Whale shark shooting tips?

Will be in Maldives in a few weeks during whale shark season, really looking forward as these have always been on my list to shoot.

Do any experienced shooters have suggestions for ideal settings, will be shooting Nikon D200 with Tokina 11-16mm in an Ikelite housing

I am especially interested in the focus mode, in Florida the group dynamic autofucs seemed to work good for manatees, but if I'm fortunate enough to get close to a whale share I wonder if the auto focus will have a hard time locking up o n such a broad area?

Also as far as lighting I have a DS-125 strobe but am wondering if available light is easier both to cut down on glare (unless I go with a 1/4 pop all the time just for some fill light), and also just so I can be a little more mobile with the camera?

Any other pointers are most welcome!

Best,

Philip

Available light. Hyperfocal - focus on your fins, set the camera to manual focus. Shoot shutter priority, set shutter speed to 1/100 (maybe 1/125). Underexpose, EV = -2.0. Take pictures of the water, adjusting ISO and f-stop until you are satisfied with the color of the water. You will want f-stops 5.6 or higher, so don't be afraid of higher ISO values. When the time comes, swim like crazy and shoot as many shots in as short of a time as possible. Keep your fingers crossed.

i'd say group AF would work great for a whale shark, that mode is fantastic and i'll be sad to lose it when i house my d700. one strobe would likely not do much so maybe just shoot ambient light. though i'd be hesitant to set an EV of -2 when shooting only ambient, might give you nice deep blues but your subject will also be underexposed, unless you do that and fill with the strobe, though likely you won't be close enough for the strobe to do anything worthwhile. can't hurt to try, can always turn the strobe off. its worth trying filters, like the magic filter if you're staying shallow and its sunny. cheers,

chris

Hey,thanks for sharing this info's. Really informative tips.

Regards,

mitrafox

Placement financier

With what jlyle said i would heavily disagree with one things... Don't fin like crazy and try to chase after it... you have no chance and will just use up all your air. With whale sharks in particular there is no need very often to chase after them... Instead be a little patient and they will come back around and you then have some amazing head on chances plus you wont use up all your air and be able to to dive with them for an hour instead of 20mins. i know this isn't technical but makes a HUGE difference.. also means you are still and so a lot easier to frame your shot as you have more time to think of the composition over all.

With regards to the technical side... it kinda depends on how bright a day it is with weather i would go with EV-2. If it is cracking weather and the shark is only a few meters down then sure thing. If not.. just use your common sense with it. I would heavily recommend trying to open up the F stops as your are shooting a large subject and it is nice to get a bit more dof. but this does all kinda depend on the amount of ambient light. I would try to open it up as much as i can.. even trying to f12-16 or more though it can be nice to get some dramatic close ups with the shallower dof. With regards to ISO i cant remember what the noise lvls are like on that nikon but personally i would recommend trying to keep on the lower side. Not sure at all about focusing as really dont know how the nikons handle BUT most importantly of all is dont be afraid to play around with the settings and find out through trial and error. It is great to have advice and get general guidlines though you will be the only one there at the time and so be able to judge light, viz etc.etc.. so dont stick to anything too closely and find out what works best for you in the situation at hand.

MOST importantly... dont just spend your whole time shooting it.. spend a few mins to just enjoy the sight... they are beautiful and you will want to be able to have a memory of it other that just panicing about if your have got the right camera settings!!

Again, just my thoughts on it and there are definitely those vastly more qualified to answer, but hope you have a great time anyway!