I’ve been attempting to “tidy up” my library of photos and of course, in the process I’ve come across several images that I really like but haven’t shown before.
I spent a week in Djibouti earlier this year with the intention of diving with and photographing whale-sharks under the tutelage of renowned underwater photographer and author, Martin Edge. Martin’s Book Is Well Worth Checking Out… There’s A Link To The Book On Amazon Here.
It turned out that we only needed snorkelling gear for our encounters with the whalesharks but since we’d taken dive gear, it seemed rude not to do a dive or two. There was a lot of shallow reef near where our boat was moored and an early morning dive meant the sun would be low in the sky over the reef.
When the light is low in the sky, it tends to create a rippling, dappled light effect with beams of sunlight coming down through the surface of the water. In itself, this is fantastic to see but when there’s an interesting subject in the foreground, the rays of light can enhance the colours and interest and produce some amazing patterns
I took the image you see here at 8am. The sun had JUST come over the top of the mountain ridge in the east and was creating the dappled light. The fish almost seemed to be attracted to the light and as they repeatedly gathered and dispersed, I took several photos. This was my favourite since the composition of the coral, the fish and the light all seemed to come together for me.
I’ve created a Whaleshark Gallery for the Djibouti trip but I’ve not shown these reef images before. You can click the image above for a larger version.
