Hi All,

I had the pleasure of leading the Evolution Photoganza under-water photo workshop last week (Sept 23-29) in Malapascua, Philippines. We tried to cover as many of the under-water attractions of Malapascua island as possible, first and foremost the thresher sharks at Monad shoal, but also lots of under-water macro subjects.

Please enjoy some of my shots from this great week of under-water shooting, and see the rest of my pictures from the event here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacific...7631666908246/

Sorry that I missed these before because they are very good.

Do you have any helpful tips for folks who are thinking about doing some under-water shooting?

Thank you!

Yes, I have several tips!
- Being a good diver with good buoyancy is the key to success. You need to get close to the marine life, and when you are flailing around with your arms and legs, the fish will get scared away.
- It's not necessary to get very expensive gear (SLR housings tend to be pricey), but an external strobe greatly helps.
- Strobe placement is very important underwater. When shooting wide angle, turn the strobes outwards to avoid back-scatter. For macro, I prefer to keep them close to the lens, to mimic a ring-flash. Black or scaly/silvery animals are tricky: odd strobe angles can help in these cases, to avoid dark surfaces or blow-outs. Keep experimenting with strobe positions!
- What is quite different under-water is that it is a good idea to shoot up, into the sun. The seawater absorbs so much light that this gives good exposures.

Best,

Klaus

Wow, Klaus, great shots and advice too. Many thanks, Pam