , the slight turn of the shark adds a bit of interest .
I might change two things ...little more NR to the blue BG and i might crop a bit from the bottom to avoid the centered position of the shark .
Lovely work ....keep that stuff coming , i do love it !!!

TFS Andreas

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike - I never thought about how difficult it must be to isolate a underwater subject and create a waterscape type image. I like the way the shark pops against the blue bg but I find the surface light to be drawing my eye away from the shark. I would look at a more pano crop eliminating 2/3 of the surface light.

TFS,
Rachel

Thanks for the thoughts Rachel



Mike

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike ....thumbs up for this UW scape !!!!
All does work for me , specially the surface breaking the continuity of usual UW images .
Lovely colors and tones , the slight turn of the shark adds a bit of interest .
I might change two things ...little more NR to the blue BG and i might crop a bit from the bottom to avoid the centered position of the shark .
Lovely work ....keep that stuff coming , i do love it !!!

TFS Andreas

Cheers Andreas, not too many more as most of the shots have poor BGs with divers and their bubbles unfortunately.

Good to be given a couple alternative crops though



Mike

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Mike - 1st RP works for me but everyone else seemed to like the sunlit surface water. I do like the less centered position in the 2nd though.

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike - 1st RP works for me but everyone else seemed to like the sunlit surface water. I do like the less centered position in the 2nd though.

Thanks, I think a combination of all3 might work for the final result!

I really like the surface with the exception of the brightest spot top left, so I may lose that and work on the off-centering.

Mike

[Gabriela Plesea]

Wonderful capture, Mike! I am becoming a great fan of your underwater shots If I had the gear I would be tempted, I live only 90 km from Sodwana Bay. This is a divers' paradise and the place where the Coelacanth was discovered.

Back to your image, my favourite is your RP in pane #9. It just works for me in terms of composition, which places more emphasis on the subject. Lovely colours too, well processed overall and I enjoyed viewing - thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

[Mike Poole]

Wonderful capture, Mike! I am becoming a great fan of your underwater shots If I had the gear I would be tempted, I live only 90 km from Sodwana Bay. This is a divers' paradise and the place where the Coelacanth was discovered.

Back to your image, my favourite is your RP in pane #9. It just works for me in terms of composition, which places more emphasis on the subject. Lovely colours too, well processed overall and I enjoyed viewing - thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

Thanks Gabriela - you should try a couple of dives - fantastic experience, but if you get the U/W photo bug you need to make friends with the bank manager first!

Mike

[Marc Mol]

Nicely seen again Mike, and a good compliment to your previous UW image and agree on your RP, love the overall colour and quality also.

TFS

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Mike ...." my crop " works best for me ...

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thanks Gabriela - you should try a couple of dives - fantastic experience, but if you get the U/W photo bug you need to make friends with the bank manager first!

Mike

Mike? Don't tempt me please

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Mike, The re-post in Pane #10 is just what I was gong to suggest. Congrats on an outstanding image; I love the small in the frame approach here and the great colors. With love, artie