rachel price
“I use my images to showcase the beauty and fragility of our local marine life.”
As a keen traveller, diver and land-based photographer, when the opportunity arose for Rachel Price to undertake a month-long underwater photography internship with Africa Media in Mozambique in 2017, she jumped at the opportunity to combine her passions. Since then, photography has been a big part of her life.
When Rachel moved to Geelong, she connected with the local dive community, who opened her eyes to the amazing underwater world we are lucky to have right on our doorstep.
Colourful reefs
Rachel’s favourite part of the GSR is the stretch of reef between Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale. While these dive sites are accessible from the shore, they can throw up some challenging conditions, which makes it all the more rewarding when everything comes together and you have a perfect dive.
“At different times of the year you can encounter schools of calamari, seahorses, enormous smooth rays, mating cuttlefish, weedy sea dragons, blue devil fish, port jackson sharks and an array of crabs and nudibranches. Even on a dive where the critters are a bit quiet, the beautiful kelp beds and colourful overhangs make for a serene experience.”
Citizen science
For Rachel, photography is also an important education and research tool.
“I use my images to showcase the beauty and fragility of our local marine life in the hopes that it will inspire others to be more cognisant of our oceans. I also submit my images to a range of citizen-science initiatives including Sea Slug Census, Dragon Quest, Fish Count and iNaturalist, to contribute to the base of knowledge about our local marine habitats.”
Cuttlefish at the Cottage
For Rachel, winter is always the highlight of the diving season for her local sites around the Bellarine Peninsula.
“The winds drop and the waters clear, making it easier to get out to some of our trickier shore dives, such as Cottage by the Sea.”
Earlier this year on a dive there in June, Rachel was rewarded with the company of a couple of huge cuttlefish.
“They put on an impressive display of colours and shapes for us to enjoy.”
Hide and sneak
Octopuses never ceases to amaze me. This Southern Keeled Octopus was so tightly coiled inside its shell, with only it's eyes and the edge of a tentacle visible.
Baby Blue Ring
This perfect, tiny juvenile Blue Ringed Octopus was no bigger than my fingernail, but that didn't make it any less bold. It chased its reflection around in my lens for a good few minutes, putting its tentacles up ready to fight its minuscule opponent.
In recent times Rachel has spent more time leading workshops and dives for budding underwater photographers.
“It's been great to see people of all levels of photography experience and with everything from smartphones through to full DSLR systems getting out to our local sites and capturing images of our local marine life.”
Learn about more passionate photographers and artists inspired by the Great Southern Reef.
