Maldives Diving Conditions/Photography Questions...

[Bazal]

Heya,

So I'm a new-ish diver. I'll be going to the Maldives in February. We are going to be staying in Baros Resort and I'm hoping to get at least 10 dives and a lot of snorkeling in. I'll bring my own equipment (minus the fins). I have some questions/concerns I'm hoping people here with more experience can help me out with/direct me.

1- I have roughly 39-49 dives - I do have an AOW PADI and I'm comfortable in deeper depths within my limit. I have dived mostly in Bonaire and Cozumel. I have also done a few dives in Bahamas and Aruba. How does the diving in the Maldives compare?

2- I tend to get "cold"... well a little bit. Bonaire (March) I wore a 3mm (was sufficient)... Cozumel (March), I also wore a 3mm but I was kinda cold. Bahamas and Aruba (August) I wore a 2.5 mm shorty (was warm!). How does the Maldives compare in terms of water temperature? I did look it up - it seems the maldives is warm throughout the whole year and temperatures mimic the Bahamas/Aruba in water temperatures... so it sounds like a shorty is the way to go.... but I'm hoping people here with more experience can chip in (since I'm only looking at numbers).

3- Sharks!! I've only met giant cat fish (nurse sharks in Cozumel) and black tip reef sharks snorkeling... Soooooo... I'm excited to see big bad sharks! But how do I react? Obviously don't panic, don't chase... But hmmm how close do they get to you Has a shark ever gotten uncomfortably close to you out of curiosity? Has one ever decided to swim up to you and open it's jaw to take a bite/taste? Anything I need to know about my first shark encounter?



PART 2 of this wonderful lengthy post. I might have to post this in the Photography section.. but figured might as well post it here too (since I'm posting anyway) and it's Maldives related

So I'm not an underwater photography expert - or even "good" at it. I love taking pictures in general on land (NO NOT selfishies or cellphone pictures - as a matter of fact I in the last year I probably took less than 10 pictures of myself) - I use a Canon 70D on land.

My underwater setup is a Canon Powershot G7X (which conveniently doesn't exist anymore on Adorama) along with a Fantasea housing... and I did have a fish eye wide angle lens... but there's a scratch on it so considering buying a new one

Questions....
4- Do I need to purchase a strobe for day diving? Considering how much I spend on the trip... I really don't want to bust the bank anymore than I have to. In the past I've used Sea & Sea YS-03 Universal Lighting System for Underwater Photography ($299/ 1 strobe - forced flash for pictures... strobe doesn't work for videography). I actually might consider buying one for a possible night dive/snorkel - unless you have other recommendations... but I do have a Sola Light 2000 lumens

5- RE: Sharks. Since I'm considering taking a flash with me.. do sharks react negatively to it? Also... I know you're supposed to get "close" to your subjects for best pictures... but you're also not supposed to pester the marine life... so how do you balance that? Just pray the shark gets close to you?

6- Humidity...? So - unfortunately the Canon Powershot G7X is power hungry... the battery only lasts for 1 dive and maybe a bit... I tried finding batteries with higher mAh with no luck. So here is my worry... a long time ago on a random trip to Cozumel (in May - different from my March trip), I tried switching batteries between dives (2 tank boat dive)... but apparently the humidity got inside of the housing (I wasn't very careful - first time using housing/camera too)... and somehow it opened the housing up and the camera flooded on my second dive... not sure if the housing opened up b/c I didn't close it well, or the humidity inside of the housing didn't allow it to seal properly or someone tampered with it (lots of hands on deck) etc etc. Now considering the Maldives is a VERY expensive trip that I probably won't be repeating anytime soon, I don't want to miss out on capturing great moments (if they happen)..... is it safe to switch batteries between dives? Is there a safe way to do this? I understand the Maldives isn't as humid as Cozumel. HELP?

7- Any other photography advice for the Maldives?

Thanks guys!

PS. Feel free to privately message me

 

[tarponchik]

Heya,

So I'm a new-ish diver. I'll be going to the Maldives in February. We are going to be staying in Baros Resort and I'm hoping to get at least 10 dives and a lot of snorkeling in. I'll bring my own equipment (minus the fins). I have some questions/concerns I'm hoping people here with more experience can help me out with/direct me.

1- I have roughly 39-49 dives - I do have an AOW PADI and I'm comfortable in deeper depths within my limit. I have dived mostly in Bonaire and Cozumel. I have also done a few dives in Bahamas and Aruba. How does the diving in the Maldives compare?

2- I tend to get "cold"... well a little bit. Bonaire (March) I wore a 3mm (was sufficient)... Cozumel (March), I also wore a 3mm but I was kinda cold. Bahamas and Aruba (August) I wore a 2.5 mm shorty (was warm!). How does the Maldives compare in terms of water temperature? I did look it up - it seems the maldives is warm throughout the whole year and temperatures mimic the Bahamas/Aruba in water temperatures... so it sounds like a shorty is the way to go.... but I'm hoping people here with more experience can chip in (since I'm only looking at numbers).

3- Sharks!! I've only met giant cat fish (nurse sharks in Cozumel) and black tip reef sharks snorkeling... Soooooo... I'm excited to see big bad sharks! But how do I react? Obviously don't panic, don't chase... But hmmm how close do they get to you Has a shark ever gotten uncomfortably close to you out of curiosity? Has one ever decided to swim up to you and open it's jaw to take a bite/taste? Anything I need to know about my first shark encounter?



PART 2 of this wonderful lengthy post. I might have to post this in the Photography section.. but figured might as well post it here too (since I'm posting anyway) and it's Maldives related

So I'm not an underwater photography expert - or even "good" at it. I love taking pictures in general on land (NO NOT selfishies or cellphone pictures - as a matter of fact I in the last year I probably took less than 10 pictures of myself) - I use a Canon 70D on land.

My underwater setup is a Canon Powershot G7X (which conveniently doesn't exist anymore on Adorama) along with a Fantasea housing... and I did have a fish eye wide angle lens... but there's a scratch on it so considering buying a new one

Questions....
4- Do I need to purchase a strobe for day diving? Considering how much I spend on the trip... I really don't want to bust the bank anymore than I have to. In the past I've used Sea & Sea YS-03 Universal Lighting System for Underwater Photography ($299/ 1 strobe - forced flash for pictures... strobe doesn't work for videography). I actually might consider buying one for a possible night dive/snorkel - unless you have other recommendations... but I do have a Sola Light 2000 lumens

5- RE: Sharks. Since I'm considering taking a flash with me.. do sharks react negatively to it? Also... I know you're supposed to get "close" to your subjects for best pictures... but you're also not supposed to pester the marine life... so how do you balance that? Just pray the shark gets close to you?

6- Humidity...? So - unfortunately the Canon Powershot G7X is power hungry... the battery only lasts for 1 dive and maybe a bit... I tried finding batteries with higher mAh with no luck. So here is my worry... a long time ago on a random trip to Cozumel (in May - different from my March trip), I tried switching batteries between dives (2 tank boat dive)... but apparently the humidity got inside of the housing (I wasn't very careful - first time using housing/camera too)... and somehow it opened the housing up and the camera flooded on my second dive... not sure if the housing opened up b/c I didn't close it well, or the humidity inside of the housing didn't allow it to seal properly or someone tampered with it (lots of hands on deck) etc etc. Now considering the Maldives is a VERY expensive trip that I probably won't be repeating anytime soon, I don't want to miss out on capturing great moments (if they happen)..... is it safe to switch batteries between dives? Is there a safe way to do this? I understand the Maldives isn't as humid as Cozumel. HELP?

7- Any other photography advice for the Maldives?

Thanks guys!

PS. Feel free to privately message me

1-2. Diving in Maldives is different in warmer waters but mostly legally. Their state law forbids diving below 100 ft, period. You can't go deeper than that, and DMs vigorously enforce this rule. They also forbid solo diving. This is probably not what you are up to anyway, but be prepared to endless "index fingers together" signs from your DM, which is kinda irritating.

3. Yes, there are sharks, but we've seen only harmless reef sharks and nurse sharks, so stay cool. Except for some nurse sharks, especially, where they feed them, sharks tend to stay deep. So they will probably give you a hook and take you down to 90 ft where you hook on to the reef at the cliff edge and watch sharks swimming lazily by there. And yes, pray that they get close to you. Then you'll unhook and the current will take you away. This is an important moment to control your buoyancy. Remember that about half of DCS cases happen underwater, due to buoyancy loss, and not because of the general N2 overtake.

As for photography, you will be fine taking shots of reef fishes on a sunny day in the shallows even w/o a strobe. In the deep, though, your only option is to shoot sharks at high ISO and then suppress the noise. Or shoot video. As an option, you can buy a GoPro light. These are not too expensive but give enough light only to shoot at about 1/60 exposure. So you can use such light to shoot macro.

 

[Hoag]

@Bazal to address a part of your post ... the short answer is yes a strobe will be extremely beneficial even in daytime. Light begins to be filtered out of the water in as little as 10 feet. It starts with reds first and then gradually you start to lose each of the colours in the spectrum. So, unless you will only be at or above 10 feet, a strobe will be useful in replacing the colours which have been filtered out. This also means that to be effective, it (you) have to be close to the subject which you are photographing. A strobe will not only supply "brightness" to your photo but will also restore the colours. One strobe is a minimum, but if you plan on doing any wide angle, two strobes would be better (budget permitting). A strobe + a video light would not be ideal, but it would be better than not having 2 light sources.

I have never been to the Maldives (yet), so I can not give you any Maldives specific advice, but here goes some generic advice (in no particular order) ...

• Get close to your subject. (Remember light gets filtered out in a very short distance underwater and the light has to travel from your strobe to the subject and back again.)
• If your camera supports RAW, then shoot in RAW. (This will give you much more flexibility in post production when you get home.)
• Once you feel comfortable, try to shoot in Manual mode. (Talk to others on your trip about what they tend to use for exposure settings and use that as a starting point. Be aware that this will only be a starting point since you will have different equipment and may not be able to set the same shutter speed or aperture as they are using.)
• Use Auto White Balance, but expect that you will have to adjust it later. (The camera will do its best to guess what to set as a White Balance but it will often guess wrong. If you are shooting in RAW, this then becomes an easy adjustment when you get home.)
• Try to always shoot up at your subject. This will tend to give it separation from the background and will often lead to a better picture.

... and the single most important piece of advice I can give you ...

Have fun & don't get frustrated. Underwater photography is much more challenging than "regular" photography. You are dealing with much trickier lighting situations, current, maintaining you buoyancy etc. You will get far more pictures that are "throw aways" than you will get that are "keepers". Every once in a while though, you will get that one image where everything works out and you see the shot and go "Wow!", and it is that shot that will make it all worth it.

As for shooting sharks, in my experience, I have never seen a shark react to a strobe. Some species are more curious than others and might come over to take a look. Sharks can be very tricky to photograph. By the time that they are close enough for your strobe(s) to really be effective, they are often so close that you don't have the whole shark in your image. Try to find that happy medium where you aren't cutting the shark in half, but it can still be lit as well as possible. Other tips for sharks (or actually any fish) ... whenever possible, focus on the eye. This is what brings the shot home. If the eye is out of focus, then the shark has no personality. (Shooting at a small aperture such as f16 or f22 will help this a lot, but that also causes other issues.) Another tip would be to always leave room in your shot for the shark to swim. (Don't have the nose of the shark right at the edge of your image.)

I hope that I have helped, but one of the nice things about SB is that there are a lot of very talented people who will be more than happy to share there experience with you.

Edited to add: Keep in mind that everything above is simply my personal opinion and offered as advice. It is not intended to be read as though it is a statement of fact.

Best of luck and have an amazing trip.

 

[Bazal]

Heya,

Thank you for your replies. I typically shoot in both JPEG + Raw. Then I take the picture and use lightroom to adjust the white balance/colors. I typically leave my white balance to auto and shoot in TV/AV Mode. I found the strobe in daylight to be very ineffective because it doesn't have "enough" light to make a difference - pictures still come out blue. Could also be I'm not close enough to the subject for the light to make a difference too. I'm not comfortable shooting in Manual yet - I'll get there sometime! And as you said 90% of the pictures are all meh (good but not the "one").... but really all you need is that one perfect shot to make your day! I will admit I shoot "auto" during night dives - that's when the strobe really makes a difference I find.

My beef with my powershot G7x is I can't film and shoot pictures simultaneously and the battery life makes me stroke out! I missed out on some amazing shots during dive #2 because I ran out of juice. Any thoughts on point #6? Am I safe to change batteries b/w dives or any suggestions otherwise?

I do have a gopro 3+ hero - I have a diving case for it and a red filter somewhere too... I wonder if I can somehow make use of this during my dives - perhaps have it record passively with a video light while taking pictures? Or something... Just not sure where I would mount it.... thinking out loud

 

[tarponchik]

@Bazal You can change battery ONLY if you rinsed you camera with fresh water. Maybe your battery is old? In every Canon camera I had battery charge was sufficient for 2 dives. And I was using a slave flash (which you don't) so I used more energy per shot.

#6: be careful not to have any water drops inside the case when you lock it and put a bag of silica gel inside.

 

[Hoag]

Heya,

Thank you for your replies. I typically shoot in both JPEG + Raw. Then I take the picture and use lightroom to adjust the white balance/colors. I typically leave my white balance to auto and shoot in TV/AV Mode. I found the strobe in daylight to be very ineffective because it doesn't have "enough" light to make a difference - pictures still come out blue. Could also be I'm not close enough to the subject for the light to make a difference too. I'm not comfortable shooting in Manual yet - I'll get there sometime! And as you said 90% of the pictures are all meh (good but not the "one").... but really all you need is that one perfect shot to make your day! I will admit I shoot "auto" during night dives - that's when the strobe really makes a difference I find.

My beef with my powershot G7x is I can't film and shoot pictures simultaneously and the battery life makes me stroke out! I missed out on some amazing shots during dive #2 because I ran out of juice. Any thoughts on point #6? Am I safe to change batteries b/w dives or any suggestions otherwise?

I do have a gopro 3+ hero - I have a diving case for it and a red filter somewhere too... I wonder if I can somehow make use of this during my dives - perhaps have it record passively with a video light while taking pictures? Or something... Just not sure where I would mount it.... thinking out loud

@Bazal since you tend to shoot either Tv or Av, my recommendation would be to do it like this: Shoot Tv for wide angle and Av for macro/close up shots. Here is the reason. The tone of the blue water in a wide angle shot is determined by a number of factors, but the single biggest factor will be your shutter speed. Your strobe is going to do its thing, but how long your shutter stays open will determine how much ambient light hits your sensor. Longer shutter speeds will tend to result in a lighter blue background while faster (higher) shutter speeds will result in a deeper blue background. On macro, use your aperture to control the depth of field and how much light the sensor "sees" from the strobe. An f stop of f16 - f22 or so will tend to give those dark backgrounds that are so nice on a macro shot. After you gain more experience, then start shooting in manual and manipulate both shutter speed and aperture to give you exactly the result you hope for (you will still get mostly throw aways).

You mention that your strobe seems relatively ineffective during the daytime and that your shots still turn out blue. Keep in mind that given that you have been using a Sea & Sea YS-03, your strobe has a Guide Number of 20. This is perfectly usable (I used a S&S YS-03 on my last trip), but since it is not a really strong strobe, you will likely see the best results when you are no more than 3 feet (1 M) from your subject. Anything beyond that, including the background will have little to no benefit from the strobe and will be the colours you see in regular, "ambient" light and will result in the colours that you are seeing.

 

[tarponchik]

@Bazal since you tend to shoot either Tv or Av, my recommendation would be to do it like this: Shoot Tv for wide angle and Av for macro/close up shots. Here is the reason. The tone of the blue water in a wide angle shot is determined by a number of factors, but the single biggest factor will be your shutter speed. Your strobe is going to do its thing, but how long your shutter stays open will determine how much ambient light hits your sensor. Longer shutter speeds will tend to result in a lighter blue background while faster (higher) shutter speeds will result in a deeper blue background. On macro, use your aperture to control the depth of field and how much light the sensor "sees" from the strobe. An f stop of f16 - f22 or so will tend to give those dark backgrounds that are so nice on a macro shot. After you gain more experience, then start shooting in manual and manipulate both shutter speed and aperture to give you exactly the result you hope for (you will still get mostly throw aways).

You mention that your strobe seems relatively ineffective during the daytime and that your shots still turn out blue. Keep in mind that given that you have been using a Sea & Sea YS-03, your strobe has a Guide Number of 20. This is perfectly usable (I used a S&S YS-03 on my last trip), but since it is not a really strong strobe, you will likely see the best results when you are no more than 3 feet (1 M) from your subject. Anything beyond that, including the background will have little to no benefit from the strobe and will be the colours you see in regular, "ambient" light and will result in the colours that you are seeing.

I agree, but the reasons for Tv are different. If you shoot moving objects, they will be smeared if your exposure was longer than 1/250. And if fish or sharks look smeared, it does not matter how blue your background is. The shot is ruined.

 

[Christian]

Long question, long answer.

1. More fish, more variety, bigger numbers, bigger sizes. Coral shallower than 10 feet are so-so all over the Maldives due to several bleaching episodes, with the BIG one during the 1998 El Nino. Then a smaller in 2010 and then a 'medium' in 2016. At depth, still good in places.
February means water coming into the atolls from the north east and great viz and action on the eastern side of atolls. Mantas on the western side.
Dives are on reefs inside the atoll (thilas) or in inlets/channels (kandus) to the atolls. N Male atoll (Baros) has both types of dives and you should be able to pick a boat that suits your experience and preferences. Thila diving is generally easier going, whereas (good) channel diving can be pretty advanced with mask ripping incoming current. I just returned from Filitheyo where the dive center had a minimum 40 dives rule to join the "advanced" boat unless not chaperoned by a guide/instructor. Currents were fierce at times and even seasoned divers were challenged. Current strength is unpredictable. The diveguide will always do a quick current check before anyone can jump in.

2. It will be warm water tropical diving, generally 28 C, but incoming currents can be a little colder. Locally I've encountered temperatures as low as 24 C when diving in channel entrances with strong incoming current. Most people are happy in shorties or skins when doing resort diving with 2 dives/day. I've used a full 3mm to get some protection. There are some nasty stinging stuff in the sea.

3. There are plenty of reef sharks -- black tips, white tips, nurse sharks and grey reef sharks, but bigger stuff like silvertips, oceanic white tips, threashers, silkys, tigers etc are rare in most atolls. Grey reefs would be the most 'serious' common shark to see and the best places to see them are generally on the outside of the channels when the current is running. I have not been to Baros but I think that you will be able to see a few reef sharks on the house reef, just snorkeling. Inme Maldivian sharks are shy and don't come that close. The exception would be on Fishhead in N. Ari Atoll. But even there, not close enough for high quality images. Whale sharks are common in some areas in some periods -- South Ari, but I don't think N Male is particularly good for whale sharks.

Re photo. A flash will make a huge difference if used correctly.
Shooting small fish or critters, the flash will bring out colors that are filtered out by the water.
Make sure to get close. Then closer.
For wide angle -- a single (or dual) flash set-up can not light a whole reef scene. What you'd have to do is "blend the flash with natural light", meaning you find an object on the reef, a beatiful soft coral, an anemone, a moray eel sting ray, turtle ... use it as the foreground. Get close to it and light it with the flash. The backround/reef scenery will have to be lit by natural light and that's where you have to measure the light to decide your shutter speed/aperture. Takes some practice to get it right.
If you can't get the whole shark into your frame -- get a wider lens, because that's how close you have to be. And then, a shark that "comes into" frame can be a pretty spectacular image, inmo.
What I try to do when I photograph sharks is to try to "read" how they move on the reef in the current. They usually follow a pattern. Then try to locate yourself in a strategic spot and be "quite". There's no point in chasing. The shark will outswim even Ian Thorpe. Easily.
I've found Maldives to be a challenging destination for a photographer. Sharks as I said, very shy. Then also strong currents in places that makes it strenuous and difficult, especially with a DSLR with dual strobes. A smaller rig is a benefit. Some dives are challenging even for experienced divers w/o extra gear. So if you are a new diver, I would probably advise to go for the easier dives or leave the camera til you have first hand experience of what you are getting into. A reef hook can be useful in some situations to free up your hands, but not advisable if you don't already have some experience from how to use it and they should be used with great caution in strong currents.

Good luck

 

[matador]

sorry for the late reply but given that I have the exact same set up with you (Canon G7x mark I) and I did a trip to Maldives last year, I thought I should reply your photography questions:

4) Yes, you definitely need a strobe for day diving if you are to make any decent pictures. And also, in Maldives you will get some of the best night diving you will ever have so yes, strobe it a must imho.
5) I haven't seen ever sharks reacting to flash (maybe just once when I set off the flash next to it's eye ...). And during day diving in Maldives I doubt you will ever get close to any shark anyway so dont worry about it.
6) I have 2 spare batteries for my Canon G7x that I was changing on the boat after each dive. No issues with humidity but I have been doing this in Indonesia, Thailand, etc. without any problems. Just make sure that no droplets find their way in the housing.

I hope you enjoy your trip.
see here for my pictures taken with the same camera as yours and with one strobe: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanost/albums/72157675921778746