No matter where you dive in the world, odds are you’ll find a wreck or two. Wrecks can be very challenging for shooting photo and video due to dark water at depth, high contrast between structure and water, creating interesting compositions and capturing an iconic photo that truly depicts the character of that wreck.

Even with these challenges there are a few tricks to help take great wreck photos.

1)   Shoot structure with open water.  This makes it obvious you’re shooting a wreck and not a reef.

A group of divers take a tour of Bali’s Liberty Wreck in early morning light.

2)   Include a dive buddy for scale.  Large wrecks can be awe-inspiring, so let your viewer know!

A diver admires the Liberty Wreck in awe, providing scale.

3)   Shoot photos of creatures that like to hang out on wrecks.  Some of these creatures, like batfish, are sure signs a wreck is nearby.

A batfish is framed by wreck structure.

A grouper cruises in front of the Liberty Wreck

The more you dive wrecks, the easier it will be to find these shots and nail them.

Enjoy –

Brent Durand

Brent is currently documenting the Best of Southeast Asia, touring 14 dive resorts in 8 weeks, creating a video series with an inside look at each resort plus daily underwater photos and videos.

Most of these photos were shot in the last 2 days at the Liberty Wreck in Bali, Indonesia. Special thanks to Scuba Seraya and Villa Markisa.

Who has the Best Reefs?  Follow the adventure at Best of Southeast Asia.

The post 3 Tips for Wreck Photography first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

Senorita poses in front of a red gorgonian. Nikon D7000 in Sea & Sea housing, Tokina 10-17mm at 10mm. 1/200, F16, ISO 200, uncropped.

Wow.  Just wow.  Get it while the gettin’s good!  Warm, blue water, and amazing viz awaited us as we made our way from the Catalina Express to the Dive Park at Avalon this past weekend.  When I say “warm” I mean 69°F at 70fsw.  Viz was easily 70’+.  It was gorgeous.  We planned on three dives, and we made the most of every descent.

Kelp bass stalk the vast schools of bait fish in the Dive Park.

This trip was designed to get my friend, Tracey, used to her brand-new MDX-7000 Sea & Sea housing that she bought from Scott at Bluewater Photo.  She’s preparing for a long trip to Raja Ampat in December with Underwater Photography Guide.  She and her husband flew in from Chicago to dive for the weekend.  Boy, did they get some great conditions!  Our first dive took us to the Sujac, and subsequent dives took us to the other end of the park.  For me, I enjoyed watching the kelp bass prey on the massive schools of sardines and other bait fish.  The sun shone brightly through the blue water throughout the day, making for some amazing underwater photo ops!  Get out there and dive!

A Garibaldi greets me at the west end of the Dive Park. Viz was amazing!

The post Great Conditions at the Dive Park first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

Anyone who has been in the water in the last couple weeks knows southern California has had some of the best dive conditions in some time.  As we all know this can always change at the drop of a hat so I have been in the water as much as possible.  I had the opportunity to join some friends on a dive boat, to visit a rather fascinating wreck named the UB-88 last weekend.

The UB-88 is a German U-Boat, and the only one on the west coast to my knowledge.   It is only short ride from one of  LA’s local harbors and lies in about 200 feet of water.  What makes this wreck so fascinating is its history and the fact that it remains almost fully intact after spending about 90 years on the bottom of the Pacific.  The UB-88 was active for a short 10 months during World War I, before it surrendered in November of 1918.   It successfully sank 13 allied ships during its service.

After its capture the UB88 made a long journey across the Atlantic and eventually to the west coast via the Panama Canal.   It traveled over 15,000 miles under the control of the U.S. navy in order to promote the sale of War Bonds.  The U-Boat found itself at port for the last time in San Pedro before being towed out and sunk in a live fire exercise by USS Wicks.  Its location remained unknown for over 80 years until being discovered in 2004.  I would like to thank www.ub88.org for the wealth of information on this wreck and encourage anyone to visit their site who would like to read up further about this wreck, along with many others on the west coast.

Here is a short video I took during my visit to the UB88.   I was amazed by the condition and marine life that have made this site their home.   There were tons of Rockfish, Wolf Eels, and the biggest Lin Cod i have ever seen lurking around the depths.

This dive is beyond recreational limits and requires training in staged decompression.   Please do not attempt this dive without proper training.

– Shane.

The post Diving a WWI German U-Boat first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

“Palawan Liberty Ship”

Some of you may or may not know that we have some real gems right here at our fingertips in the local waters of Los Angeles.   The allure of these massive hunks of rusting steel was apparent to me early in my diving.  There is something far more fascinating about these vessels when laying on our ocean’s floor than floating comfortably on the surface.  It is fun to think of the voyages  made before finding their final resting place on our oceans sandy bottom.   For us (UW Photographers)  we enjoy these wrecks because they are usually teaming with marine life, structure and offer up some great opportunities for both wide and macro photography.

Facts:

The “Palawan” is a 441′ Liberty ship that lies about 2 miles offshore of Redondo Beach, only a 10 mimute motor from Kings Harbor.  Liberty ships were British designed cargo carriers that were used during WWll to carry war supplies and weapons from the U.S. to the front lines.  2700 of these liberty ships were built in a two year period and over 600 didnt survive.  The ones that did were re-used for various reasons then eventually scraped.  This one was intentionally sunk in 1977 as an artificial reef project.

The Dive:

The deck of the vessel lies in about 115′ of water and you are at about  125′ in the sand putting just inside recreational limits.  Because of the depth this is considered an advanced dive and you must pay close attention to your NDL(28%nitrox recommended), bottom currents, and possible low visibility.  The most interesting part of this wreck is its sheer size,    at 441′   with a beam at about 60′ you can do several dives on her and not see the entire wreck.  The superstructure is all that remains and it is divided by many compartments that can offer some penetration.(please do not attempt this without proper training)  You can expect to see nudibranchs, calico bass, sand bass, mola molas, crabs, lobsters, lin cod and various other marine life.  There are many swim through’s and towering walls that that make this dive very interesting.

If you would like to dive this wreck you can contact the Giant Stride dive boat (MDR) or the Island Diver dive boat (Kings Harbor)

The post Wreck Diving Los Angeles first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.