Singapore, a tiny city-state in the heart of Southeast Asia, evokes images of streets that are clean and safe, Formula 1 racing under the stars and unforgettable eclectic cuisine. Singapore is home to the second busiest port in the world, which is now just a footnote in its curriculum vitae as this small island continues to glitz itself up. Singapore’s southern ocean, long the perennial lifeblood of the nation, is about to have its day in the sun again, for an audacious project is taking place just five kilometers from the mainland: setting up a Marine Park right within the port limits.

I recently read an article that noted human encounters with giant mantas are very rare. This may be true in most areas, but not in the Socorro Islands. If you are looking for the perfect opportunity to photograph these gentle giants, this is the place. The dive site El Boiler off the island of San Benedicto is a cleaning station where the mantas come in for a cleaning by the resident clarion fish. They tend to be very curious and love getting bubble baths from the divers.

Below are a few tips that will help you bring home some exciting images.

Adobe Lightroom has become the standard for editing and organizing underwater photos, at least for those who consider themselves serious photographers. Adobe has worked hard to earn this position, building more robust tools and features into each new release. Lightroom is designed to streamline photo workflows for working pros shooting thousands of images while remaining simple and intuitive for photographers of all levels. No matter what our level of u/w photography, we can always benefit from more optimized workflows.