WHO is the hardest to work with: this looming great hammerhead shark or one of Hollywood鈥檚 gilded A-listers?
Michael Muller would know. Best known for his photographs of film stars like Brad Pitt or Joaquin Phoenix, over the past decade he has trained his lens on nature鈥檚 superstars: great white and hammerhead sharks, among others.
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This shot of a great hammerhead was taken last February off Bimini Island in the Bahamas. To create the atmospheric haze around the onrushing animal, Muller threw a handful of fine white sand in front of him and snapped the shark as it emerged through the 鈥渟moke鈥�.
Muller uses a custom-built underwater strobe-light system to create lighting fit for a celebrity. His team includes local shark behaviourist to show their best side (see below).
鈥淪harks are easier then people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so quiet and instead of trying to control a shoot I just go with the flow and let the sharks direct the shoot and what they are going to model for me.鈥�
Hammerheads aren鈥檛 considered dangerous. They use their widely set eyes and other senses to detect prey, particularly stingrays, hiding under the soft sand on the seabed.
Muller鈥檚 book Sharks: Face-to-face with the ocean鈥檚 endangered predator is out now. An accompanying exhibition opens at the Taschen gallery in Los Angeles this week.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淩eady for his close up鈥�
