This was a very up close and personal encounter……

Manta rays  are fearless of humans and have very few natural predators, due to their large size and speed resulting in some incredibly close encounters. They are curious and charismatic creatures that will approach you summersaulting and twirl around. You often think you may collide, but at the last second, they bank or lift a wing and glide past inches away. It can be a little intimidating at first and defiantly gets the heart pumping a little faster. With the largest brain of all fish, their intelligence and curiosity make encounters with these animals a truly incredible experience.

Encountering them at night is a particular treat. They appear into the light, seemingly out of nowhere, only to disappear a few seconds later.

Each Manta has a unique pattern on its underbelly which can be used to identify the individual, like a fingerprint. The Manta in this image is “Big Bertha” which is the largest manta in the Hawaiian Islands distinguished by the trident like patch on her underbelly. Her wingspan is estimated to be an impressive 12-14ft. When she arrived, I settled on the bottom, composed this image and waited patiently until she approached to feed on a plankton that had been attracted to my torchlights. Its impossible to describe the feeling of having this beautiful creature only centimetres away. When my flash fired I knew immediately I had captured something special.

Technical details – I was shooting with a 15mm fisheye lens that has a 180^o viewing angle. I used two strobes on low settings to light the Manta ray’s underbelly. Two video/focus light allowed me to grab focus in the darkness. A modest ISO of 800 was used to capture more background light in the school of fish and surface lights. Back scatter was not an issue as the subject was extremely close (~30cm away). I composed the shot and waited till the Manta passed below the school of fish before firing off this shot. Minimal post processing was required.