Lens choices for photographing great whites?

[surista1]

Booked a trip for the Guadalupe Islands at the end of this month and would appreciate any suggestions for lens options.

I will be shooting with a Nikon D7000, Tokina 10-17mm lens and 8" dome port. I understand that you need to be close to get good images but not sure how close I want to get. If the sharks keep their distance (as well as me) would it be better to use a lens like the Nikon 10-24mm zoom?

I have searched the forums and have not been able to find suggestions so forgive me if this topic has been discussed previously.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mjh]

When we went I shot the 17-35mm 80% of the time. Once I had some shots I liked I tried the 10.5 and had some luck gallery: Aquablue Dreams. The 12-24 is a good choice. Once you have a few of those "must have" shots you can move to the 10-17.

 

[surista1]

MJH,

Wow!! Those are truly amazing shots. The one labeled "bmfinal" is incredible. I hope I can capture an image like that.

You have me convinced to purchase the 12-24mm. Did you use a strobe(s) for any of your shots? Any other recommendations for camera settings? I'm a relative novice.

Thanks,

 

[deeper thoughts]

great pix!!!

 

[mjh]

For some shots yes I was using a S&S 2x250 pros. But only when the sharks were coming in close so "smaller" strobes would be fine. But most shots are natural light and then played with in Photoshop.

 

[drbill]

Just hope you don't need your macro lens! When I went in 2005, I was shooting video which solves the problem of which lens to use (but not the one of low resolution!). Enjoy the trip. They are amazing fish.

 

[divengolf]

I just got back from Guadalupe on the Solmar V. Most of us shot with something other than a fisheye. I used a 17-70 sigma behind an 8" dome. A few switched to FE (10-17 Tokina most popular) for a couple trips into the cage.

A couple other tips: I started in Manual, but quickly switched to S priority at 1/200 and exp. comp. set to -1/3 or -2/3. As you move, the light changes enough that you're constantly adjusting aperature if shooting in manual. DOF is not an issue with these lens. I found that most of my good shots were in the mid-range of focal length, i.e. around 30-40 mm. You only need a FE if the shark comes real close 3-4 feet from the lens. Many shot without strobes as the sharks were normally outside of strobe range. I used two Ike 125s and rarely lit up the subject.

Watch the direction of the sun relative to the cages. With the currents we had, we were frequently shooting into the sun. I found that early morning was best to have the sunlight behind me. The sun caused "dappled" light in many photos.

Bonnie Pelnar (a professional photog) was with us. She has posted a few of her shots on SB. I think it was in the Liveaboard forum. Worth a look. Her web site is Underwatercolors.com

Good shooting.