Blackwater Photography

David Fleetham · Issue 138, May/Jun 2024 · pp. 56–58

Products mentioned: Canon R5, Ikelite dry-lock housing, Ikelite DS230 strobes, Canon 100mm macro lens, Sigma 70mm macro lens, Ikelite USB charging & data transfer bulkhead, MacBook Pro

There are few challenges in underwater photography that come close to the demands of shooting semi-transparent apparitions at night, a few miles out to sea with the bottom several thousand feet below your flailing fins. I spent two weeks off the island of Yap in Micronesia doing exactly this every night. The boat would depart the dock around 7 PM and I was lucky if my head got to the pillow before 3AM after shooting for two dives. I am not a novice to blackwater diving and had participated in this activity many times around Hawaii, where the idea of open ocean night diving really took hold and began to spread throughout the world. On my previous trip to Yap as a presenter for their MantaFest photo week, I introduced blackwater diving to the Manta Ray Bay Resort. The dive guides had never heard of, or ever dreamed of this experience and although I had frequented the resort for a few decad…