Marty’s photo of the day #4894: I’ve loved photography for most of my life but didn’t get into underwater photography until Deb and I spent a week on the Sea of Cortez in 2016. I’ve upgraded my underwater camera three times. Currently I prefer the SeaLife Micro 3.0 for videos and the Olympus Tough TG-7 for stills. Sure, I could spend more on a big honkin’ dive camera, but portability is important too.

While visiting the Raja Ampat region of Indonesian New Guinea earlier this month, I shot 4,500 photos, with 90 percent of them being underwater. The challenge of underwater photography is pushing the shutter button at the correct moment. A photographer must anticipate when the subject will be in the most photogenic position and take into account that even on a calm day the waves are moving the camera up and down, continually changing the focus.

A few people have mentioned to me that they don’t take cameras underwater because they “prefer to be in the moment.” I say, “To each his/her own.” I’m quite capable of being in the moment and shooting photos at the same time. And in the Raja Ampat, which has the greatest variety of underwater species in the world, few people without a camera could remember everything they saw on any particular outing. Also, the difference between some species is subtle. Deb and I had been calling the ray in today’s photo a bluespotted stingray, but just before posting, I carefully compared my photo with the rays in my identification book. It’s actually a bluespotted ribbontail ray.