Scuba Diver and Upright Shipwreck

Scubadiving Magazine - underwater photo of scubadiver and upright shipwreck

Thanks to the lovely folks at Scuba Diving Magazine for sending me a copy of their current issue, with one of my underwater shipwreck photos published on page #28.

This is one of my best-selling and favourite images, perhaps because it makes people do a double-take when they first see it.

On its maiden voyage, this modern-day tuna fishing boat missed a waypoint, hitting the reef where it got stuck in the shallow water. There was a botched salvage operation to try and pull the boat off the reef, but the boat sank over the reef edge. It slid down the wall and came to rest upright on a deep shelf.

Black-and-white underwater photograph of a scuba diver exploring an upright shipwreck

Nikon D300, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, Subal housing, 1/60th @ f5.6, ISO 400, natural light

The first photographs I took didn’t include a diver or the water’s surface, and the results were disappointing. What I needed were recognizable references to contrast with the shipwreck’s unusual orientation. So on my next dive, my obliging model was our very own Doug Smith. His bubbles, streaming up to the ocean’s surface, provided the vertical reference I needed to highlight the wreck’s bizarre position.

Photo taken in Nono Lagoon, Solomon Islands.

—Liz