Seahorses are an iconic macro image and I was keen to be able to join the club and get some images myself. Listening to advice from those in the know I headed down to Chowder Bay in Mosman. "They're on the nets, you can't miss them" people would say, but for the unfamiliar eye used to shooting wide angle it was more challenging than expected. Fast forward a few years and many many dives under the belt I see them on most dives down there nowadays.
The dive today i encountered a number of them but in various different places under the pier so keep your eyes peeled and you see them too.
The image above was taken on the nets f5.6, 1/250, ISO 100 using a 100mm macro lens. I had a single Inon Z240 strobe with custom snoot (also know as cheap plumbing pipe from Bunnings). Opening the aperture you need to ensure the focus is pin sharp on the eye as the depth of field is shallow. The background becomes much lighter so you turn the strobe down.
The second image was taken at the base of a pylon and shows the seahorse feeding. There were other divers in the area and the substrate is prone to kick up and leave the area a cloud of muddy water. I closed the aperture to f14, 1/250, ISO 100 and extended the single strobe a lot further forward as I needed to increase the power and reduce the distance to the subject. With backscatter minimised I was able to illuminate the subject solely and avoid the background which is not that photogenic.
Whites Seahorse (Hippocampus whitei)
I wanted to play around with the strobes for the next image so i kept the same subject but switched to a side lighting technique. The strobe arm was forward like the image above but at 90 degrees to the subject so there are going to be areas of shadow that I hoped would create a mood lighting.
Whites Seahorse (Hippocampus whitei)
Next one on the list was found on the newer shark nets. They curl their little tails around the net and gently sway with the wave action. It can be challenging when the swell is up as the focus becomes a pain, but today was easy. I opted for an open aperture again f5.6, 1/250, ISO 100 and was lucky as it was nicely positioned facing forward and next to a colourful piece of soft coral that was growing on the net.
Whites Seahorse (Hippocampus whitei)
The final image today was taken over by the sea grass patch in the shallows near the shark nets. Its tail was wrapped around sea grass and trying to the get an image was tricky as the focusing jumped between the sea grass and the subject. It took a few shots to get it right. I wanted to have a bit of depth of field to show the sea grass but not too much that it was distracting. I set the aperture to f7.1, 1/250, ISO 100
So next time you go to Chowder Bay, there's more seahorses to see than just the ones on the nets, check the pylons, around the pylons and in the sea grass too.