The jetty of a working cement plant on the west coast of Barbados gives unrivalled alternatives for honing underwater pictures methods, finds award-winning photographer Catherine Holmes
Phrases and photos Catherine Holmes
The Arawak Cement Firm is just not your traditional Caribbean vacation vacation spot. However this unassuming industrial facility on the west coast of Barbados, not far past the glitzy resorts of the Platinum Coast, has a secret id: it’s residence to one of many island’s finest dive websites.
Accessible by boat or shore entry, the Cement Plant Pier (because it’s identified) is an underwater photographer’s dream. Intermittently used for the discharging and loading of worldwide cargo vessels, locals know when it may be accessed on account of weekly schedules, however entry is most of the time accessible.
The tall darkish piles of the jetty present safety for a myriad of creatures, and with it, nice alternatives for all genres of pictures. With a most depth of 10 metres, it’s an excellent location to check out completely different package and hone your approach.
Marine life thrives within the calm, clear, heat water. Big tarpon patrol the beneath of the massive central pier, loading platform and three aspect pontoons, with eagle rays, stingrays and turtles passing by as the flamboyant takes them.
Tiny shrimps, blennies, seahorses, squid and octopus might be discovered hiding beneath the particles on the ocean ground. There’s
lots to discover; the location warrants a number of dives, even for non-photographers.
I’ve returned to the pier myself many occasions through the years, and am all the time happy to find one thing new.
TECHNIQUES TO TRY
From a wide-angle perspective, I’ve had success with fisheye, rectilinear and mid-range lenses (17-70 on my Nikon D500; see field for a glossary of photographic phrases), taking pictures moody scenes with the darkish piles as a backdrop to education fish, squid, lionfish and tarpon; the odd sunbeam shining by to light up the gloom.
On my most up-to-date journey to Barbados, there was a big squad of squid current on each dive. The animals turned very snug with my presence, enabling me to seize many various kinds of photos of those luminescent creatures, from close-up to wide-angle and from movement blur to shut focus wide-angle (CFWA) with the jetty as a backdrop.
On one other late afternoon, as the sunshine was fading, a six-strong faculty of huge fish appeared menacingly from the shadows. Every nearly a metre and a half lengthy, I took them for sharks at first – I don’t thoughts admitting that I used to be relieved once I realised that they have been really large tarpon, presenting no concern.
GLOSSARY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC TERMS
WIDE ANGLE – A lens or shot that features a broad view of the scene, superb for capturing the dimensions of wrecks or reefs.
MACRO – For capturing small topics intimately and utilizing the background to reinforce the body.
SUPER MACRO – A complicated type of macro, for very small topics, utilizing very excessive magnification lenses, and sometimes further lenses on the skin of the port, to create separation and blurring of the background.
CFWA (shut focus large angle) – A difficult approach the place the topic it shot from lower than 60cm away, utilizing a wide-angle lens, usually a fish eye. It forces the attitude, making the photographs high-impact by highlighting the topic in shut focus however seen inside its wider surrounding setting. Requires balancing the ambient mild and that on the topic near the digicam with fill-in flashlight.
FISHEYE LENS – An ultra-wide-angle lens essential for capturing massive topics at shut vary underwater, the place the dearth of straight strains minimises the visible influence of the barrel distortion brought on by the lens.
RECTILINEAR LENS – A large-angle lens that precisely reproduces straight strains, avoiding the distortion of a fisheye. Helpful for extra pure and proportional scenes, akin to wrecks, piers and a few sorts of fish and sharks.
MID-RANGE LENS (17–70MM) – A flexible zoom lens masking reasonable wide-angle to quick telephoto focal lengths. Good for a spread of underwater topics and helpful for zoom blur photos.
MOTION BLUR – A photographic impact usually used creatively to point out motion of a topic by utilizing a really sluggish shutter pace and, when applicable, intentional digicam motion.
BOKEH – The aesthetic high quality of the out-of-focus areas in a photograph, usually utilized in macro photographs to isolate the topic towards a blurred or textured background.
BACKLIGHTING – Lighting the topic from behind to create a silhouette or glow, highlighting shapes or outlines. Achieved with off-camera strobes or directional mild from a torch.
INWARD LIGHTING – A way the place strobes are angled inwards to manage mild unfold and cut back backscatter. Isolates a topic on a black background, eliminating messy backgrounds.
SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD – A slim zone of sharp focus with a blurred background, usually used to spotlight a single topic in macro pictures, by totally opening the aperture
Seahorses, octopuses and lobsters hiding beneath rocks beneath and across the pier are superb topics for shut focus wide-angle photographs, in addition to being good for mid-range and macro alternatives.
Vibrant peacock flounders (so named as a result of their spots resemble the ‘eyes’ of peacock feathers) might be discovered on the seabed amongst the rocks, fast to vary color relying on their background, whereas flying gurnards glide above the sandy backside.
There are massive boulders, in addition to common particles – tyres, tin cans, ropes and the like – which give an excellent habitat for crustaceans and cephalopods.
You may spot teams of lobsters sheltering collectively, and enormous octopuses can usually be discovered camouflaged in a tyre or sponge, together with scorpionfish and lionfish.
Seahorses have all the time been the jewel within the crown at this vacation spot, however have been affected by Hurricane Beryl, which hit Barbados in June 2024.
They all the time appear to bounce again from all these occasions, nonetheless, and I’ve seen massive numbers of gorgeous seahorses right here through the years. They arrive in all sizes and colors, all the time making nice topics for macro and tremendous macro pictures, in addition to CFWA together with the constructions behind them.
The volcanic eruption in 2021 from La Soufrière volcano on close by St Vincent additionally had an impact on the native marine setting.
Happily, this hasn’t been of nice detriment to the wildlife. Quite the opposite, underwater deposits of ash thrown up by the eruption are usually monitored by native scientific groups, who’ve present in preliminary research that the volcanic ash leaches into the corals, supplying them with essential micronutrients and enhancing their photosynthetic efficiency.
The pilings of the jetty itself are lined in sponges and gentle coral, with massive pink barrel sponges and yellow tube sponges scattered across the sea ground. Vibrant yellow daisy corals might be discovered open within the darker areas.
These are the perfect topic, within the superb setting, for practising with a snoot, a software that lets you slim the beam of your strobe to isolate and spotlight the fragile gentle coral towards a black background.
A large number of vibrant reef fish busy themselves out and in of the shadows. Brightly-coloured French and queen angelfish, wrasse, trumpetfish, faculties of sergeant majors, lengthy backbone squirrelfish, porcupinefish and blue tangs are simply a number of the species I’ve noticed.
Honeycomb cowfish are significantly partaking and customary within the Caribbean, with their comical faces and white-spotted our bodies.
The concrete of the pilings is an ideal substrate for the sergeant main to put its eggs, a activity which appears to maintain it very busy. The massive purple circles of eggs might be discovered adorning many surfaces, usually being attacked by hordes of different reef fish.
These present an excellent alternative for tremendous macro pictures, with eggs usually at various phases of growth. It’s one other good topic for a snoot, or for experimenting with a shallow depth of subject for an fascinating bokeh impact.
I significantly benefit from the macro alternatives on the pier and have spent many, generally irritating, hours making an attempt to finesse methods on the gorgeous topics I’ve discovered there.
Within the gentle white sand simply exterior the pilings, there are pike blennies, backyard eels and sailfin blennies popping out and in of their burrows. They’ve humorous faces for tremendous macro, and are a problem to seize through the temporary moments when parading their massive vibrant dorsal fins.
Snooting, backlighting and inward lighting are all nice methods to strive on these charming fish.
Anemones, while sparse, are usually brightly-coloured with pink ideas, and residential to some charismatic residents: fairly cleaner shrimps with purple claws and interesting attractive shrimps, all the time on the transfer. They will make actually lovely photos when captured towards a black background or tremendous macro bokeh.
You’ll discover shiny orange arrow crabs – a Caribbean traditional – and banded shrimps within the massive sponges in addition to in nooks and crannies amongst the particles on the seabed.
One in all my favorite topics right here was a tiny black-and-white noticed boxfish, continuously and erratically on the transfer – it was a difficult however satisfying topic to shoot.
The massive coral blocks close by are residence to neon gobies, secretary blennies with comical expressions and a myriad of different blennies all making nice macro and tremendous macro topics.
The coral blocks themselves have fascinating textures and colors for common pure historical past photos, together with tube worms, sea slugs and nudibranchs.
There are a lot of species of moray eel, a few of which have been noticed lately attacking the spears of the native divers who attempt to cut back the prolific and invasive lionfish inhabitants within the space.
Barbados encourages the cull of this species because it eats enormous numbers of reef fish, upsetting the fragile stability of the native ecosystem. They’re present in huge numbers right here, significantly at depth.
I’m already planning my subsequent journey. The search for the backlit sailfin blenny shall be paramount. Realizing the immense persistence required, provided that these shy, elusive characters provide solely fleeting glimpses of their ‘showtime’, solely heightens the anticipation.
Witnessing the male’s distinct show, with its magnificent, turquoise-adorned dorsal fin flagging as much as a thousand occasions a day for courtship and territorial defence, is the final word prize.
Capturing that second, when the blenny turns into the star of the underwater present, would be the pinnacle of my underwater photographic journey on the cement pier.
MORE FANTASTIC BARBADOS DIVING
Within the shut neighborhood of the cement pier there are a number of different dive websites of curiosity that may be mixed as a second boat dive in a morning of two-tank diving.
Lower than 10 minutes away, the Pamir wreck lies amidst a coral backyard stuffed with education fish. You’ll generally discover an enormous turtle in residence and eagle rays usually cross by. I’ve even seen a manta there.
The wreck is roofed in macro life together with fish eggs, and there’s countless potential for photographing the construction itself.
The Zoo, in the meantime, is an attractive coral backyard teeming with life that you would be able to attain inside minutes of the pier.
Nonetheless on the west coast, however additional south, close to Speightstown, is the SS Stavronikita, a 365-foot Greek freighter that was intentionally sunk to kind a synthetic reef. The wreck sits upright at a depth of 40m. It’s a incredible dive for skilled divers, providing an opportunity to discover the ship’s inside, together with cabins, cargo holds and the propeller. The wreck can also be residence to plentiful marine life, together with vibrant corals and numerous fish.
The Folkestone Marine Park is one other nice website the place amongst the prolific marine life, you possibly can witness the work of the Coral Reef Restoration Alliance (CORALL) in motion. Coral bushes and transplanted new development corals dotted across the reef and wreck constructions on the ocean ground make good conservation topics.
Carlisle Bay, close to the capital Bridgetown, in the meantime, has a group of huge wrecks in shallow water that appeal to wildlife together with education fish, turtles and stingrays.
The south coast of the island has drift dives, whereas the far north boasts cave and tunnel dives, with dependable nurse shark motion.
TOPSIDE
Barbados generally is a good resolution for holidays with household or a non-diving accomplice. There are countless actions to decide on, from golf and biking to cruises and watersports, and even a day on the races.
Prolific wildlife contains hummingbirds and native inexperienced monkeys. Between wildlife parks, spectacular tropical gardens and
cultural visits, there’s lots to occupy your loved ones’s time
earlier than you all come collectively once more, post-dive, for late
lunch at a seaside membership or native fish shack.
WHERE TO GO
There are a lot of dive operators in Barbados. Up close to the cement pier, Scott Clarke runs his operation, BarbadoScuba, from the superb Fish Pot restaurant at Little Good Harbour and gives a complete and private service.
Immediate and environment friendly, he carries and prepares every little thing prematurely on the boat and is joyful to help with personal dives, enabling time and suppleness for photographers. He will even plan dives to places additional afield.
In Bridgetown, Roger’s Scuba Shack accesses Carlisle Bay, the southern drift dives and the SS Stavronikita wreck. They have an inclination to dive in teams and are very useful and attentive, however are extra laid again so that you’ll want a extra relaxed strategy to timing.
The diving varies little year-round, so it is a perfect vacation spot in off-season (March to November) when costs are very affordable and the island is quiet. Excessive season (December to February) is finest averted.
Resort lodging is available in any respect worth factors or go for an AirBnb for a extra homely possibility.
Catherine Holmes is an award-winning underwater photographer and winner of DIVE’s Massive Shot Better of 2024. To see extra of her incredible work, go to her catherineholmesunderwaterphotography.com or discover her on Instagram @catherineholmes.pictures
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