No-Flash underwater photography
I take all my pictures without the use of a flash to capture the natural colouration of marine animals in their environment. Flashes blow away the typical underwater bluish or greenish short-wavelength skewed light spectrum (reds are almost absent below 10 m depth) by adding loads of white light.
This allows to capture very colourful images of animals that are yet far away from how they appear underwater.
Observe marine wildlife through my eyes
Have a look at a selection of some of my favourite shots
Hungry dugongs have no table manners
This image shows a dugong foraging on a large seagrass patch. This is one of the last places with a resident dugong in the Red Sea. Dugongs are considered to be at risk of extinction in the wild. Their main threats include by-catch, boat strikes and destructive fishing. In the picture, the dugong voraciously forages holding its breath at 24 m depth, while two pilot fish feed on small invertebrates. The relationship between these two species is an example of commensalism: the dugong does not really benefit from having pilot fish around, yet it offers them protection from predators and sources of food. This image has been taken without the use of a flash and using manual white balance to capture the natural coloration of the subjects.