419 Dive Log Australasia AUGUST 2026

At the start of the dive, I point the camera slightly upwards into the water at 10 to 20 degrees and take a photo of the beautiful calm blue water. I call this taking a photo of nothing. It is very important. Change the setting to the desired natural exposure to capture that magical feel and the serenity of blue water. Now, you are ready to find a subject to shoot.

Once that you have found a photogenic subject, the challenge here is to position the flashes so that the colourful foreground is correctly exposed while at the same time maintaining the blue background. Have a play around with composition. Sometimes it is good to try a portrait style shot and then to compare it with a landscape.

Photo comments: Bottom of page: In Komodo, there is a dive called Turtle Patch. Dozens of green Turtles live there. It is Turtle Photographers heaven. They are quite used to divers and tend to “maintain the snooze”, if you approach respectfully. In this photo, I took a test shot to get the light right and changed the settings in the camera accordingly. Then, I adjusted the flashes and my focus light. I found the position looking back into the setting late afternoon sun. I adjusted the spot focal point to the lower third and centre position so that the Turtle would be in sharp focus As the diver swam down, I waited for the right moment to make the optimum composition and took the shot. In this case, the bubbles are not a distraction as it gives a sense of motion.The camera settings are: Nikon D810; 16 to 35 mm Zoom in my Sea Cam housing. Camera settings ISO 200, f14 and shutter speed of 1/ 320 sec. Notice how low I am and so I am shooting upwards into the light.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #419 - August ‘26

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