After an hour boat ride we finally reach our destination. It was pitch black by then; only the stars and the boat lights letting me see our location.

Open ocean and in the far distance the shadow of a deserted island.

For me, the night dive always starts with a funny feeling in my stomach when I have to jump into the black liquid, rolling underneath the boat.

After I got organized with all my lights and camera gear in the water, I start my descend. The funny feeling disappears and getting replaced with calmness and amazement. The colors are incredible vivid, from bright reds to neon yellows.

At a depth of about 40 feet, we just cruise along the reef wall. It feels like I am flying, looking down into the blackness and out of reach of the lights.

A while into the dive I come across something that looks like a steal wire, which spirals horizontally away from the reef wall into the darkness. When I got closer with my camera searchlight, I saw the full beauty of the wire coral.

They open up their tentacles to filter the water for food in the current and I set myself up for a shot.

It looked like illuminated barbed wire and it was not an easy task to get the right position. Controlling my buoyancy with my breathing, fighting the current with my big camera rig, getting the right angle and not being able to hold on to something, made this a bit difficult. Especially for a macro shot, I had to get very close, without touching and damaging this fragile creature.

After a few minutes repositioning myself, calming down my breathing and some test shots, I finally got this one.

Henrik Welle

Maldives (55)