Event Report

Title: Life Below the Surface  - The highs and lows of underwater photography

By James Clark at The Society of Biology, Thursday 26th April

James Clark, as well as researching into Heart Failure and lecturing on Human Physiology in Extreme Environments, relaxes by diving, studying aquatic behaviour, and collecting video footage and specimen photographs of underwater life. Although he claimed he was a diver who took photographs rather than a photographer who likes diving, his lively and beautifully illustrated talk showed great expertise as both, with many essential tips for aspiring underwater photographers and videographers.  One of the most important being to ensure your camera casing was properly closed. Even a hair across the seal can mean the end of your equipment, an expensive experience.

Once he started diving he quickly moved on from photographing wrecks, to pictures of the marine life itself. In this genre his experience quickly showed with a stunning series pictures and the stories behind them, including one that made it to the cover of the ‘Biologist’. Clearly there was a lot more to it than the traditional point and push approach. Problems with underwater visibility, quickly revealed the need to be close to the fish, the important of using a wide angle lens, getting the angle and lighting just right, and all without driving the fish away.  His enthusiasm made for a wonderful evening, if you would like to see more of his pictures take a look at his website http://www.doryproductions.co.uk/ .