You’ve seen the shot. A massive, jagged maw erupting from the foam, teeth like serrated kitchen knives, and water flying everywhere. It’s the "Air Jaws" look. It’s iconic. But honestly? It’s also kinda the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what makes great white shark pictures actually good. Most of the time, the real magic happens about ten feet under the surface, where the light turns that specific shade of "Guadalupe Blue" and the shark isn't a monster—it's just a very large, very curious fish.
I’ve spent a lot of time talking to divers and looking through high-end portfolios from people like Chris Fallows, and if there’s one thing you learn fast, it’s that the "scary" photos are the easiest to take. Any tourist with a GoPro and a shark wrangler tossing a tuna head can get a picture of a shark biting a cage. The real trick is capturing the nuance. The way the light hits those black, bottomless eyes. Or the scarred-up skin that tells a story of a twenty-year life in the open ocean.
The Myth of the "Bloodthirsty" Snap
Everyone wants the open-mouth shot. It’s the money maker. But if you talk to guys like Michael Muller—who literally brought Hollywood-style studio lighting into the ocean to photograph these animals—they’ll tell you that the "smiling" or "cruising" shots are often more technically impressive. Why? Because you aren't relying on a bait-induced frenzy.
When a shark is calm, you can actually play with the composition. You can wait for that perfect moment when it passes between you and the sun, creating a silhouette that looks like a spaceship. Or you can use a strobe to pull out the white of its belly. Did you know that if you don't use a flash, the shark's belly often looks flat gray in photos? It’s because the water eats up all the red and warm tones of the light spectrum. Without a little artificial pop, you lose the "white" in the great white.
How to Get Great White Shark Pictures Without Looking Like a Amateur
If you’re heading out to South Africa’s False Bay or the Neptune Islands in Australia, don't just point and pray. That’s how you end up with a thousand blurry photos of a tail disappearing into the gloom.
First off, your settings matter more than your brand of camera.
Most pros are shooting in manual. You want a shutter speed of at least 1/250s. Sharks are fast. Even when they look like they're just gliding, they’re moving at a clip that will blur your image if you’re at 1/60s. If you're in a cage and the boat is rocking, a slow shutter is your worst enemy.
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- Lens choice is make-or-break. You need wide. Think 16-35mm on a full-frame or even a fisheye if you're feeling brave. The closer you are to the shark, the less water there is between your lens and the subject. Less water equals more clarity.
- Focusing is a nightmare. The ocean is full of "floaties"—bits of fish, scales, and microorganisms. Your camera’s autofocus is going to want to lock onto a piece of chum instead of the shark’s eye. A lot of underwater photographers actually back-button focus or use a "focus trap" method where they pre-focus at a certain distance and wait for the shark to swim into the zone.
- The "Over-Under" Risk. These are those cool shots where the top half is the boat and the bottom half is the shark. They look amazing, but they are incredibly hard to do. You need a massive dome port and a lot of luck with the swell. If the water hits your lens at the wrong angle, the whole frame is ruined by a giant splash.
The Best Spots Left in 2026
Since Isla Guadalupe in Mexico closed to shark diving a few years back, the world of great white photography has shifted. It’s gotten more competitive.
South Australia is currently the king. Because they use submersible cages that go all the way to the sea floor, you get angles that you can't get anywhere else. You’re looking up at the shark against the surface of the water. This provides a natural backlight that makes the shark pop. Plus, you get those "floor shots" where the shark is cruising over the kelp. It’s a much more natural look than the "suspended in blue" shots from the surface.
South Africa is still great for breaching, especially around Seal Island. If you want those airborne shots, you need a long telephoto lens—something like a 70-200mm—and you need to be on the boat, not in the water. You have to watch the seals. When the seals start "porpoising" (jumping out of the water in a straight line), it means a shark is underneath them. That’s your cue. You’ve got about half a second to react.
Ethical Photography: Don't Be "That" Person
There’s a growing debate in the community about "wrangling." Some photographers want the shark as close to the cage as possible, which often involves the crew pulling a bait bag right into the bars.
It makes for a dramatic photo, sure. But it also leads to the shark banging its nose against the steel. Great whites have highly sensitive electrical sensors (the Ampullae of Lorenzini) in their snouts. Hitting a metal cage is like someone slamming a door on your fingers. The best great white shark pictures are the ones where the animal is behaving naturally. If you can get a shot of a shark just observing you—eye contact is real, by the way—it’s worth ten "jaws" shots.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Trip
If you're serious about this, don't just show up with a brand new housing you haven't tested.
- Practice in a pool first. Learn where your buttons are by touch. You can't be looking at your dials when a 15-foot female named "Bullet" is swimming toward you.
- Shoot in RAW. No exceptions. You’re going to need to fix the white balance later. The "blue" of the ocean changes every five feet you go down.
- Watch the sun. If the sun is behind the shark, you’re going to get a silhouette. If the sun is behind you, you get the detail. Both are good, but you need to know which one you're aiming for.
- Check your strobes. If you use them, pull them out wide and aim them slightly away from the subject. This prevents "backscatter," which is when your flash illuminates every tiny piece of dust in the water, making your photo look like it was taken in a snowstorm.
Basically, stop trying to take the "scariest" picture possible. Start trying to take a portrait of an apex predator. When you stop looking for the teeth and start looking for the light, that’s when your shark photography actually starts to get good.
To make progress on your shark photography goals, start by researching the current seasonal visibility charts for the Neptune Islands or False Bay, as water clarity will dictate whether you should pack a wide-angle rectilinear lens or a dedicated fisheye for the best results.