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Underwater photoshoot for Reef Check Australia

Underwater photo of a scuba diving scientist writing on a clipboard while surveying a coral reef in Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

On Sunday we headed out to Flinders Reef, in Moreton Bay, to do a combined underwater photo-video shoot for Reef Check Australia.

Underwater photo of two scuba diver scientists surveying a hard coral reef

Reef Check Australia is a non-profit environmental organisation for coral reef conservation. Their staff and volunteers go out and monitor the state of local reefs, “bringing Citizen Science to environmental issues”.

Underwater photo of a scuba diving science researcher taking photographs of a hard coral reef in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia

These guys needed some working shots for their marketing and training—images of their dive volunteers doing transects, taking photos, using the plumb-bob, recording data, etc.

Underwater photograph of a scuba diver using a tape measure to measure and do transects of a coral reef in Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Unfortunately, the underwater conditions on the day were less than ideal: rolling swells, strong surge, and the viz was down. And we only had one dive where the volunteers were available to do some dedicated modelling for us.

Underwater photograph of a female scuba diver scientist using a tape measure to measure and do transects of a coral reef in Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

With the viz pretty poor, the strobes would have picked up too much backscatter. So I left the strobes on the boat, and switched instead to a Magic Filter and shot using ambient light. Magic Filters work best in shallow water, with the sun behind you. I asked the volunteers to swim as close as they could to the dome port, which further helps make the water look clearer. They look like they’re a few metres away in these shots, but they were actually less than arm’s length from my dome (I was using the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, set at 10mm).

Underwater photo of two scuba diver scientists surveying a hard coral reef in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia

These scuba divers have superb buoyancy and maximum respect for the reef, it’s a joy to see. Check out how high off the reef they keep their fins!

—Liz

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