Sterling Imagery - Libby Sterling Photography

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Sterling Imagery - Libby Sterling Photography

I dive the Great Barrier Reef regularly, obsessed with underwater photography & sharing it with you. I also use a GoPro 10 sometimes for both photos & video.

PADI Master Instructor specialising in continuing education for certified divers: Self Reliant Diver, Digital UW Photography & GoPro/Quik Specialties. I shoot with a Canon EOS R mirrorless camera in a Nauticam housing with 2 Sea & Sea YS-D3 mk ii strobes or a Canon G7x mk ii compact camera in a Recsea housing with 2 Sea & Sea YS-D3 mk ii strobes.

04/09/2026

Look closely at this one and you'll spot a fine stream of bubbles trailing from him — he was singing this entire encounter, and I like to think of these as the visible trace of that song, even though the bubbles themselves are likely just controlled exhale.

Being this close to something this size, mid-song, is genuinely humbling. You forget how small you are until a moment like this.

Did you spot the bubble trail before I pointed it out?

📸 Canon EOS R, 14-35mm wide angle lens in a Nauticam housing

03/09/2026

Look at the texture on this guy — every scratch and mark tells part of a story we'll never fully know. Barnacle scars, scuffs from other whales, decades of life in the open ocean, all written across his skin.

Researchers actually use the markings on the fluke (tail fin) to identify individual humpbacks — no two whales carry quite the same pattern, a bit like a fingerprint.

Would you have guessed whales can be individually identified just from their markings?

📸 Canon EOS R, 14-35mm wide angle lens in a Nauticam housing

02/09/2026

Another singing whale, he came so close to us and it felt like he looked each of us in the eye as he glided past us, just magical. We had two swims each with this amazing whale before moving on.

It's hard to describe what this is actually like to witness. They stay still quite deep down (maybe 20-30m down in the blue) singing his song, and then slowly without any visible movement you realise he's drifting closer and then there he is...

No, this blue isn't edited. If anything, it was even more vivid in person than any photo manages to capture — one of those moments where the ocean just doesn't look real.

Tonga's open water gave us this incredible clarity for the whole encounter. Genuinely one of the most vivid blues I've dived in.

Does this look real to you, or does it read as too blue to be true?

📸 Canon EOS R, 14-35mm wide angle lens, in a Nauticam housing

01/09/2026

Meet the titan triggerfish — unofficially known as the most feared fish on the reef, and not without reason. These guys will absolutely charge a diver who gets too close to their nest, no hesitation.

This one, thankfully, was just going about its business and let me get close enough for this level of detail. Still kept one eye on me the whole time though — you can see it in that gaze.

Ever had a run-in with a triggerfish on a dive, or heard the horror stories before you'd even seen one? 😅

📸 taken with a EOS R, 100mm lens, in a Nauticam housing, and two strobes

31/08/2026

Part 4 of that 2017 turtle morning — and this is the shot where you can actually see two of the three together. 🐢

Twenty minutes with these guys before the rest of the group arrived and they scattered. Moments like this are exactly why I got into solo diving — patience over pursuit.

Did you spot the second turtle joining in this one before reading the caption?

Yes, I teach the

📸 Canon G7X mkii, Recsea housing, AOI wet lens, 2x strobes

30/08/2026

Back to Volivoli for more of these gorgeous pink anemonefish. This one's tucked into an anemone with the same deep pink base we've been seeing all trip — Fiji's anemones seem to love showing off just as much as the fish do.

There's something so calming about watching these little guys duck in and out of their host, completely at home.

Have you dived Volivoli, or is this your first look at this part of Fiji?

Fabulous week of diving with

📸 Canon EOS R, 100mm lens in a Nauticam housing and two atom strobes

29/08/2026

One last shot of our singer, coming up for a breath at the surface. This gentle giant seems to have claimed this stretch of water as his own — we heard he was back in the exact same spot yesterday, still singing away.

We didn't go back to him though. Every boat was taking turns, and honestly, that felt right — let him have his space and his song without a crowd around him constantly.

Moments like this are exactly why I keep coming back to the ocean. Some encounters just stay with you.

Have you ever had a wildlife encounter that made you want to give the animal its space, even though you wanted more?

📸 Canon EOS R, 14 - 35mm wide angle lens in a Nauticam housing

28/08/2026

The sound gets under your skin before you even see him. Whale song travels for miles underwater, and by the time you spot the humpback himself, you've already felt it in your chest for several minutes.

Only males sing, and researchers still aren't entirely sure why — theories range from attracting mates to communicating with other males over vast distances. Whatever the reason, being in the water while it happens is unlike anything else I've experienced diving.

If you could hear one sound from the ocean in person, would whale song be on your list?

📸 Canon EOS R, 14-35mm wide angle lens in a Nauticam housing

27/08/2026

Some days on the water change you a little. Today was one of them.

This male humpback was singing the entire time we were with him — you could hear it from the boat before we even got in the water. Underwater, it's not just sound, it resonates straight through your chest. There's nothing quite like feeling a whale's song in your own body.

Photos can't capture the sound, but I hope this at least gives you a sense of the scale and the stillness of that moment. Yes I do have video so sound I will share his song.

Has anyone else experienced whale song in the water? It's honestly hard to describe to someone who hasn't felt it.

📸 Canon EOS R, 14-35mm wide angle lens nauticam housing

24/08/2026

Part three of that 2017 turtle encounter. 🐢

This was turtle number two of the three I spent nearly 20 minutes with that morning — completely unbothered, going about its business grazing while I just floated and watched.

Solo diving properly trained (hello, Self-Reliant Diver course) means no bubbles or group disturbance — which is exactly why encounters like this last as long as they do.

Could you sit still and just watch for 20 minutes, or would you want to keep moving?

Yes, I teach the

📸 Canon G7X mkii, Recsea housing, AOI wet lens, 2x strobes

Address

Cairns, QLD

Website

https://www.redbubble.com/people/libbysterling/shop?asc=u, http://www.sterlingimagery.com.au/

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