Do arms out scare fish?

[drbill]

Of course this depends a great deal on whether the fish are conditioned to the presence of divers. In our dive park, most of them see us as part of the environment and don't seem to mind close approaches unless the movements are sudden or threatening.

When I dived the Sea of Cortez regularly, I noticed many species that were skittish in front of my camera elsewhere in the region were not bothered much by it near Cabo where divers are much more common.

 

[iainwilliams]

Good point Bill.

 

[ReefHound]

Fish can detect pressure waves created by a moving object approaching them. The intensity of these waves relate to the size and speed of the approaching object. You want to minimize these waves. Avoid any sudden movements and move in slowly. If possible, approach laterally rather than head on. Some fish seem affected by whether you are looking directly at them or in another direction so maybe try moving in slowly while looking away, using your peripheral vision.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I have some not so great pic's of a 14-ish foot tiger shark that I moved up off the bottom with camera held out front; it turned and was was too far away before the 4th shot from my high speed continuous burst (~5 sec).

On the other end of the spectrum, I spent 45 minutes watching/shooting/participating with this current surfing squadron of spotted eagle rays. This location has multiple finger reefs off a significant point, and has current most of the time.

The first two shots were on a very early freedive, with camera kind of tucked under my right shoulder/arm; just barely able to see viewfinder. Half the squadron was not comfortable flying with me, or they found who they were looking for and left for more important swimming.

Eventually, the remaining 4 allowed me to fly with them, my arms spread wide like wings. My wide angle lens makes the camera really heavy so my membership was fleeting, but one out of 3 passes scored that upside down camera shot.

​

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Another thing that I've found helpful is to not look directly at your subject ... it tends to evoke their "Yikes!" instinct. Moving in slowly and seeing the subject strictly through the camera seems to keep them at ease ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Blue Whale]

Great input from everyone. We've proven the impact of the diver's bubbles when we recently used rebreathers. It was like if we could sneak right up and observe the reef activities without frightening the fish. Of course, we normally don't use rebreathers when focusing on shallow reef photography. Just don't be in a hurry and anticipate the action of the critter you're trying to photograph. This works so well for me sometimes that I'm finding myself needing to have macro focus settings because the fish are swimming into my camera. I've got a picture of the inside of an eel's mouth because of that... he was as surprised as I was and opened his mouth over my domed port. When the strobes flashed he really took off. I wish someone was video taping that because it probably would have made 'Funniest Home Videos'.

 

[rexwang]

the topic has come up that you dont wanna "look directly at the prey," one of the tricks in spearfishing is that you use a mirror lense on your mask. the fish dont see your eyes so they dont get that "oh crap hes gonna kill me" feeling.

its all basically the same though, hunters and phtographers both need to make the prey comfortable with our presence.

halemano: some sick shots, i have a really nice photo of a turtle swiming directly at my face, i let him swim over the top of me, love the upside down shots.

 

[SailNaked]

I am no expert with maybe 2000 underwater pictures, but it seems to me if you are mellow and take a second to bond with the fish they will pose for you, some even come out of their holes to take a look at the strange sight on their front porch. seems slow approach and then wait a bit. they get used to you and give you the opportunity to take their best side.