Stingray Portrait

Blogged by Simon on March 10, 2010 9:56am | Last updated by Simon on March 10, 2010 7:12pm | Category: Underwater Photography | Get a Print | Stingray Portrait

When you think of Stingrays (Dasyatis sp.), macro photography is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. On this dive about 2 weeks ago, I was on the 60mm macro which is what I usually shoot at night because the majority of subjects is small, and let’s face it – I have never heard of wide angle photography at night and that is probably for a reason :)

Stingrays like to bury themselves in the sand, where they wait until something interesting happens. This one was out and about though, paired up with two others, gliding slowly just above the bottom and so I tried a few shots at it. I really like how the eye turned out here, scanning the environment and notice the really interesting shape of the eyelid like structure. Obviously there is no filling the frame with your subject here, so I had to make a decision how to crop this in the water already, opting for the diagonal composition and focusing on the eye as the subject.

Camera settings: Nikon D300, 60mm macro, ISO 200, f/22 for 1/125s in manual mode. Post processing in Aperture includes level and contrast adjustments, and increased definition. All colors are original.

Tags: Australia, Macro, New South Wales, Nikon D300, Sydney, Underwater Photography

Comment using Facebook

Sean
on March 10th, 2010
1
I’d think maybe a 18-55 lens would be nice for night… Sure you’re not going to get the nudis, but perhaps 80% of the critters would be in range… I’m going to take out my tokina 10-17 one night and see what it’s like :)
Simon
on March 10th, 2010
2
I recently ordered a Tokina 35mm f2.8 but haven’t received it yet. Same idea here, get some wider angle so you can shoot fish in their entirety, while keeping a short distance. I have the Tokina lens but i’m not sure if it’s too wide for the job. Let me know how you go.