Shark Tours photography
The benefits of cage diving
When it comes to viewing the sharks there are different tours you can choose from and if you landed on this page you are probably looking for a shark tour in Hawaii. As a first experience, I cannot recommend cage tours enough. Compared to other expeditions, shark cage tours require zero water skills and allow you to enjoy this incredible experience right next to the sharks without having to worry about keeping your distance or looking around. You will not see the sharks any closer on any other adventure.
If you are already on one of the Haleiwa Shark tours boats headed three miles offshore from Haleiwa, welcome! I'm your underwater photographer and here you can see examples of the product you have the option to book.
How to pose
As we approach the cage that will keep you safe for the duration of your shark experience, you will be able to see the foam buoys that keep it afloat. Those floats sit at the surface of the water right where your face will be. to get the best photos you want to hold onto the inside bars and pull yourself slightly underwater, or all the water to the bottom of the cage.
In addition to that, if you booked your experience as a group, stick with your family on one side of the cage and avoid mixing up with other groups. this will give you the best chance at having group photos isolating you from the rest of the people in the cage.
What you are about to see
You booked a tour to see sharks, but there are over 40 species of sharks in Hawaii and some are more likely to show up on your dive than others. The main species we will be spending time with is the Galapagos shark. We are headed to a female-dominated site so you will be sharing the water with some of the biggest individuals of this species. Galapagos sharks range between 6 and 12 feet in length and our big females will be averaging between 8ft and 10ft.
Other species you might see are tiger sharks, oceanic black tip sharks, and hammerheads although they are all an occasional treat more than a norm.
Not only sharks
We are all here because of the sharks, but we are headed to the open ocean, off a group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Anything can happen! Paying attention to small differences in the water is very difficult if this is your first time diving offshore and if the level of your excitement is anywhere near what it was for me the first time I saw the sharks, you will have a hard time seeing past the sharks. But if you see me pointing in a particular direction pay attention. I have seen a number of different sharks come by, but not only. Many different animals have visited the ecosystem around our mooring, like tuna, eels, turtles, whales, dolphins, baby octopus and so much more!
For underwater photographers
The biggest advantage when it comes to shark cage tours is the quality of the shark photos you have the potential to capture. Swimming with the sharks is fun, and freeing and something everyone should try eventually with a safety diver, but if you don't have much shark diving experience it's not ideal for photography. Having a cage between you and the sharks allows you to focus on just photography and allows the sharks to feel confident enough to really come close to you and your lens. For an underwater photographer, the cage unlocks the potential for high-quality portfolio photos with little to zero shark diving experience required.
For those of you that want to learn more about shark photography and how to take your best shark photos, I have 1 on 1 workshop sessions available every day.