Behind the lens of a legend

Bay of Plenty photographer Andy Belcher has been scuba diving since the early 1970s. He is one of the foremost underwater camera experts worldwide, with a whopping 82 top photographic awards to his name, including British Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Australasian Underwater Photographer of the Year and Nikon Photo Contest International.

Andy's tales of his underwater encounters are mesmerising. Here we hear from him about this photograph of Boris the grouper, his most successful photo of all time, and what capturing that all-important moment meant for him, personally and professionally.

Boris the grouper

Launched in February 1931, the SS President Coolidge was operated as a luxury liner. After the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941, she was commissioned as a transport ship to reinforce garrisons in the Pacific. She set sail from San Francisco for New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. On her approach to Santo in October 1942, the SS Coolidge struck two mines, and the captain ran her aground. 4,998 troops got safely off the ship before she sank. She now rests on her port side in warm tropical waters with her bow at a depth of 20 metres and her stern at 70 metres.

I was invited to photograph the infamous Coolidge and as we descended towards the huge wreck, I was vaguely conscious of a large fish shape in the distance. My eyes just about popped out of my head! It was the biggest grouper I had ever seen, and I became transfixed with photographing this wonderful 250-kilo monster. Unfortunately, my magazine editor wanted me to photograph a mural called The Lady in the ship’s dining room and took me to deeper water. The next day, we moved on to another location. I was gutted. I knew instinctively that the grouper was an amazing photo opportunity and promised myself I would return.

One year later, I returned to dive the Coolidge again. My wonderful resident Japanese dive guide Mayumi told me the grouper’s name was Boris and promised to bring him close to my camera. We swam down the starboard side of the Coolidge to see Boris lurking in the distance. I signalled Mayumi to wait while I set up my camera. Then I could concentrate on the composition of the image in the heat of the moment. Guessing Boris might come very close, I manually focused on my knee. I manually metred the background water and set the strobes on low power so as not to overexpose the fish. I was ready. We knelt on the hull. Mayumi pulled from her plastic container a fish the size of a small kahawai and waved it above her head. In an instant, Boris was right in my face! As he turned in front of me with his little yellow followers I took one photo.

Two weeks later I saw the transparency was pin-sharp and perfectly exposed. I was elated, and it was to become my most successful image: it won first place in the world’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Being flown to London’s Natural History Museum to accept my award from Richard Attenborough was the highlight of my photographic career. The image then toured the world as part of their exhibition, and its appearance brought me many new work enquiries.

Several years later my 12-year-old daughter Ocean completed her PADI open water dive training and I took her to meet Boris. She appeared to have absolutely no fear of this huge fish. What I learned from this whole Boris experience was this. Once you recognize a great photo opportunity don’t give up on it. Go back and do it again and again until you get it right!