Description
LOCATION: The Bahamas
STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: A big, beautiful tiger shark bumps right into the camera. People are always surprised when I tell them about the distances I typically shoot at. Above-water photographers can produce a clear image from any distance when shooting through air. But as an underwater photographer, every inch matters and destroys the quality of the image as I get further away, even the in the crystal clear water of the Bahamas. So I tend to use an ultra-wide fisheye lens for most of my work, and get just a few inches (or less) from my subjects. And yes, her snout is about 1/2 an inch from my lens, so I titled it Closer, because if I was any closer, I’d be in her!
The Bahamas is the best place in the world to swim with, and photograph tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier). They get a bad reputation because they do like to explore the world with their mouths, but honestly, they are very relaxed and chill. This girl would swim by, over and over, hoping to get a chum handout from me, but never, ever, showing aggression, as is usually portrayed in the movies. Like many sharks, they have repeating patterns, and learning her swimming pattern allows me to put myself right where she’s going to be. She follows the scent of the chum up-current, and when she gets 1-2′ away, since her eyes can’t see below her snout, the electrical-sensing organs called Ampullae of Lorenzini take over and guide her in to touch. You can see the Ampullae of Lorenzini all over her snout – they’re the little black dots. And using this sixth sense, she feels my camera, and decides if she wants to bump into it to explore it further – which she most definitely did, in a sweet way.
There’s plenty of sharks between the Fish Faces and SeaScapes Collections, but for the same sharky attitude, check out Feed Me, and the Shark in the Dark.
TO PURCHASE CLOSER AS AN ALUMINUM PRINT: Closer is best kept at in it’s original 3:2 ratio – there isn’t much room to crop. So think in terms of 16×24″, 30×45″, 40×60″, etc, and you can purchase standard sizes online here. But if you need a custom size that’s not available here, just contact our design staff, and we’ll be happy to discus custom sizing up to 200″ wide.