Blue spot stingray

[Mike Poole]

Just got back from Egypt, and whilst I couldn't take my U/W gear this time, it gave me the bug to look at some previous shots.

This one is from April this year, one of my favourite subjects, the blue spotted stingray - lots of them around, but as I was diving in a pair well away from the main group he wasn't as skittish as normal - just a little flap then settled down again.

Canon 1dx in a nauticam housing
100mm
ISO 200
1/100th f11
Twin sea and Sea YS-D1 strobes

Mike

[greg cowle]

That is a cool looking creature, the details look great. The flap and the tail angle are excellent. Your RHS strobe looks to be stronger?

[John Mack]

Now here is something you don't see everyday. Very neat looking stingray. Love those blue spots. Maybe a little more room all around.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

What a beautiful creature Mike! Love the colours, the head on angle and the comp. Nicely done.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Mike,

Very special sighting, it's awesome that you managed to get so close and the Stingray was so relaxed in your presence.

I like the framing and colours and the subject is sharp with good detail. Truly a magnificent creature and I guess she is pretty venomous, those two spines at the back of the tail tell the story

Thank you so much for sharing, this is very different than what we see every day - I enjoyed viewing,

Kind regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Mike always special your UW images . This is no exception .
All does work well and i do like the subject a lot . Just keep an eye on the BG ... is that noise ??? Looks very grainy for Iso 200 ....

Brilliant work !!!!!

TFS Andreas

[haseeb badar]

Hi Mike great to have you posting again , missed your UW water images .

What a lovely colourful subject , loved pattern of blue spots on it.

A lovely image indeed.

TFS !

[Mike Poole]

That is a cool looking creature, the details look great. The flap and the tail angle are excellent. Your RHS strobe looks to be stronger?

Cheers Greg -I'm a big fan of shooting rays, just wish for more opportunities!

You're correct regarding the strobes, I normally have one a little stronger than the other to try and avoid the lighting becoming too flat

Mike

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike always special your UW images . This is no exception .
All does work well and i do like the subject a lot . Just keep an eye on the BG ... is that noise ??? Looks very grainy for Iso 200 ....

Brilliant work !!!!!

TFS Andreas

Thanks Andreas, you're correct regarding the BG - I see this effect on quite a few of my UW shots with sandy backgrounds. I'm not sure of the reasons but its something I'll need to tweak from now onwards

Mike

[Stuart Philpott]

Mike... at some stage in the future can you tell me what you think the cause is, of that noise you and Andreas mused?? Beyond that me olde mate it's wonderful I find the blue spots incredibly vibrant ,I have no idea how they should look either Mike. but that is what I see. Buddy is it impossible to go lower because of stirring up sediments etc??

I love your craft under water Mike and the images that come from that craft ,it's the way you put the two together !! I think what really grabs me are the lines in this frame.

Mike, I saw this when you first posted and wanted to wait a while and look again, before saying anything.

One of my favs of yours a thing of beauty !!

stu