Underwater Photography Tips: Avoid Bad Behavior
Gregory PiperYellow pygmy seahorse at home in his sea fan.
Gregory PiperThis rare find, a dragon shrimp, is perhaps one of my favorite whip coral species. Finding this one in red was especially exciting and a first for me. I spent at least 30 minutes of a dive photographing her, and this, although not the best identifying photo, was my personal favorite of the bunch.
Gregory PiperOne of my favorites, the hairy squat lobster. Found hiding in the crevices of giant barrel sponges, these beautiful creatures really make taking the time to find them well worth it.
Gregory PiperThis was without a doubt the hardest image of the trip to capture. The pygmy squid is tiny — at its largest, it measures well under an inch and this one was a quarter of that. Because squid often move rapidly, you must move slowly. The reduced focal length of the 10x diopter makes that task even more challenging. However, the results pay off one out of 20 shots.
Gregory PiperI captured this beautiful girdled glossodoris at the perfect moment. Great patience and luck always pay off. If you take care of nature it always takes care of you.
Gregory PiperThe proud parents standing guard over their eggs happen to be a pair of yellow coral gobies. Usually quite skittish, this pair was happy to pose with their expected family. Gobies require great patience to photograph and are a favorite subject of macro photographers.
Gregory PiperOf all the new critters I saw in Anilao, this was my most exciting find. The patience required to capture this image takes dedicating an entire dive to just one subject, the yellow goby. Requiring a 100mm lens with a 10x wet diopter, it's not their size, it is where they live that presents the challenge. Nestled in groups of small staghorn corals, just finding them is the first challenge. Figuring out how to capture them is your second challenge and finally gaining their trust and learning their habits so you can capture the shot is the final obstacle. They come in three colors — yellow, green and black — and I was lucky enough to see all three.
Gregory PiperUsing a 100mm with a 10x diopter — and also bending my neck — I captured the face of a golden fire worm as she made her way though the reef.
Gregory PiperThese tiny Kuro sapsucking slugs are often mistaken for nudibranchs. With a length of only 3 to 6mm, they are found mostly in muck areas on the underside of green leafy corals.
Gregory PiperOne of the most sought-after subjects to photograph under the sea is the illustrious Allen's ceratosoma, or the “Alleni.” When found, this beautiful creature makes for an amazing photograph. Like all nudibranchs, she does not move very fast, so you'll have plenty of time to compose the shot.
Gregory PiperPhycocaris simulans, or simply the green broken back algae shrimp. These little guys are hard to shoot, especially with a 10x wet diopter, which is needed just to see them. They float effortlessly through the ocean and appear only to be algae at first glance. Patience and a 10x diopter makes that task even more challenging. However, the results pay off one out of 20 shots.
Gregory PiperA garden-variety peacock mantis shrimp with eggs. Boasting the most advanced eye in the animal kingdom these animals are always amazing to watch and quite cooperative when being photographed. Patience and respect for their environment pays off and their natural curiosity works in your favor.
Day after day I go through Facebook pages looking at incredible macro shots from all over the world. One destination seems to come up more then most, in fact more then half of all macro and super macro shots posted on Facebook and online came from one destination … Anilao.
Located in Batangas, Philippines, this diver's paradise is only a short three-hour drive from Manila and boasts some of the most diverse marine life on the planet. According to fish counters, the number of marine species in Anilao is estimated to be as high as 4,000.
So on this years trip to the Philippines, Anilao naturally made it to the top of my places to stay and dive list.
After a week in Tubbataha and another in Puerto Galera, also in the Batangas region of the Philippines, I head across the bay, and an hour later I’m dropped off right smack in front of the resort. Less then two hours later I am in the water, eager to shoot all the great subjects I have read so much about.
This unfortunately is where the good part of the story ends and the ugly truth of how all these great shots are taken begins. The truth is that many dive guides molest creatures so that the photographer can get the shot by turning over rocks in an attempt to find anything worthy of a good photograph. Some will even go as far as to hide critters to keep the competition from finding them.
My point?
As photographers we are ambassadors to the sea.
To be a better photographer, treat the ocean with the respect and the conservation it deserves. Before investing in a camera spend time perfecting your buoyancy. Avoid touching the coral, use muck sticks for their intended purpose, steadying yourself, not pushing animals into position or disturbing their habitat. Be sure when using muck sticks that your touching rock, or sand, not coral. Most importantly, if you encounter dive guides or dive operators who don’t respect the environment make sure you say something and let them know how you feel. Learn to patronize businesses, like Wakatobi, that protect the ecosystem and practice good diving habits. A smart dive operator knows that protecting the reef and our ocean is in everyone’s best interest, especially theirs!
