Thresher shark images on Wetpixel Facebook group

by adamhanlon Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Alex Stoyda (homepage in Russian) has posted this fantastic image of thresher sharks (Alopias vulpinus) taken at Monad Shoal, Malpascua, Philippines in the Wetpixel Facebook group. He reports that photographic conditions were challenging as he was shooting using ambient light only at ISOs from 640 to 3200. The sharks were encountered at depths of 30m (90’) and the lack of light made focusing very difficult. Alex says that he was forced to pre-focus at 2-3m and let the sharks swim into his focus range. However, on each early morning dive of all 5 days of his stay, Alex saw between 2-7 sharks simultaneously. (Image © Alex Stoyda).

@ ALL Thank you very much for your feedback. I made shoots of these sharks within five days from 5 to 6 am. Every day I met them at the same place at the Monad Shoal in an amount from 2 to 7 at a time. All photos are made without the use of flashes. The main reason - the ban on the use of strobes on cleaning station, but there is a second reason - early in the morning when you use flash you would have received in the most absolute black water in the background, not natural. Also at this time there were great difficulties with the use of autofocus, but the lighting is also prohibited. All these images are processed only in the DPP Canon soft without using Photoshop. Made a small correction for white balance and brightness / contrast. Thank you for the opportunity to Canon 5Dmark2 use of extreme values ISO from 3200 to 640. Lens 16-35/2, 8 L. The day were made this set with two sharks, it was clear skies and very good visibility under water - up to 15 meters. As soon as the sun appeared, I was able to reduce the sensitivity to 640 ISO, to reduce color noise.
Posted by DrAlex on 2012-06-18 13:10:59 Great shot, and not easy just using ambient light. I was also under the impression they are A.pelagicus. Threshers can be seen in many places other than Malapascua, like Brumpy says above The Brothers is a great place to see them. We also use to have regular sightings at Layang Layang, Sipadan and Maratua but a little deeper. They can now also be seen down in Moalboal hunting sardines. I photographed the threshers in Malapascua way back in 2001 when strobes were still allowed and we had extremely close encounters with them as there weren't that many divers around. Actually the strobes never spooked them, it was always the noise/bubbles from the tank. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30283068@N02/3069936231/in/set-72157610487025620
Posted by muppetcam on 2012-06-18 01:54:28 Fantastic mission impossible !!
Posted by eileenchangs on 2012-06-12 08:49:36 Awesome shot! Nice natural lighting and two sharks in the same picture - Well done :)
Posted by anpers on 2012-06-02 15:45:11 It's a magic shot, wow!
Posted by Alex_Tattersall on 2012-06-02 02:43:59 No flash here. The incident angle of light on the surface of both sharks is consistent with a surface source. Ah the wonders of shooting RAW. Beautiful shot!
Posted by Dave on 2012-06-01 14:57:56 Nice work, capturing the grace of the sharks and their comfort with your presence.
Posted by Uwrasse on 2012-06-01 12:53:15 @pacey999 You can do a lot of wb correction in the RAW conversion. This person has stated that they did not use flash. Unless you have proof otherwise, it is a little unfair to suggest they are being less than truthful on this public forum. On another note; I thought the threshers in Malpascua were A. pelagicus. Not sure, just something I seem to remember.
Posted by diverdave1 on 2012-06-01 11:43:58 I have seen allot of treshers sharks in Egypt on Brother island! And i have done like +30 dives on Monad Shoal aswel but my best sightings where in Egypt. But this is a really great image flash or not!
Posted by Brumpy on 2012-06-01 08:33:34 An amazing shot, the best I've seen. But it looks very much like flash was used in this shot. How did you manage to white balance for red in the cleaner fish at 30m and get such fidelity in the whites? It should be noted that never should flash be used with these sharks as they are very sensitive to light and Malapascua is the only place you can see these sharks, would be a shame to scare them away. If flash really wasnt used then fantastic shot, well done.
Posted by pacey999 on 2012-06-01 08:16:36 Beautiful fish!
Posted by JKrumsick on 2012-05-31 17:47:24