Marine Life & Conservation Photo / Video News & Reviews

Diver with whale shark – Behind the Shot

Published 13 years agoon August 26, 2013

Great moments happen in an instant and you have to be ready for them! Working with underwater models can be challenging, but then add marine life into the mix and you have to be ready. Sometimes you’re dealing with limited visibility, currents, changes in light, shy or uncooperative marine life and camera gear. I love to have a shot in my head before I splash; sometimes I have a whole wish list, but that doesn’t always come true. I guess that’s why it’s called a wish list.

In July 2012 I got on a plane to Mexico to film whale sharks, the biggest fish on the planet! I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally get there and begin shooting. Our boat left at 6am which is way earlier than I like to get up! It’s a long ride and the sharks don’t’ stay in one location. The captains from Solo Buceo were fantastic and know where to find them. When we arrived I looked out into the water it looked like whale shark soup. There were a few hundred whale sharks swimming around on the surface feeding in the warm morning light! It’s an incredible site to see 20-40ft sharks swimming just below the surface all around you! I could hardly contain my excitement, geared up and slipped into the water.

Instantly I came face to face with a large whale shark. For hours I happily snapped away, learning the whale sharks movements and personalities while getting some natural shots. The image I really wanted was of a person swimming next to a whale shark to show the size of the animal. This can be difficult – getting the sun in the right position, a nice angle on the whale shark and of course a model that is willing and understands what to do to and how to pose. Then you just need all of these things to come together. Additionally we aren’t scuba diving, it’s not allowed here so we could only freedive.

I had several friends on the boat that day willing to model and pose for shots and I explained what I was looking for. We were in the water for a few hours before I took this shot. The model and I saw the whale shark coming in the distance and signaled to each other to dive down. Just then the large shark came right into my frame, I saw the model and click..click…click… cick the fourth shot is the one! I knew I got it! I also had a small Gopro on top of my housing that captured video of the moment I got the shot. It’s easy to see how fast everything comes together and how the shot happened. Time in the water is everything and being patient and knowing what you want. This is the perfect place to play, practice and come home with a photo you can check off the wish list. Then again, I really want to go back because now I have a whole new whale shark wish list!

Images were captured using a Nikon D700 with 15mm fisheye lens in an Aquatica Underwater Housing. Natural light F8 1/200 ISO 400

Becky Kagan Schott

Becky is an Emmy Award winning underwater cameraman, photographer and technical diver whose work can be seen on major networks including National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet. She specializes in bringing back video from challenging aquatic environments including caves, under ice, shipwrecks to sharks. Becky has over 19 years of dive experience logging thousands of hours underwater. She is a NAUI Scuba Instructor, and holds certifications in Cave diving, Tri-mix, Rescue, and several closed circuit Rebreathers. As a cameraman her projects have taken her all over the globe from documenting historic wrecks in over 300 feet of water in Japan and the Great Lakes, to rappelling into caves, filming under ice in the Bering Sea and even diving cageless with Great White Sharks. Her experience working in remote locations around the world and facing the challenges of filming in extreme environments has earned her a reputation of producing quality images in challenging situations. She's participated in several expeditions that earned her a place as a Fellow in the Explorers Club and in 2013 Becky was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame.