Behind the Shot: Oceanic Blacktip Shark
The photo above shows an Oceanic Blacktip Shark in Aliwal Shoal, South Africa
I took this picture during a week-long diving trip where I stayed with Blue Ocean Dive Resort - you can learn all about the trip here.
The shot itself was taken on the last day of our trip when a group of photographers led by Andy Murch joined our dive, and all of a sudden, there were more divers in the water than sharks.
I respect other photographers, but it makes the situation a bit more competitive as everyone wants to get a shot.
Most of the action happened inside the semi circle (between the bait ball and us). I noticed that most other photographers were interested in taking hand-feeding shots, so I did the opposite.
I turned around and waited for one of the Oceanic Blacktips to swim by the outer side of the circle.
I positioned myself, framed my background, and waited for a shark to do their usual swim around us. I tried to be patient and relaxed, blowing as little bubbles as possible so as not to scare the sharks away.
With patience and a little luck on my side, I managed to get the shot I wanted. Not bad for the first shark photography trip!
My set-up
My photograph was taken using a Sony A6400 in an Ikelite housing and Tokina 10-17 mm fish-eye lens with metabones adapter. For lighting I used two Inon Z-240 strobes.
Settings were F/11, 1/160 sec, ISO 100 @10mm.
