Results of Snorkeling Photography

With a better camera could have been OK - Whitetip reef shark

hmmm - now, what's for lunch?

White-tipped reef shark
Whitetip-reef shark
Maldives - Vivanta by Taj Coral Reef resort - Hembadhu island
which compact camera and settings
Fujifilm Finepix F70 EXR - Auto - No flash - F3.3, 1/400 sec, Iso 200, Focal length 5mm

When side lenses in mask helps - above without 'white balance = underwater' setting, below with

A very cloudy day and cloudy water after quite a blow , so the scene was a bit dull.   However, mainly the poor colours were due to only an 'auto white balance' setting available.

This photograph is a example of the benefits of snorkelling masks with side lens - (see 'gear').
The side lens meant a glimpse of this shark through the side lens.  It had swum up from behind and was only a few metres away.

There was no time other than focus and shoot.   Perhaps 'burst mode' might have been useful.
This delivers three shots in very quick succession with one slightly longer than normal press of the 'shoot' button.

'Burst-mode' and 'auto-tracking' are features available in slightly more expensive compact cameras, which sound appealing.

They are discussed in 'snorkelling with a camera'
but have tried both and been disappointed.

Right, a poor shot from above of the same shark species from a camera with better colour balance
whitetipped reef shark

 close-up of shark eye
Several articles mention the importance of eye contact in all kinds of nature photography - not just in underwater photos.

Despite the subdued colours, the big shot at the top works for me and I suspect its because to me, the eye suggests that this boy was checking me out
.