Jellyfish, as simple as they are, have always been subjects which completely captivated me and I’ll never forget my excitement at seeing my first barrel jellyfish off Swanage a few years ago.
So today, I thought it appropriate to focus on subjects close to hone today and share some ideas on how to capture their best side.
An external light, whether that’s a torch, video light or strobe will really help to bring out their textures and tentacles and firm up their jelly shape, eliminating the risk of them looking more blob like.
So which settings are best? For the compass jellyfish shown at the top, I used an ISO of 200 to allow more light into the sensor to help keep the subject sharp. I chose a shutter speed of 1/60th second to keep the background a nice shade of light green to complement the subject with a low power from my strobe.
To help make the subject pop, I increased my shutter speed to 1/500th sec to create a black background. I used a lower ISO of 100 and a small Aperture of f8 to gain as much sharpness and detail to the subject, again using a low power with my strobe to illuminate the subject.
Finally, think about getting creative, and yes you can, even on a jelly. Think about angles, placing the subject on a diagonal line, getting underneath it and looking up, even using backgrounds, especially if you’re in shallow water.
I hope these tips help and if you’ve got any extra ideas or need help, just shout. Take care all of you xx
Underwater Photography for Compact Camera Users 