In his book, Martin describes an occasion when he and a group of other divers came across some dolphins. Starting to think about exposure and other settings, Martin decided there was no time, and chose to keep the subject in focus and let the camera do the work. He was able to get the shot while others were still playing with their cameras.

In underwater photography, you often have time to set-up your camera to create a shot. However, sometimes you see something and with no time to choose the appropriate settings, just have go with what you have to get the shot.

This is exactly what happened during a dive on Friday at Agincourt Reef  on the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver’s Silversonic.

We entered the water for our third dive of the day. I had just reached the bottom with the other divers of our group still on the way down. Checking my camera housing to make sure there were no leaks, I spotted a Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) out the corner of my eye.

My camera housing still had bubbles around it, and struggling to read the screen settings, I managed to get it into video mode. I started thinking white balance, lighting, etc …. and decided I had no time.

Getting the Cuttlefish in the screen, I hit the record button, hoping the camera would have the correct focus. Cuttlefish are able to rapidly change colours to blend in with their surroundings, and this can often confuse the camera focusing system.

Trying to keep the subject in the screen, we got more than expected with the following video.

Fighting Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) – Viewable on Vimeo and Youtube

The Cuttlefish made its way towards another one, changed colour from light grey to black, and attacked the second one. They then separated and went opposite directions…. something you don’t see ever day, and a great example of their ability to change color.

Forty seconds from touching the bottom, and the whole event was over.  Had I been deciding between stills and video, or been messing around with settings or lighting, I would have missed to whole thing.

Sometimes to get the shot, you just have to keep the subject in focus, cross your fingers and let the camera do the work.

The visibility was a little low the other day when diving at Agincourt Reef with Quicksilver’s Silversonic . The boat dropped us off at the end of the reef for a drift dive, and I noticed a coral trout at 15m sitting over an anemone on the sandy bottom with his mouth open.

Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes Holthuisi) – Viewable on Vimeo or Youtube.

I descended down with the aim of getting a photo of the coral trout, but it swam off when I got close. I looked down and noticed the anemone was loaded with anemone shrimp. Most times you will only see one or two shrimp, but this one was loaded with more than twenty. It was obviously a cleaning station, but at the time this did not register with me.

It is a great lesson in the more you know and understand a subject, the better you can anticipate events, the better experience you will have, and the more you will see.  I will be keeping a lookout for more of these in the future.

These cod are really friendly, and popular with the visitors. Normally once the divers get down and play with the fish, the visibility decreases as the sand is sturred up. On this occasion the rest of the diving group were a bit slow getting organized, so I went down ahead of the group, and spent some time photographing the smaller cod.

Camouflage Cod or Grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

I am always careful were I put my hands with these fish, with scars on one hand from having to professionally feed a couple of cod at the Cod Hole off Lizard Island a few years ago. They have rows and rows of small sharp teeth, and get a little aggressive if they are regularly feed.

Camouflage Cod or Grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

The smaller cod was  a lot more passive and even allowed me to get some good video of him.

Camouflage Cod (Epinephelus polyphekadion) – Viewable on Vimeo or Youtube.

More fish and underwater images can be viewed as part of my Great Barrier Reef Photography collection.

Photos

Chevron Barracuda (sphyraena qenie) on tropical Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Scuba diver silhouette mid water on tropical Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Gold Banded Fusilier (caesio caerularea) schooling on tropical  Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

Gold Banded Fusilier (caesio caerularea) schooling on tropical Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

Gold Banded Fusilier schooling over Green turtle on tropical  Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) swimming over coral – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) swimming over coral – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

]]> http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-underwater-photos-29-may-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/video-hawksbill-turtle-swimming-over-tropical-agincourt-reef/ http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/video-hawksbill-turtle-swimming-over-tropical-agincourt-reef/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:04:03 +0000 Carl http://www.carlchapman.com/?p=1689 Underwater video of Hawkbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) on Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef. Shot with Canon G10 while diving with QuickSilver’s Silversonic on 13 Feb 2010 from Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.

Hawksbill Turtle swimming over tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo,  Youtube)

Hawksbill Turtle swimming in current over tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo, Youtube )

Photos

Tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Leopard Blenny (Exallias brevis) on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Green smallscale scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus) on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Much Desired Flabellina Nudibranch (Flabellina exoptata) on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Giant clams (tridacna squamosa) embedded in coral on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Video

Yellowfin goatfish on tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo,  Youtube )

Photos

Giant clam (tridacna gigas) – Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef

Giant clam (tridacna gigas) – Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef

Fish on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Video

Fish on tropical Agincourt Reef ( View on Vimeo , Youtube )

]]> http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-6-jan-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-19-nov-09/ http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-19-nov-09/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:31:39 +0000 Carl http://www.carlchapman.com/blog/?p=706 Went for a dive on Thursday on Quicksilver’s Silversonic to Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef. The underwater visibility was around 10-12m but managed to get a couple of images and some video shot with my Canon Powershot G10.

Photos

Pink anemonefish (Amphiprion perideraion) and Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica)

Flowery cod or groper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

Lochs chromodoris nudibranch (chromodoris lochi)

Photos

There were a number of reef cuttlefish around protecting their nests.

Reef cuttlefish (sepia latimanus) Agincourt reef

Snorkeling Agincourt Reef

Fish on tropical coral reef

Blue green Damselfish (Chromis viridis) on tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo,  Youtube )

Diagonal banded Sweetlips fish watching scuba divers and snorkelers (View on Vimeo, Youtube )