Shooting Nudibranchs

Dan Bolt · Issue 78, May/Jun 2014 · pp. 49–53

Products mentioned: Olympus E-PL5, Olympus E-PL1, PT-EP10 housing, PT-EP01 housing, 45mm macro lens, 18-42mm lens, YS-D1 strobe, Subsee +10 close-up lens, Nikon D7000, 60mm macro lens, Z240 strobe

In recent years we have witnessed a rise in the popularity of nudibranchs amongst the scuba diving community, both as a photographic subject and from a natural history point of view. Now that underwater photographers and non photographers alike are seeing these little creatures with a new understanding and renewed interest in their many fascinating forms and behaviours, we are also seeing a rise in tempting photo competitions with dedicated nudibranch categories. In fact very recently I had the privilege to see almost 900 nudibranch photos submitted from photographers in 33 countries to the nudibranch Photo Competition which I was involved in running. And perhaps the most telling sign of this rise in popularity is Alex Mustard’s cover shot of a nudibranch on a UK diving magazine back in January - not a diver, drysuit or bit of shiny tech diving kit anywhere to be seen; just a gorgeous Po…