I suspect that I am being dim but how exactly do I get a photo of a nudibrnach with a black backround like some of the stunning images on here? I can think of three options:

1. snoot - I can't imagine that this would get ris of ALL of the surrounding scenery

2. create a mask in lightroom and get rid fo the background

3. actually manipulate the nudibranch - either picking it up and putting it on a black surface or fenging it into mid water and shooting it like a clay pigeon shoot before it hits the deck (this suggestion not entirely serious btw)

I imagine the third option would give you the best results but is it actually OK to touch wildlife? I realise that it is a slug not a turtle but still. Option 2 feels a bit like cheating.

Mike

A lot of the pictures you see people do pick them up and place them on a stage, I personally don't support this.

Whether you use a snoot or strobe positioning alone the method is the same: low ISO, highest shutter speed that you can sync and tight aperture. Neutral density filters can be used in truly bright environments. Some people shoot with a backdrop.

From there it's a question of having some background separation and then not lighting the background. This can be a struggle if you have particulate (which I do).

For me I rather prefer shallow DOF macro over fighting for a black background unless I have very good separation.

Please do not harass the nudies...

Otherwise as Grantmac says: highest shutter speed, base ISO and high aperture value. In case even higher shutter speed does not bring the desired result, try HSS flash sync (e.g. when wider aperure desired).

Even better results by using a snoot (in combination with above)...

Wolfgang

This is absolutely possible with a snoot.

The key is correct flash alignment and a sufficiently small snoot opening.

Also, of course, as little ambient light as possible is essential (low ISO, fastest possible shutter speed, small aperture).

Yep, totally possible with a snoot. Then as @Grantmac sets out, low ISO, high shutter speed to cut out ambient light - and whatever macro aperture setting you need.

A snoot is the way to go: great fun, massively frustrating to start with - but sheer brilliance when you get it bang-on. There's an article about snooting in the, err Articles section. Hang on a minute! I wrote it.....

Personally, I am not enamored of the totally black background shots. But I do like to snoot macro shots much of the time. I tend to have a second strobe on low power to provide some subtle background texture. You can still sperate the subject adequately, but you don't get that spotlight effect you see in so many snooted images.

Here are a couple from a few days ago as examples. First one is wide aperture, low iso. Second is mid-aperture, higher iso. Both were shot on a dive with terrible visibility (2-3 meters) and lots of suspended particulate. No backscatter removal tools were used.

Nikon Z8 w/Nikkor 60mm lens, Curved Port, f5.6@1/200s iso64 Backscatter Atom strobe & snoot + BS MF-2

Nikon Z8 w/Nikkor 60mm lens, Curved Port, f9@1/200s iso160 Backscatter Atom strobe & snoot + BS MF-2

As Dave mentioned, a snoot works great, but takes practice. I shoot a Sony A7C, so sync speed is a relatively low 1/160, but here in Seattle, that's usually enough. It's usually good enough to get the majority of the background black, but a little clean-up of the usual silt particles may be necessary.

I'm also in the camp of not moving the nudis, they are just way too fragile.

If you want a nudi with totally black BG, I think a snoot is really required and you'll get some spill of light onto whatever it's sitting on depending on how small you snoot beam is and how it is aimed. Personally I like some BG inclusion and haven't ventured into snoot work. Inward lighting can also be effective, but it won't get a totally isolated nudi.

Agree with the others, don't touch the nudis, they can be very fragile, I expect like fish they be injured easily by handling.

I don't use a snoot and do like a black background sometimes. Do not move the nudis or any other critter. You need to find the right subject to make it work and the biggest thing is finding one perched with nothing immediately behind it. Often I have better luck getting lower and shooting a bit uppish. I usually will use a single strobe instead of two. Sometimes there's too much light in the water and I end up with a blue of some sort instead of black. Maybe sometimes things don't end up totally black and isolated, but It takes patience, practice and luck - have fun!

1 hour ago, Kristin said:

You need to find the right subject to make it work and the biggest thing is finding one perched with nothing immediately behind it. Often I have better luck getting lower and shooting a bit uppish.

Really good points from Kristin. Shooting up you can sometimes isolate a critter against a neutral and uncluttered background. Sometimes!

Nice pics, Kristin.

Many excellent points here that I also struggled to internalize for a long time until it finally clicked: find a nudi with as little behind it as possible, set exposure so that the water column is black (or dark blue, etc), set the strobe to expose the subject.

It’s certainly possible without a snoot. This was taken in Anilao on a sunny day at moderate depth. ISO 100, f16, 1/160

Here are a few strobe positions that could also assist you if you don't have a snoot - though a reducer ring on your strobes could be a good investment to limit the light cast

It is tough to be in the moral minority here, but I dive with a bunch or real nudi nerds and will occasionally move a nudi to a purpose built stage.

A lot of folks seem to want to protect all sea creatures; to do that we should not get on jet airplanes and fly 10,000 miles (300,000 kg/CO2) or go on liveaboards that use palm biodiesel (cut down forests to make oil), or go on small dive boats with 2 cycle engines.

As for nudibranch fragility, some might be but many are clearly not. Much of what we know about neuroethology has been learned by running nudibranchs in Marine Biology labs where they are handled extensively throughout their lives with no apparent issues. For me I think that I am trying hard not to harass (but I have no idea what that actually means) them. Mostly I let them crawl onto a wooden satay stick. They like that texture then I let them crawl off the stick and onto a stage. Take some photos, then reverse the process and put them back where they were more or less. I suppose I could try the Wayne Gretzky approach and try to put them back where they would have been if I didn't take their photos.

David Doubilet had a cover of Nat Geo with nudibranchs on a complex stage that probably introduced nudibranchs to an order of magnitude more people than had ever seen one diving. I know the folks who ran that (Graham Abbott was one) and they were extraordinarily careful to put them back where they got them.

In any case, we all have ethical boundaries; I won't do fed shark dives, but I do test our medical products in animals to make sure they are safe for patients.

Cheers

Bill

@bvanant "A lot of folks seem to want to protect all sea creatures; to do that we should not get on jet airplanes and fly 10,000 miles (300,000 kg/CO2) or go on liveaboards that use palm biodiesel (cut down forests to make oil), or go on small dive boats with 2 cycle engines."

Yup. We are extraordinarily entitled in all our explorations, when many of the folks who host us are just trying to make a living.

On 10/11/2026 at 4:08 AM, JMC22 said:

Here are a few strobe positions that could also assist you if you don't have a snoot - though a reducer ring on your strobes could be a good investment to limit the light cast

are these from Alex mustard's course? (which I have just finished and was excellent!)

8 hours ago, Mike Saunders said:

are these from Alex mustard's course? (which I have just finished and was excellent!)

Yes - I would love to do one of his photo shops in Lembeh one day (soon)