Monotone

A diver normally sees much of the underwater world in shades of monotone blue.

Sunlight shining through the surface and illuminating the reef is absorbed as it passes through the water. Different frequencies (colours) of light are absorbed at different rates and so the variety of colours you can see on the reef gradually disappear with depth in roughly this order :- Red, green, yellow, blue. At depths of only 15 metres (45 feet) there is virtually no red left in the transmitted sunlight and everything on the reef looks distinctly blue, with flares of yellow and some orange. The diminishing colours give a distinct feel to the reef that is not portrayed in the majority of underwater photography, most of which is undertaken using strobes to put back the colours you cannot otherwise see.

This selection of monochromatic images capture the natural feel and mood of the underwater world as experienced by a diver viewing the reef by natural (absorbed) sunlight.