Stingray feeding

Cayman Islands, Caribbean This is a wild sting ray in it’s natural environment, which is distinctly different from the other photos I’ve been showing you.

Stingrays feed in many areas of the oceanic environment, but sometimes they bury themselves in the sand. Although they can’t see well when they do this, they use their sensitive smell and electro receptors just like sharks do to locate mollusks and suck them up. Adequately crushing them with their strong jaws and teeth, protruding their mouth if they need to.

That’s what this stingray seemed to be doing, all the activity grabs the attention of nearby fish and scavengers, hoping to get some scraps or find something that’s dug up in the sand.

Photographic Details:Canon 20D Shutter Priority 1/200s f/16.0 ISO200 22mm (35mm eq:35.2mm)

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Sea fan sun rays

Cayman Islands, Caribbean I can’t get over how awesome this little underwater world is! The sun rays are beautiful, the colourful fish help anchor the shot, but what speaks to me about this photo is the inclusion of these people here: If you can snorkle, you can get these shots, just like I did. You can invest in an underwater housing from $300 up to some onholy amount, but I want you to know a shot like this is not beyond your reach!

Photographic Details:Ewa Marine housing, Shutter priority mode Canon 20D 1/250s f/5.6 ISO100 12mm (35mm eq:19.2mm)

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School of joy

Cayman Islands, Caribbean Being surrounded by a school of fish feels like nature is personifying your wonder with the colourful shapes and graceful movements of each fish as they move around you in a synchronized spectacle.

Photographic Details: A shot like this could very well be possible with one of those underwater disposable cameras. The major difference here is that I used a graduated yellow filter on the top left of the image to give this photo a more etherial feel. Next time you go on vacation, bring an underwater housing!

Ewa Marine housing, Shutter Priority mode Canon 20D 1/250s f/5.0 ISO100 12mm (35mm eq:19.2mm)

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The touch of a stingray

Cayman Islands, Caribbean Stingray city was such a joy to swim in, after realizing that these animals were safe to be among, pure elation sets in as we come in contact with these creatures.

My brother and I were floating happily here when this lazy stingray comes up from behind him while brushing him with his fin. My brother jumped with surprise and amazingly enough this stingray was not afraid at all after this reaction.

As feared as these creatures are for having killed one of the most famous naturalists in the world, they are extremely docile. You can see the the much talked about poisonous barb used for defence barely sticking out of the base of the tail.

Photographic Details: As outlined in previous posts I used my trusty ewa-marine camera bag for this shot on shutter priority mode for 1/250 of a second. This was still fast enough to capture the gliding stingray as it swam into my face, their bellies are so soft it made me laugh!

1/250s f/6.3 ISO100 22mm (35mm eq:35.2mm)

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Down where it’s wetter

Cayman Islands, Caribbean The pure joy of swimming through the colourful world below the ocean is as palpable as the ocean currents that sway the corals and creatures under the sea. Fancy diving gear and scuba training isn’t necessary for a photo like this. Just a snorkel, mask and fins can get you to beautiful places like this (after the plane ticket that is).

Photographic Details: I would hold my breath and dive down with my camera in my $300  Ewa Marine bag, most other underwater solutions start at around $3000. It’s an underwater housing for the casual underwater photographer who wants to bring their SLR. Because it’s a bag type housing I’ve been able to fit three generations of cameras inside it, not having to buy a new one every time I get a camera with different configurations. The only thing you have to be weary of is that you need to fill it up with the correct amount of air for the depth that you will be diving to, I’ve taken this to 70 feet underwater.

Because the buttons are a bit difficult to get to, I just set the camera to shutter priority mode and a decent speed of 1/250s to ensure any movement from the currents wouldn't cause problems for me, I was wiggling around a lot in that water!

Canon 20D Shutter Priority: 1/250s f/4.5 ISO100 12mm (35mm eq:19.2mm) Canon 10-22mm Lens.

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Sting ray city

Cayman Islands, Caribbean These stingrays have become quite accustomed to people seeking a close encounter with them. Aware that we would not hurt them, their guard is down and I can tell even by their body language that they are very comfortable around us. Diving around stingrays in unpopulated areas I could see a stark contrast in the distance they keep from me with the way they wearily glide in the water. This tells me they don’t know what I am and don’t want to find out.

However upon arrival in sting ray city a floating gelatinous pancake of a stingray gingerly glides towards me, instantly smooshing into my body with it’s soft underbelly in hopes of sucking a squid out of my hand. Their small poisonous barb used for defence is in the lowered position, where I can even run my hand across it without incident. These stingrays would circle around me, brush up against me and even seemed to enjoy its encounter and free meal.

I used the same techniques that are further outlined in this post: http://www.kylefoto.com/2011/07/antarctic-underwater-iceberg/