2nd Place, Novice DSLR

Carolyn Wang

"Silvertip in the Sun"  Shot in Rangiroa, French Polynesia with Olympus E-M1

Carolyn won a 7-night, 5 dive day package for two at Kosrae Nautilus Resort!

The story:  We had 3 large female silvertip sharks along with 3-4 grey sharks with us during the dive, down at about 60 fsw.  Visibility was great, and I knew I wanted to try to get a shot with the sun behind the shark while still lighting the details of its white underbelly.  This was going to be a mixture of technique, patience, and some luck that the shark would pass close enough to me for the shot.   I stayed down near the reef, watching the pathways the sharks were swimming in to position myself accordingly, and I also did multiple test shots to ensure my camera and strobe settings were correct before trying to get the final shot.  As the silvertip approached, I was very still, and controlled my breathing so as to not send a stream of bubbles up when the shark neared.  It passed about 6 feet over my head for this shot. 

Location:  Rangiroa, French Polynesia

Camera:  Olympus OM-D E-M1, Nauticam housing, Panasonic 7-14mm lens, dual Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobes.

Settings:  f8, 1/160, ISO 400

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