Behind the Shot

Martin Edge · Issue 44, Sep/Oct 2008 · pp. 43–44

Products mentioned: 10.5mm fisheye lens

Luck, instinct, creative or chance? I’m not sure if any apply to this month’s ‘behind the shot’ but one thing I do know is that it’s unlike any I have taken before and I cannot foresee an opportunity for repeating it in the future! I had just finished a dive on the wreck of the Giannis D at Abu Nuhas in the Egyptian Red Sea. Our boatman was manoeuvring our small inflatable to pick up other photographers. With one hand on the tiller, he turned in a slow but sharp 180-degree direction. As he did so I noticed how this particular movement of the boat had ‘slicked’ the surface of the water. For a moment the water was glass calm and the sight of a huge portion of the wreck came into view. Whilst I had witnessed this phenomenon countless times before, I must have failed to notice the potential to make an unusual picture. I reacted quickly but instinctively. I grabbed the nearest facemask to han…