Photo of the Week: March Week 2009 5

Hi gang! This week’s POTW is one of my favorite images. It is a photograph of a blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) swimming in shallow water close to shore at sunset off Walker’s Cay at the northernmost tip of the Bahamas. Because of its common name the blacktip shark sometimes gets confused with the species commonly referred to as the blacktip reef shark (Carcharias melanopteras). The blacktip shark is found in tropical to subtropical nearshore waters around the world, and it shares some of its range with the blacktip reef shark. Both species are handsome animals, and they are easy to tell apart. The white band below the black upper tip of the blacktip reef shark is a dead giveaway, and a great identification key that will allow you to distinguish between the two species.

I took this topside image of a blacktip shark back in the days when film still ruled, so the shot you are seeing here was scanned from an original slide shot with a role of Velvia 100 slide film. Velvia is known- I think I can still say is, although I haven’t looked for a roll of film in several years- for its saturated colors, and it seemed to be a great choice for this scene. Of course, you can punch up the saturation of a digital file to mimic the Velvia look if you care to do so.

I had been to Walker’s Cay several times, and on this particular trip I was supposed to be on a boat looking for great hammerhead sharks, but we got caught in a northeaster and the winds were really kicking up the seas. So we came to shore thinking we might get in few dives with some resident Caribbean reef sharks and bull sharks in some protected areas near Walker’s Cay. I went for a walk along the shoreline the evening we docked, and during that walk I saw a number of sharks swimming in the shallows close to shore. As far as I could tell, most were lemon sharks and blacktips.

I decided to return to the same spot the following evening and see if I might have a chance to capture the scene. Just like I would do for an underwater scene in which I wanted to capture an image of a shark swimming in blue water, the first thing I did was take a light meter reading on the sky just above the horizon. That reading gave me my f/stop, so in terms of exposure the most challenging part of the remaining task was to set the power on my flash to properly expose the shark’s dorsal fin. I tried a variety of strobe powers because I couldn’t be sure how the strobe light would reflect off of the surface of the water. I was lucky to have as many opportunities as I did, but it sure would have been nice to have the instant feedback that we can get with today’s digital cameras by reading the histogram. I was also very lucky in choosing a night with a beautiful sunset, and because once again there were several blacktip sharks swimming close to shore.

For some shots I waded into the water, and while I was able to get closer to the sharks, I definitely lost some opportunities because I spooked the sharks and caused the animals to move away from shore.