There is nothing quite like diving at the California Sea Lion rookery at Isla San Pedro Nalasco. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, and it’s pure joy. But when you bring a camera down with you, that joy quickly meets a technical challenge. Sea lions are the fighter jets of the reef. They move with blistering speed, darting through the water column, changing direction instantly, and zooming straight up to your dome port.
If you leave your camera on “Auto” and hope for the best, you are likely going to end up with a memory card full of blurry brown streaks. Capturing the perfect, tack-sharp image of a sea lion requires specific settings, a wide-angle setup, and a solid understanding of animal behavior. Here is your targeted guide to photographing the “dogs of the sea” in San Carlos.
The Gear: Go Wide or Go Home
Leave the macro lens on the boat. Sea lions are large animals, and more importantly, they are incredibly curious. They will often come within inches of your mask. If you are shooting with a standard or macro lens, you will only get a blurry shot of a whisker.
- The Lens: A wide-angle lens (like a 10-17mm fisheye or a 16-35mm wide zoom) is absolutely essential. It allows you to capture the entire animal even when it is right in your face, and it lets you capture the beautiful sun-rays piercing the shallow water behind them.
- Strobes vs. Ambient Light: The best sea lion encounters happen in the shallows (15 to 30 feet). Because you have so much ambient sunlight, you can often shoot without strobes. If you do use strobes, make sure they have a very fast recycle time. If your strobes take 3 seconds to recharge, the sea lion will be gone before your second shot.
The Settings: Freeze the Action
Sea lions move erratically. To get a sharp image, your primary focus must be on a fast shutter speed. Dial in these settings in Manual mode before you jump in:
- Shutter Speed (The Priority): Set your shutter speed to a minimum of 1/250th of a second. If there is enough ambient light, push it to 1/500s or even 1/1000s. You want to freeze their rapid movements perfectly.
- Aperture: An aperture of f/8 to f/11 is ideal. This provides a good depth of field, ensuring that if the sea lion’s nose is in focus, its eyes and body will be relatively sharp as well.
- ISO: Because you are using a fast shutter speed, you need more light sensitivity. Don’t be afraid to bump your ISO to 400, 800, or even 1000 depending on the cloud cover and depth. Modern cameras handle this level of noise beautifully.
- Autofocus: Switch your camera to Continuous Autofocus (AF-C or AI Servo). This tells the camera to continually track the moving subject as you hold the shutter button halfway down.
Approach Technique: The Golden Rule
The biggest mistake new underwater photographers make is chasing the subject. If you swim aggressively toward a sea lion with a giant camera rig, it will simply swim away.
The Golden Rule: Let them come to you.
Find a shallow, sunny spot near the rocky wall and establish neutral buoyancy (your SSI Perfect Buoyancy skills are critical here!). Hang motionless in the water. Sea lions are like puppies; they are drawn to calm, interesting things. If you wait patiently, a juvenile will almost certainly swoop down to investigate your dome port. When they do, be ready to fire a burst of shots.
Pro Tip: Sea lions love playfulness. If you slowly spin in a circle, do a somersault, or let out a slow stream of bubbles, it often piques their curiosity and brings them in closer for a look.
Behaviors to Anticipate
Knowing what a sea lion is about to do allows you to frame the shot before it happens.
- The “Torpedo” Flyby: They will often swim straight at you at high speed, turning away at the last possible second. Pre-focus your camera on the water a few feet in front of you and wait for them to enter the frame. Focus on getting the eyes tack-sharp.
- The Bubble Blower: Sea lions will often stop directly in front of a diver and release a massive burst of bubbles from their mouth or nose as a sign of playfulness (or mild territorial display). If a sea lion pauses and looks right at you, hold down the shutter—the bubble burst makes for an award-winning photo.
- The Bite: Don’t panic! Juveniles explore the world with their mouths. It is very common for them to gently mouth your fins or even your camera’s strobe arms. Keep the camera steady; these close-up “chomping” shots are hilarious and highly engaging.
Respecting the Locals
As photographers, our desire for the shot must never override the wellbeing of the animal. Remember that Isla San Pedro Nalasco is their home.
- Never touch or reach out to grab a sea lion.
- Give the massive, dark-brown bulls plenty of space. They are territorial beach-masters and are not interested in playing.
- If an animal seems stressed or aggressive, back away slowly and give it room.
Photographing the sea lions of San Carlos is an absolute thrill. When you finally review your images and see that perfectly frozen, smiling face looking back at you through a curtain of bubbles, all the effort becomes completely worth it.
Want to dial in your camera skills before you hit the water? Contact Us to sign up for the SSI Photo & Video Specialty course and learn from our resident pros!