Photographing the spawning of whitebelly damselfish

Alex Mustard · Issue 7, Jun/Jul 2002 · pp. 32–35

Products mentioned: Nikon F100, Subal housing, YS120 flash, YS30 flash, Fuji Velvia, 60mm lens, 105mm lens, +2 diopter, 17-35mm lens, Nikonos RS, 50mm lens, Ektachrome extracolour

At Visions in the Sea 2001, I was asked to speak on the subject of “Capturing fish on their best behaviour” to give tips on how to photograph the natural behaviour of coral reef animals. And although I dragged the talk out for most of an hour, in my opinion the key to this type of photography can be summarised in a sentence. To learn as much as possible about the subject before entering the water. Knowledge is everything. With understanding we can select a common and easily approachable subject, know how to recognise and predict its behaviour and select the optimum photographic equipment to capture it. Field experience is, of course, invaluable; but with prior knowledge, quality field experience can be accumulated much more quickly. If I had to recommend one subject, as an ideal introduction to taking photos that show a bit more about the lives of reef animals, it would be the reproducti…