For many divers, encounters with sea lions are as much fun as we can have with our wetsuits on. These are often unforgettable experiences, where the marine life is as drawn to us as we are drawn to their furry faces and big brown eyes. Dives with sea lions can be actionpacked, so to squeeze all the photographic potential out of these encounters, you must hit the water prepared. The most common mistake is to track the sea lions with your camera, firing off shots at all angles. This approach will produce pictures, but you’ll have a low hit rate and few really special shots.

Before the dive, think about the types of images you want — vertical or horizontal, full-body shots, face portraits, mouth on the dome, group shots, split levels, with and without divers, and so on. Each type requires different camera settings, strobe positions and powers, and you’ll get poor images if you try to shoot them all at once. Trial and plenty of error has taught me to divide these frenetic dives into 10-minute chunks and work through each photographic idea one by one.

One of the first rules we learn in diving is to plan our dive and dive our plan, and it’s relevant here too. Winning images are much more likely when you stick to a photographic plan on these high-voltage dives.

For more quality insight on how to photograph sea lions, check out more of Alex Mustard's expert advice in the companion Photo Gallery: 3 Top Dog Tips for Sea Lion Photography.