Australia - Great White Shark Photography

Further to my earlier post about the Great White shark cage diving page I have added to my site - I have now completed another page dedicated to photographing Great Whites.

Here is the link: Great White Shark Photography

Don

I have added a new page to my site www.indopacificimages.com detailing my experience from several trips out to Dangerous Reef and the South Neptune Islands in South Australia to cage dive with the Great Whites.

It really is a great experience and I wanted to document the key things I have learned to share with others contemplating such a trip.

Here is the link: http://www.indopacificimages.com/index.php...rk-cage-diving/

I have migrated my site over to Wordpress and am in the process of completely refreshing it - work in progress, but any feedback on the content, structure, user-friendliness etc is greatly appreciated.

Don

Great photos and a great description! For someone like me who has not yet done a cage dive like this, you've answered all my questions. Which lens? Strobes, or no strobes? Motor drive? If (when) I do go, your information will certainly prepare me. Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it.

Randall Benton

Don thank you for your posting.

I am looking at going next year with Rodney Fox crew and your report has helped in my preparation for the trip.

I have heard that the REX transfer flight from Adelaide to Port Lincoln only has a baggage allowance of 15kg...? So limiting on what amount of gear you want to take, how did you find them?

What lens did you prefer to use for the surface shots?......18-200Vr or would something like the 70-200 f2.8 be more suitable?

Would small strobes such as the Inon Z240's be able to be used inside the cage? As I noticed that Rodney fox offers a bottom cage and strobes would be a must.

Did you go and dive with the nearby Seal's? Heard thats a must thing to do while your there.

Regards Mark

Great photos and a great description! For someone like me who has not yet done a cage dive like this, you've answered all my questions. Which lens? Strobes, or no strobes? Motor drive? If (when) I do go, your information will certainly prepare me. Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it.

 

Randall Benton

Hi Randall, thanks for the feedback and I am pleased that it answered your questions - let me know if I can help if you do decide to give it a go.

Don

Don thank you for your posting.

 

I am looking at going next year with Rodney Fox crew and your report has helped in my preparation for the trip.

 

I have heard that the REX transfer flight from Adelaide to Port Lincoln only has a baggage allowance of 15kg...? So limiting on what amount of gear you want to take, how did you find them?

 

What lens did you prefer to use for the surface shots?......18-200Vr or would something like the 70-200 f2.8 be more suitable?

 

Would small strobes such as the Inon Z240's be able to be used inside the cage? As I noticed that Rodney fox offers a bottom cage and strobes would be a must.

 

Did you go and dive with the nearby Seal's? Heard thats a must thing to do while your there.

 

Regards Mark

Hi Mark, yep...the REX flight is limited on baggage and restrictive with carry-on. I was in Whyalla in May for the cuttlefish aggregation (page on that is under preparation...) and got whacked on both legs for excess baggage and 7kg limit for carry-on with REX - they have you over a barrel, so unless you want to drive to Port Lincoln there is no choice but to swallow and pay up I am afraid.

I used the 18-200 for my surface shots but the 70-200 would be much better as it can get quite hectic if the sharks are tempted by the suspended bait and do a few acrobatics...

I have never done a trip on Rodney Fox's boat but have heard that the bottom dive in the cage is really good, so yes the Inon 240's could be used and would really help with the image quality. It all really depends how many divers are in the cage though - if there are just a couple of you then it would be great for the bottom dive.

The seals are a must do - bit nerve wracking though being in great white territory in relatively open water...

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

Don

I've done a couple of trips this year with the Rodney Fox Shark Experience crew, including hosting their photography specialty trip this past June.

Strobes and big domes do make it more difficult to shoot from either cage. In the surface cage there is often a lot of chum around so back-scatter can be an issue. Bottom cage is by far my preferred place, the sharks seem so majestic when they are down there, COMPLETELY different to surface activity. Strobes are a help down there for sure, as it can get dark at times obviously. Usually a "cage captain" running the dive plus 3 guests in the cage, means a corner each.

In June we had 10 different sharks over the 5 day trip, a couple of visits from each, ranging from a little guy at 3.5m and a couple over 5m... the biggest 5.5m. At both the North and South Neptune Islands.