I captured this image whilst in Cuba last August and it was probably the most technically challenging underwater shoot I've ever attempted. It took four people to pull it off safely - but I think it was worth it.
I’d seen similar shots & I thought that my trip to Jardines de la Reina, Cuba, might give me an opportunity to try it because it’s renowned for how many sharks you see there. This is because the area has been a protected marine reserve for over 50 years - it was established by Fidel Castro who was a scuba diver himself. It’s very rich in fish species because fishing is not allowed… & if there are lots of fish there’s always an abundance of the apex predator, the shark.
I’d hired a guide & boat to myself for the trip so it was the ideal time to try things out. I also got very lucky because my dive guide loved sharks too & needed no encouragement to try the shoot. We planned it for a couple of days, visiting likely looking spots in the day. We needed lots of sharks if it was going to work, plus obviously a good sunset. This was the plan;
anchor the boat so I could use the anchor rope to hang over and steady myself. This was necessary because I needed to lift the camera out of the water, 50:50 in & out is needed for these split shots, and it’s a heavy camera.
we’d hang a bait box over the side to attract the sharks, plus the boat driver would throw in extra fish to get sharks directly in front of me
my guide and an extra spotter would watch front and back to make sure no really large sharks, like Tigers or Hammerheads, showed up - that would make it very unsafe
The shoot was planned for the Thursday evening & all we could do now was hope for a good sunset. We arrived around 30 minutes early, anchored up & dropped the bait box over the side. Within 10 minutes we’d got at least 10 sharks around the boat! The sunset was doing its bit too. We did a final briefing so everyone knew their job & in we got. I took up my position & started shooting.
The sharks were all around me - they were banging into my legs and body as they competed for the food being thrown in. Now I like sharks, but when you can’t see them coming (my head was above the water) & they are banging into you, well that’s another matter!
I just kept shooting, I’ll admit that I never composed a single shot. It was too hectic and well, frankly, scary. I just took loads & hoped one would work.
Thankfully the sun goes down quickly near the equator so the whole shoot only lasted 15 minutes, but it was enough. I climbed back on to the boat completely exhausted.
When I came to review the photos it was as you would expect if you just click & hope - at least 90% were rejects. But I did get a few & this one is my favourite. A great reminder of a very intense experience. Happy days :-)
The video puts you there with me but it was shot, like the stills, with no attention to detail so apologies about the excessive camera motion.
Sharks at Sunset