Wakatobi - The Big Picture

Walt Stearns · Issue 81, Nov/Dec 2014 · pp. 52–59

Products mentioned: Subal Canon EOS 7D housing, Canon EOS 7D, Sea & Sea YS-250 strobes, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom

Wakatobi - The Big Picture by Walt Stearns There’s no denying the allure of capturing images of those more elusive varieties of marine life that hide in the recess of a reef. Yet, in my experience, some of us photographer types run the danger of getting too lost in capturing the small details to the point of missing the big picture. Panoramic reef scenes will also draw many “oohs and ahhs” from an audience. These are the shots that instill in the diver’s imagination the vision of that perfect tropical retreat: a place where waters covering pristine reefs are warm and clear, and the marine life is both abundant and diverse. Having spent some time at Wakatobi dive resort in Indonesia’s Tukang Besi archipelago, I can attest to the fact that a photographer could spend weeks on their highly celebrated House Reef and surrounding reefs filling memory card after memory card with spectacular mari…