So, you may or may not know what blackwater diving is, to many, it sounds just like a regular nightdive, it’s dark (black), and you’re in the water, right? Wrong, it is an entirely different way to dive, personally I feel it is more exciting and thrilling than any other dive. Although I had known what it was for a while, I had never actually experienced it first hand until a few months ago. Since that first time, I was desperate to try again, while the dive itself was amazing, I wasn’t happy with my images at the end. I will get into some photography tips I wish I had implemented on my introduction dive.
What exactly is Blackwater diving?
As I was staying in a resort for a number of months, I saw a lot of guests come and go. Every so often the topic would come up as people were intrigued as to what this mysteriously titled event actually entailed. After my first time I did it, I was able to shed some light on this for them. To be honest sometimes my explanation made it sound quite scary, no more giant squid jokes….
Set Up
Essentially, it involves a weighted downline from a buoy, somewhere around 20-25m, with some powerful lights attached to the bottom and top, this is what will attract the marine life. Now the part that scares people, you will be doing this over deep water, ideally 200m as a minimum and sometimes up to 1000m depending where. This is important as it’s the creatures from the depths that make up the planets biggest migration on earth, which is what we are all there to see. The buoy is attached to the boat so that the line and boat drift together. Each 5m, another light is added, this brightens up surrounding water and allows you to see everyone else, it also serves as a reference point to where you can attach yourself. Although not essential (but highly recommended). Each diver will have a leash, a small rope about 3m or 4m with a snaplock each end, one for the bcd, and one for the line. It can get annoying being tied to the line, but it is very easy to lose focus on your surroundings while chasing round tiny alien like animals. Add this to any drifting current and you may find yourself alone with just your torch light in no time at all. Due to the nature of the dive, it is best to keep to small groups, maybe 4-6 maximum.
Planning Ahead
For the best results, after everything is set up in the water, wait a while. Giving the lights a head start to attract life before getting in can save the initial waiting in some cases. I never minded the wait, for me it added to the suspense. During this time on the boat you can console fellow divers questioning what they have signed up for, make any final changes to your dive rig or camera gear, or if it’s your first time, sit in silence and pretend you aren’t a little worried about what your’e about to do… It’s going to be FUN!! One thing I learned was to use this time to plan peoples positions. Once you are under there is no way of communicating this so it’s best to have it near enough sussed before you jump in.
I would recommend splitting up the 5m depths so everyone doesn’t end up on the same level, bumping together or kicking each other gets annoying very quickly. Some may have preferred depths, others may be less conservative on air so might want to stay nearer the surface at 5m or 10m. I have heard mixed comments on the ‘best’ depth, I think it’s all a gamble, I always chose to go where you have the most room and I never regretted it. So it is much easier to think this through beforehand, everyone can pick a depth to start at, or maybe rotate to make it fair, it just saves all the confusion.
During the dive
After hearing how it works but not really knowing, you will quickly work it out after jumping in. After hooking yourself on the line at your chosen depth, you are now free to roam around and search for critters you may never have come across before.
Technique
- Take it slow and easy, be mindful of others around you, do not chase
- Use your torch to look beyond the illuminated areas to search for subjects , if you have a camera light, this extra torch is helpful also
- If there is current, it is usually a good idea to be ahead of it, when you find an interesting critter you want to have as much time with it as possible, so give yourself that extra few seconds by anticipating this instead of being pulled along
- Approach subjects very slowly, many species you come across are sensitive to water movement and will vanish or back away if they sense you rushing toward them
- Look for small things, many first timers have their eyes set to search for larger animals, some of the blackwater critters can be very small and should not be missed
What will I see?
Imagine being in space and having alien like creatures floating all around you, this will be your environment from the moment you dive in to the moment you’re back on the boat. Unlike other dives, rather than everyone observing the same creature, queuing up to take a picture, divers should return with their own unique images and tales of their encounters.
Expect to see all manner of plankton species, jellyfish, juvenile stage species, squid, larval gastropods. It’s a bit of a lottery which for me is the draw, like all dives, some will be better than others. Appreciating all the small things will keep you hooked. Of course there is the sought after sightings like the Paper Nautilus and larval Octopus species which everyone hopes to come across. Some juvenile fish look completely different to their maturer counterparts and can be just as fascinating. The hard part can be identifying what you have seen, which is why a good picture is all the more rewarding.
Camera Settings and technique
From my own experience and what I have read I believe an optimal lens to be around 60mm. This allows for a good balance of working distance, focal length and focusing speed. You want to get as close as possible to avoid backscatter, sometimes a little is inevitable but you can limit this. I only had a 90mm lens at the time which was quite challenging, slow to focus, it didn’t yield great results my first time but it is possible, just requires more practice.
Multiple shots are usually needed to get that perfect picture, so I would recommend setting the strobe strength to no more than 2/3 depending on your recycle time. You can lift the ISO to compensate for this, some good starting setting would be something like
- ISO 360
- f/14 to f/16
- Shutter Speed 1/160- 1/200
- Strobes set to 1/2 to 2/3
Focusing
You will find that the majority of what you will find is fairly transparent and will soak up a lot of light. A modelling light with a narrow beam will help the cameras auto-focus and hopefully prevent it from locking onto particles in the water. In my case, using auto-focus with my mirrorless 90mm became so frustrating I opted for manual focus. If you have similar problems, try manually focusing to your shortest working distance using your hand or the downline. With this set you can just rock the camera back and forth using the viewfinder or LCD to press the shutter when the area you want comes into focus. This is a difficult way of doing things but can be less infuriating then letting the camera hunt for focus.
Strobe Position
Everyone has their own opinion on the optimum positions, I’m sure there is benefit to each. I found for eliminating back scatter, having strobes pointed a little inwards to avoid lighting up the background worked best. Setting them at at angle so the edge of the beam just lights the subject should yield the good results. If you only use 1 strobe then having it above and to the side of the port would work well, again ensuring the beam doesn’t light up everything in front of the port.
Only Macro?
I guess this would all depend on where you are diving and what you hope to spot. Generally Black water is all about macro and getting close, however not always. Don’t forget, you are in deep water and anything can come up and pay you a visit. The highlight of the last blackwater I did was a small group of Mobula Rays that circled the bottom of the line for a few minutes, of course I had my 90mm on but would have been a great wide angle opportunity. You could come across sharks, rays, dolphins, anything. It’s up to you if you want to take that risk for something bigger to drop by.
Morgan's Ocean Images 