How do i get close to fish without spooking them?

I sometimes snorkel when i get the chance and try to take some fishy underwater pics but the prob is most of the fish bolt away! should i try

1. looking for slow/brave fish, octopuses, pineapplefish, rays ect?

2. attracting the fish to me by baiting them over/ feeding them.

3.chasing them till they give me a good shot

4. stay near them so they get used to you.

5. finding curious fish.

6. any ideas???

 

i was filming an octopus near a sand patch in about 80cm of water when it took off and got a good film of me chasing it and it inking through the weed beds and eventually escaping.

1. Good buoyancy control

2. Approach slowly

3. Don't breathe

4. Good buoyancy

5. Years of patience and practice

6. Never scare wildlife into a picture

7. Dive on quiet sites where few divers venture (or where divers dive responsibly (the fish are less scared))

8. Did I mention good buoyancy control ?

 

 

 

 

I sometimes snorkel when i get the chance and try to take some fishy underwater pics but the prob is most of the fish bolt away! should i try

1. looking for slow/brave fish, octopuses, pineapplefish, rays ect?

2. attracting the fish to me by baiting them over/ feeding them.

3.chasing them till they give me a good shot

4. stay near them so they get used to you.

5. finding curious fish.

6. any ideas???

 

i was filming an octopus near a sand patch in about 80cm of water when it took off and got a good film of me chasing it and it inking through the weed beds and eventually escaping.

1. looking for slow/brave fish, octopuses, pineapplefish, rays ect?

Yes, that's a good starting point

2. attracting the fish to me by baiting them over/ feeding them.

NO! Feeding fish is a bad habit (excepth they stay in a aquaruim)

3.chasing them till they give me a good shot

NO! Chasing fish is a bad habit too

4. stay near them so they get used to you.

Yes, thats a good way, let they come to you

5. finding curious fish.

Yes, but not easy

6. any ideas???

Yes:

1. Fishes are scared by the bubbles, learn freediving and take the pics while holding your breath

2. Move as less as possible, decend like a dead leaf without moving, use a quick-drop weight belt to decend motionless

3. learn scuba diving

4. learn later to dive with a rebreather, as no bubbles escape from them, fish will consider you as a fish

 

Chris

Chill out.

 

Swim less. Move less. Breath less.

 

The fish will come to those who wait.

 

Alex

Being a former freediving spearfishing enthousiast many decades ago, I learned to study the fish I was after. Learned the feeding patterns, the conditions and environments they hang at, the mating/spawning times, the competing predators behavior, the best approach angle and the best way to blend in. By knowing more about the fish, I could better think like the fish and get closer to them to get the "kill shot". I still use these old techniques in getting better pictures.

 

Most divers don't understand how noisy and awkward we are to the marine world. I experienced this while using rebreathers one early morning at Catalina and a scuba charter pulled up to our dive site. I could hear the divers getting ready, weight belts and tanks clanking the deck, then the water entries followed by all the bubble noise. Gone was the quiet kelp neighborhood and I could personally relate to all the fish going "I'm outa here".

 

Bo

I understand what Bo is talking about but I have a little different way of thinking about it. Fish live their entire lives trying not to be eaten. They rightly react to predatory behavior. As Howard Hall pointed out years ago, the big black lens on the front of your camera looks an awful lot like a big mouth coming to scoop them up. They know what to do when they see that coming for them. If you go in the water with your camera to "hunt" fish they will pick up on the vib and scatter. I'm convinced they pick up on the tension in our bodies and minds. If you do as Alex suggests and relax, "chill out", and become one with the reef environment you will be amazed at the change in the fishes behavior. We used to see it all the time when shooting film. As soon as 36 shots were used up we'd relax and the reef would come alive and we'd wonder why.

 

It takes a little time for the smaller reef fish to stop worrying about you. It's not unusual to float motionless for 20 minutes or so before they go on with their lives. To Bo's point, if you swim straight at a larger fish they will react immediately and get out of Dodge. If you lazily swim to a point beside them and never make eye contact they will usually stay put. Chasing fish never works. It's why you see so many unseemly tail shots from new divers.

 

For me it's a very mental exercise. On a typical trip it takes a couple of dives to get really relaxed and get in the right frame of mind.

 

Cheers,

Steve

I had similar problems trying to get the perfect picture and was frustrated breath holding trying to get the subject closer without scaring it away with my plume of bubbles when I exhaled.

 

That was until I got a rebreather and I have never looked back!!

 

Regards,

 

Lance

 

May be u can think like this:

 

As simple as how u pursue a girl.....

1. Observe her

2. Understand her

3. Find your opportunity to get close.....and

4. Say hi

5. Ask for H/p no, email, msn or take some photo together... may be hahahahahahahaha.....

 

But not every fish/girl u can do that.... pls read the book "beware off this marine Life"............or "beware off this woman" if you manage to find this book let me know, i need one also.....

thanks hearin ya ideas loud n clear! will try them! and do ya know how much a typical scuba set with stobes would cost? i mainly just snorkel in shallow reefs and weed beds! and iv also heard blocking your nose popping your ears will make it easier to dive!