Images: 3 Tips for Taking Stunning Shots of Manta Rays
You may already know that, unlike other fish, sharks and rays don’t have bony skeletons — as elasmobranches, their skeletons are made of cartilage. But you might be surprised to learn that even though there are almost 400 species of sharks, there are actually more rays — close to 500 species. The smallest rays are little more than 5 inches across, and the largest — adult mantas — can reach more than 20 feet across.
There are few underwater sights as enchanting as a school of graceful mantas. Their flattened shape is an adaptation for life on the seabed, as if the force of evolution has squashed their cartilage skeleton from above. After all that adaptive effort, it always fascinates me that mantas soar through the ocean as master fliers, and can even leap clear of the water.
The most important key to getting great manta photos or videos is finding a situation that allows us to get up close. Divers can see mantas throughout the tropics, but the most reliable encounters often happen at cleaning stations. Great photos are the reward for your patience. The less you move, the closer the mantas will come.
On such exciting dives, it is easy to forget your photo basics, so keep it simple. First, get your background exposure right, second, set your strobes out wide to reduce the risk of backscatter, and lastly, sit back and enjoy the view as the mantas come into range.
1. Cleaning Up
Most manta encounters happen at cleaning stations, where mantas come in, circle, hover and even queue for their spa treatment. Take care not to get between the station and open water, allowing the mantas access to both. Once they arrive, they will often stay for the rest of the dive.
My favorite manta cleaning stations are in Socorro Island, Mexico, where the mantas are of the huge, black Pacific variety, and the cleaners aren’t just wrasse, but also large orange clarion angelfish.
_Alex Mustard is a marine biologist who has been a full-time underwater photographer and author since 2004. _
_ _For more underwater photography tips: Working With Angles.
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- Silhouettes**
Mantas feed on plankton, and therefore aren’t often found in crystal-clear blue water. But no matter the conditions, you should plan to lose the lights, as mantas look fantastic as silhouettes.
The technique is simple: Turn off your strobes, expose for the surface, and wait for a manta to pass overhead, framed within the center of Snell’s window. It might be worth locking the camera’s focus, as sometimes the rapid change in light levels, caused when the manta blocks out the sun, can confuse the autofocus.
If the rays aren’t coming in that close, look for a colorful foreground subject, like an anemone or soft coral, and use the manta’s silhouette as a background.
Alex Mustard is a marine biologist who has been a full-time underwater photographer and author since 2004.
For more underwater photography tips: _W_orking With Angles.
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- Shapely Forms**
Mantas have an elegant and unmistakable shape, which looks fantastic in photos — whether in color, silhouette or monochrome — when you can capture their symmetry. You can get dramatic images at eye level with a manta, but the flattened shape will always photograph best from above or below. When shooting up, expose for the surface, not the sun, because the trick is to shoot only when the manta is blocking the sun from your lens. Try to spot one coming, and time your breathing so you haven’t exhaled just before it arrives. This way there won’t be bubbles streaming through your picture.
Mantas In Trouble
It’s no secret that manta rays need our help. Harvested for their gill rakers, mostly for use in Chinese medicine, both reef mantas and giant mantas are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The manta trust brings together projects from around the world, all with the common goal of conservation. Get involved on your next dive trip by submitting your images or sighting encounters to the trust. mantatrust.org
Alex Mustard is a marine biologist who has been a full-time underwater photographer and author since 2004.
For more underwater photography tips: W__orking With Angles.