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Biography of Underwater Photographer Jeremy C. Cuff
Jeremy Cuff is a regularly published diving/underwater and travel photojournalist based in Warminster (Wiltshire) in the southwest of the UK. He is the 2007 winner of the Sport Diver Underwater Photographer of the Year Award. Jeremy started diving in 1996 and became seriously interested in underwater photography with the purchase of a Nikon F100/Subal housing combination in 2002. Since then, together with his wife Amanda who is also a diver and underwater photographer, he has developed his skills and knowledge by traveling to many superb diving destinations including the Bahamas, Bonaire, Egypt, Sulawesi, Hawaii, Australia, Borneo, Philippines, Madagascar, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Florida, Micronesia and the Mediterranean. He\'s had numerous articles published in various newspapers, diving & travel magazines, company magazines, photography publications and websites.
What I look for in a Dive Operator:
Great crew and dive guides really make it or break it for me, together with a relaxed pace of diving. Local knowledge is everything and can really help a photographer find interesting subjects.
Underwater Photography of Jeremy C. Cuff
Latest Jeremy C. Cuff's Comments
Jan 28, 2011
Hi Olly & Max,
Thanks for the kind comments about the feature.
We most certainly saw the Thresher Sharks at Malapascua, but getting close enough for photography is a matter of luck, and although I saw them on each of the dives at Monad (they're very impressive!), I didn't get the opportunity to get any really good shots as they tended to lurk on the edge of the visibility. I did manage a couple of passable shots that were probably the best that could have been achieved in the circumstances I encountered, but others may be luckier. In the end, we decided to leave the Threshers out of the main feature, and concentrate on the things I could get close to.
Anyway, here's some thoughts on the challenges of photographing these rarely seen and unusual sharks at Malapascua;
1. The Thresher Shark sightings are most reliable at first light, which means a very early start, often requiring a 04.45am meeting at the dive centre for a prompt 05.00am departure to Monad Shoal. It goes without saying that a photographer must prepare his equipment the evening before.
2. Local marine conservation rules don’t allow the use of strobes on the Thresher dives, as there are concerns that excessive “flashing” will frighten the sharks and alter their natural behaviour. It therefore means that all photographers can only work with ambient (natural) light.
3. At first light (at around 05.00 – 05.30am), there’s very little light underwater which means that DSLR users like myself had to think about settings in advance of the dive. I set the ISO to 1600 and performed some test shots at the beginning of the dive – I found that f5.6 gave a shutter speed of around 1/45th to 1/60th – enough to freeze the movement.
4. Though I realise that the majority photographer’s don’t have the option of two camera rigs like myself, I opted to take both cameras on the dives, after finding the fish eye lens wholly unsuitable on my initial Thresher dive (unless you get a really close pass) – yes, we saw them but for photography they were too far away.
5. I decided continue taking the fish eye in the event of a close encounter, but also take the 12-24mm wide angle zoom, which didn’t require me to be quite as close. My dive guide would carry the camera I wasn’t using, and I would stay very close to him if we encountered a Thresher, in case I wanted to swap.
6. Though we saw the Threshers on each of the dives at Monad Shoal, getting really close is quite difficult, though sometimes it is possible. I didn’t get any really close encounters, but managed to capture a couple of images that probably represented the best that could have been done given the circumstances I was faced with. The decision to take the 12-24mm lens on the dive made the difference between capturing an “acceptable” image and not getting anything that I could use.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Jeremy
Thanks for the kind comments about the feature.
We most certainly saw the Thresher Sharks at Malapascua, but getting close enough for photography is a matter of luck, and although I saw them on each of the dives at Monad (they're very impressive!), I didn't get the opportunity to get any really good shots as they tended to lurk on the edge of the visibility. I did manage a couple of passable shots that were probably the best that could have been achieved in the circumstances I encountered, but others may be luckier. In the end, we decided to leave the Threshers out of the main feature, and concentrate on the things I could get close to.
Anyway, here's some thoughts on the challenges of photographing these rarely seen and unusual sharks at Malapascua;
1. The Thresher Shark sightings are most reliable at first light, which means a very early start, often requiring a 04.45am meeting at the dive centre for a prompt 05.00am departure to Monad Shoal. It goes without saying that a photographer must prepare his equipment the evening before.
2. Local marine conservation rules don’t allow the use of strobes on the Thresher dives, as there are concerns that excessive “flashing” will frighten the sharks and alter their natural behaviour. It therefore means that all photographers can only work with ambient (natural) light.
3. At first light (at around 05.00 – 05.30am), there’s very little light underwater which means that DSLR users like myself had to think about settings in advance of the dive. I set the ISO to 1600 and performed some test shots at the beginning of the dive – I found that f5.6 gave a shutter speed of around 1/45th to 1/60th – enough to freeze the movement.
4. Though I realise that the majority photographer’s don’t have the option of two camera rigs like myself, I opted to take both cameras on the dives, after finding the fish eye lens wholly unsuitable on my initial Thresher dive (unless you get a really close pass) – yes, we saw them but for photography they were too far away.
5. I decided continue taking the fish eye in the event of a close encounter, but also take the 12-24mm wide angle zoom, which didn’t require me to be quite as close. My dive guide would carry the camera I wasn’t using, and I would stay very close to him if we encountered a Thresher, in case I wanted to swap.
6. Though we saw the Threshers on each of the dives at Monad Shoal, getting really close is quite difficult, though sometimes it is possible. I didn’t get any really close encounters, but managed to capture a couple of images that probably represented the best that could have been done given the circumstances I was faced with. The decision to take the 12-24mm lens on the dive made the difference between capturing an “acceptable” image and not getting anything that I could use.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Jeremy
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