Different take on the bait ball (Atherinomorus sp.) from previous post at Palm Island.

This is really just underneath the surface, which is why the fish appear to glow in the sun, which isn’t a photoshop trick. Strong contrast is always good for monochrome, so I converted this to black&white in Silver Efex Pro, then used a graduated color filter to achieve the bleached look.

Camera settings: Nikon D300, Tokina 10-17mm, f/13 for 1/250s, ISO 200.

Tags: Australia, Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Schools, Townsville, Underwater Photography, Wide Angle

Okay, so there is way too much in this photo for me to identify! I am counting four larger snappers, species Spanish Flag (Lutjanus carponotatus) but consider this temporary ID until Irene, our blog expert for Spanish Flags, returns from her well deserved holiday in Malaysia.

The reddish snapper in the bottom-right corner is probably a Golden-lined snapper (Lutjanus rufolineatus), that’s as much as I can personally identify.

This photo isn’t really composed, it is one out of a series shot straight from the hip. All were fired into the direction of the schooling fish from close distance, hoping to end up with at least one were they swim in a visually pleasing formation. I set the Nikon D300 with the Tokina 10-17mm to f/8 and 1/250s to stop the action.

While this photo does not have a clear subject, it does bring out the richness and color of the reef, which is a quality you want in your tropical underwater photos. Post processed for saturation and levels in Aperture.

Tags: Australia, Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Nikon D300, Queensland, Townsville, Underwater Photography, Wide Angle

Schooling Bigeye Snapper (Lutjanus lutjanus) I chased over the fallen mast midships at the SS Yongala. You gotta love the yellow tone contrasting with the blue backdrop. These guys are easier to photograph than silvery bodied fish because they don’t reflect as much flashlight, so less of a challenge when positioning your strobes.

I went in with the D300, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye on f/8 for 1/125s, ISO 200 and was there – pun intended. Adjusted the strobe to +2EV which is normal on my setup for 1-2m distance and exposure bracketed some shots with this one turning out best.

Post processed in Color Efex Pro for Aperture with the foliage filter to enhance yellows, plus level adjustments in Aperture.

Tags: Australia, Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Nikon D300, Queensland, Schools, SS Yongala, Townsville, Underwater Photography, Wide Angle

Another shot from the bait ball (Atherinomorus sp.) from Palm Island, which is actually more of a carpet than ball shape. Here, I like how the texture of the undersurface of the water comes out and how in these ultra shallow photos (~1m) you barely need any flash to get good results.

Camera settings: Nikon D300, Tokina 10-17mm, f/13 for 1/160s, ISO 200. Post processed for levels and saturation.

Tags: Australia, Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Nikon D300, Queensland, Schools, Underwater Photography, Wide Angle

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→ I posted a new photo to Facebook http://fb.me/Gb8vAjWp # (August 26, 2010 8:42am via twitter)

• → Diver With Schooling Mado
  (August 26, 2010 1:44pm by Simon)
• → Long Way Up
  (August 22, 2010 1:10pm by Simon)
• → Pipefish
  (August 18, 2010 8:10am by Simon)
• → White's Seahorse
  (August 15, 2010 10:58pm by Simon)
• → Coral Overgrowth SS Yongala
  (August 14, 2010 7:20pm by Simon)



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