FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER : MARIO VITALINI

Frogfish are full of personality, this grumpy guy was lit with a snoot to focus the light on its face and not the surrounding areas

For nearly 30 years Mario Vitalini has worked as a PADI instructor and dive guide around the world. The passionate underwater photographer was voted Most Promising British Underwater Photographer in 2015 and runs workshops and escorted trips for aspiring underwater photographers. 

A whale shark feeding close to the surface

Head on shot of a Nembrotha lineolatha rising its head to 'look' at the camera

Leaf fish are excellent subjects to try backlighting. A powerful dive torch works very good as strobes tend to be too wide

The liferaft on the seabed is a reminder of the tragic story of the Salem Express wreck. The monotone treatment was chosen to add to the atmospheric feeling of this shot

A small peppered moray with a great attitude comes out of the dark to check me out. Shot during a night dive, the snoot lighting focuses the attention on the eye and mouth

Glassfish swirling around a red sponge. The wall at Ras Za’Atar in the Red Sea is full of cracks and overhangs where photographers can shoot clouds of this fish

A huge Napoleon wrasse comes for a closer look. Shark and Jolanda reef at Ras Mohammed in the Red Sea is a great place to find these curious creatures

Having your mask and fins handy on the RIB ride back to the boat after a dive is often a good idea. This dolphin followed us for a while and was very happy posing for the camera

The Jake Sea plane near Koror in Palau is a very photogenic and unusual wreck

Every summer blue sharks come to the south of England, encounters around Cornwall are very reliable and the sharks tend to be very inquisitive. Snorkelling with them is a great experience and an easy way to get some fab shots

Moody shot of a diver swimming through the cave system of Sha’ab Claudia in Fury Shoals, Red Sea. After a couple of windy days, the water was full of sand and that helped to create the cloudy feeling of this picture

Green turtles are gorgeous creatures. This individual was very patient and allowed me to swim by its side for about half an hour giving me plenty of photo opportunities. In this particular case, even the remora played along

Sometimes a fairly common subject such as a blue spotted stingray can be transformed by the use of a different technique. I use a snoot as a spotlight to light this little fella. The reference to the open blue water in the background helps to give the idea of depth to the picture

Dusk dives are a great opportunity to photograph different fish. This Arabian angelfish came for a close look in mid-water when I started the dive. The fast shutter speed darkens the background and an inward lighting ensure only the front of the fish gets lit

George is a well know resident at The Barge in Gubal Island. This head-on shot using a snoot creates a very dramatic portrait

Oceanic whitetips are majestic sharks, cruising just under the surface close to the offshore reefs of the Southern Red Sea they are regularly seen by divers. This individual was swimming under the boat at Daedalus Reef

Komodo is a magic place and few dive sites are as impressive as Batu Bolong. This hawksbill turtle stops at a cleaning station not caring for the divers around it

A little coral goby photographed using a very shallow depth of field to focus the attention on the little fish eyes

A small goby resting on a sponge. By using a backlighting technique the fish seems to glow. Taken in Lembeh, Sulawesi, Indonesia

To find out more about Mario's photographic trips go to https://www.scubatravel.com/escorted/mariovitalini.html