A collection of underwater images with black backgrounds, captured during dives at the top dive sites around Ko Lanta.

Underwater images with a black background are almost always eye-catching as the subject appears highlighted and isolated – seeming to ‘pop out’ at you.

Black background images are a very effective way to draw the viewer right into the main subject of your image. If your subject is colourful, a black background will really help to make the colours stand out.

A black background shot requires a fast shutter speed, small aperture and a well-angled external strobe to pick-out and light your subject. You’ll need to position yourself or your subject so there is nothing except clear water behind them. Paying good attention to your composition is crucial and positioning your subject well within the negative black space is worth experimenting with to capture a really striking image.

Consult the Tips and Tricks section for useful digital underwater photography techniques to help you get the most out of your underwater camera system.

Octopus and Cuttlefish are fascinating creatures and can be found on all of the dive sites around Ko Lanta. They are part of the Cephalopod family and are considered to be the most intelligent of the invertebrates with well developed senses and large brains.

They are masters of disguise and can quickly and constantly change the colour and texture of their skin to blend into their surroundings. Octopuses are able to squeeze into impossibly small cracks and crevices to evade predators, and one species in particular can mimic other creatures to fool predators into thinking they some other form of marine life!

A collection of underwater sunburst images taken from the dive sites around Ko Lanta.

A classic sunburst shot features the sun as one of the main subjects in the photo. The sun can be positioned anywhere in the frame, or even partially out of the frame.

Sunburst shots work really well when you position a colourful subject in the foreground, but you’ll need to use a fairly powerful external strobe to counteract the intense light from the sun. If you don’t use a strobe you can still obtain a striking image, but your foreground subject will be silhouetted.

Sunbursts shots yield some of the most beautiful and breathtaking underwater images, however they are one of the most difficult shot types to master.

Images of Nudibranches (nudibranchia) taken by Liquid Lense professional photographers from the reefs around Ko Lanta.

Nudibranches of all shapes and sizes can be found on each of Lantas Top Dive Sites. Their amazing patterns and colours can be a warning to predators that they are poisonous to eat, but it also makes them fantastic subjects for underwater macro enthusiasts.

Images of Manta Rays (manta birostris) taken from the dive sites around Ko Lanta. Hin Daeng & Hin Muang are amongst the best dive sites in Thailand to spot Manta Rays.

All images are taken by professional Liquid Lense Underwater Digital Imaging Specialists at the dive sites around Ko Lanta, Thailand.

Bumper Manta & Whaleshark Day. Liquid Lense were lucky and, I might add, spoilt, enough to see four Manta Rays and one Whaleshark in a single dive.

This is a brief taster of our fantastic day. One very happy Videographer !!

Footage filmed in one day, out at world-famous dive site Hin Daeng on 21st March 2011, by our in-house, professional underwater videographer.

A collection of underwater silhouette images taken from the dive sites around Ko Lanta.

A classic silhouette shot features a dark or black foreground subject with the sun positioned directly behind it in the frame, giving a ‘backlit’ effect.

Silhouettes are a simple, yet effective, shot type, and work particularly well with strong, emotive subject shapes.

For tips and tricks on how to take your own underwater silhouette shots, take a look at the Capturing perfect underwater silhouette shots article.

Underwater Video at Hin Daeng – The underwater seamount of Hin Daeng extends out in all directions to a depth of more than 50 metres and is home to a huge variety of larger marine life.

Hin Daeng is home to a resident school of Batfish which greet divers on their descent, schools of huge Barracuda, and constant show of pelagic action to keep divers enthralled. If you can take your eyes off the show, there are many macro delights to be found, such as shrimps, porcelain crabs and even ghost pipefish, but don’t spend too long without a glance to the blue in case you miss a Manta or even a Whaleshark which regularly visit this area.

A collection of Whale Shark underwater images taken at Lanta’s top dive sites.

The Whale Shark is the largest fish in the sea, weighing up to 60 tons and reportedly measuring up to 18 metres in length. With approximately 3,000 tiny teeth, arranged in 300 rows in each 4 foot wide jaw, they filter-feed on some of the smallest creatures in the sea, such as plankton and small crustaceans.

The best Ko Lanta dive sites to spot a Whale Shark are Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and Ko Haa.