Whale Shark

Back in April when I made my first trip to Australia, one of the top items on my wish list was to swim with whale sharks.  I didn't really know what to expect photo-wise, but I brought a cheap underwater house with me in an attempt to capture a few memories from our two swims.

Swimming with these giants is hard work.  They move lazily in the water, but can propel themselves very quickly with the simply flick of a tail, so it takes a lot of energy keeping up with them.  You're also not allowed to swim in front of their face, which makes photography a bit more challenging.  In this case, I was able to swim out with the scout from our boat to snap a few images as this shark emerged from the depths, coming in our general direction before we let it pass.

Visibility was fairly poor most of the time, thanks to the monthly coral bloom (which also necessitated some noise reduction for the water), but I liked the way this image depicts the giant emerging from the depths.  Those white spots on the shark's topside also work remarkably well when it comes to camouflaging it, so the semi-indistinct look to this image is pretty appropriate.

Canon 1DX
Canon 17-40mm
ISO 800
1/500th
f/5.6
Ewa-Marine housing

Max