Kyle Soto Photography

From the past few days. A green sea turtle surfaced and released a perfect bubble. One of those moments that’s gone almost instantly if you’re not ready. Shooting high speed with a fast shutter is what makes it possible to hold onto the moment.

I’ve never seen a turtle blow a bubble this clean before.
Shot on Nikon Z6III with a Tamron 16-30mm 2.8 📸

My favorite place to watch the sunrise is underwater. Swimming out while it’s still dark and searching for wildlife to photograph is such a unique experience. You’re hoping to find something worth shooting before the sun comes up. It really feels like a race against it.

Those first minutes of sunrise bring some of the most unique lighting, soft orange tones that don’t last long. The ocean’s waking up, I’m waking up, the turtles are waking up. It’s a special time to be in the water, and these past few days have been some of the best sunrise dives I’ve had.

Here’s a few from them.

Nothing better than freezing water using light 💡 Shot on Nikon D750 and SB-5000 flash 🤙 The colors peak over the horizon about 30 minutes before the sun rises, this window is my favorite time to shoot flash waves!

Sometimes the photo is already pretty solid straight out of camera, but editing can still take it a lot further.

This turtle shot had good bones from the start. The light rays were there, the composition worked, and the moment itself was strong. But the raw file still had that flat underwater haze, a green cast in parts of the frame, and not quite enough separation to make the subject really stand out.

In this breakdown, I show how I cleaned up the base image, corrected the color, and then used a few masks to shape the light, control unwanted tones, and bring more attention to the turtle without making it feel overdone.

Editing isn’t always about saving a bad photo. Sometimes it’s about taking a photo that already works and helping it reach its full potential.

Happy St. Patty’s Day ☘️
Green is normally one of the first tones I try to clean up in underwater images, but sometimes nature flips the script and makes it the best part of the shot.

Love to see healthy reefs and healthy turtles along our coast 🏝️