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Underwater Photography

What’s so great about it?

Well, being underwater is special itself; whenever I go diving, that weightless feeling and the unique surroundings are completely wonderful things to experience in your life time. It's so amazing that mankind has managed to find a way to search the endless oceans, and see a whole other world.

So, how are the photos?

When I started diving, I saw the raw, natural beauty of the ocean. I saw sharks lazily gliding through the water, moray eels poking their heads out of crevices, turtles propelling themselves through the water with the current and giant schools of fish diving and swarming in a horde. I wanted to be able to capture what I saw, and show others the real beauty of the ocean. 

 The first time I used the camera, I was doing my PADI Sea Turtle Awareness Speciality. This meant that I had to catch up to turtles, and take a photo of the side of their face. Fun Fact: the side of a turtle's face has a unique pattern that can be used to identify that individual, like a fingerprint. I dove under the waves, and spent a day looking for turtles and photographing them. Most of the turtles were hawksbill, and had very dirty shells. I was beginning to lose hope of seeing a green turtle: the type of turtle with a beautiful, patterned shell. Then, as I had only 70 PSI remaining in my tank (50 PSI means that you are low on air, and you have to surface ASAP), this green turtle appeared from behind us, and allowed me to take this shot before carrying on into the infinite blue. We then surfaced, and headed home for the day.

The next day, we travelled to a different dive site, one which was famed for how many different types of fish coexisted in one area. As soon as I dived down, I noticed the large amounts of anemones. Then, I noticed this little guy, curiously looking at me, and I decided to snap a picture. The reason why clownfish live in anemones is because they are immune to the sting from several species of anemones, and they can be protected from predators. 

Then, I went swimming along the reef, with the current. I stopped for a second, and then this school of yellow fusiliers swam around me, creating a tunnel effect. It was truly a great experience to see all these fish slowly swimming around me while I floated in place. ​

After seeing that, I continued along the reef. Then, I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I turned around, and my dive buddy pointed at a fever of eagle rays that were travelling up the reef. Eagle rays are generally very shy creatures, and the fact that they let me swim close enough to them to take this photo was very special. I watched them slowly glide away, and over the reef. We then had to surface, and go back.

That was my last dive there, and they I headed home the next day.

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat! It was so amazing to see these beautiful sights, experience the majesty and wonderful setting that the ocean provides. More than that, diving was very calming, and I never wanted to leave the water. If I get another chance to do it again soon, I'll take the chance over almost anything else, hands down.

Ankit Kumar1 Comment