Flying Fish

In the previous post I had featured red footed booby, which were hunting for flying fish. I did manage to photograph a few of these flying fish too.
There are about 50 species of these flying fish and managed to capture two of them. Their blue colour camouflages well with sea and hence the autofocus of my camera really struggled to lock on to the fish. The fish take short flights with the aid of their pectoral fins to escape from the predators underwater and many times get caught in mid air by waiting birds .
Trying to photograph these fish I did learn a few things that may help you if you have a chance to photograph these fish.
1. They can randomly pop up from any place but there will be one area where the frequency is more.
2. Fish that come out of water against the wind stay airborne for shorter time, hence keep an eye on wind direction and track fish that will come out of water with the wind assisting them. You will have much more time to focus.
3. The fish don't change course mid way and fly in straight line.
4. Its better if the sea is calm with little or no swell, autofocus works better and it is easier to spot the fish in calmer waters.

Guppy Fish

Guppy fish were originally native to the Caribbean and to South America , but now they have been introduced in all the continents except Antarctic. Sometimes this has occurred accidentally, but most often as a means of mosquito control, the hope being that the guppies would eat the mosquito larvae slowing down the spread of malaria. This versatile fish can survive both in Fresh water and sea water even in salinity as high as 150% of that of the sea water.
For this photograph, the fish were placed in a transparent polythene bag and behind the bag a black board with a large opening was placed. Light was placed behind the backdrop, the idea being, the silver body of the fish would reflect the light and the black background would provide the contrast for the fish to be visible.
Photograph details: shutter 1/1000 sec , f/2.7 .

Undewater Expedition at Pattya

Photograph of a 'Scarlet Reef Hermit crab' , Hermit crabs are not true crabs, and they use empty shells as their homes. A hermit crab even fights with other hermits to acquire their homes. They are the scavengers of the ocean and live on dead material and algae from the bottom of the ocean floor.
Above photograph of the Japanese Koi fish. These are ornamental fish and their colourful bodies make them ideal candidates for Japanese tea gardens.

Muraena Helena eel, once considered by the ancient Romans as the greatest delicacies.

'Striptease' above photograph of some unidentified striped coral fish, would appreciate if any ichthyologist could identify them.
The underwater world is beautiful, filled with vivid colours, but photographing marine life is the most challenging aspect for a photographer.
The biggest problem is Light, the basic ingredient of photography is almost absent underwater and camera flash does not travel far and gets scattered underwater. Using tripod is not possible and since the animals are constantly swimming, getting a steady photograph is extremely hard. All the above photographs were clicked with maximum aperture and with a higher ISO (400). ( When Photographing in aquarium or underwater be prepared to face that only 2 to 3 percent of the photographs will come out nice, hence click as many as possible).
I found the following ideas helpful when photographing underwater creatures:
1. Noon is the best time for underwater photography.
2. Use ISO of 400 and white balance cloudy (to offset the blue underwater tone)
3. Shoot on Aperture priority with Max. aperture (Lowest Aperture number)
4. Some fish tend to swim in a pattern, if you can identify this, then prefocus and be ready in that area, but better is if you can practice panning the camera.
5. Preferably Use manual focus.
6. If shooting in an aquarium, then use slower shutter speed, the blur of fish moving can give a sense of action to the photograph.
7. Strictly no Camera Flash when photographing in an aquarium. Try to make best use of the existing light.

Porcupine Fish

This dead Porcupine fish, was awash on the sands of the Panambur beach in Mangalore. The fish is not commonly found in the the waters of the Arabian sea, and is mostly native to the tropical areas of Atlantic and Pacific ocean's.
When threatened, the fish inflates rapidly with outward facing spines. This causes eaten fish to become lodged in the throat of predators. The porcupine fish hunts over the ocean floor at night, using tiny jets of water to uncover prey.
Photographed at f/2.7 aperture to blur out the background and compensate for low light.