Some of Bermuda's most beautiful fish put their best fins forward in a new picture book about Bermuda's underwater denizens.

'Bermuda Reef Portraits – A Visual Guide for Divers and Snorkellers & Marine Enthusiasts' by Ron Lucas was released this month and is swimming off the shelves.

"When I first started thinking about a book it was because initially I couldn't find a good reference book like this in Bermuda," he said.

"There is a series for the whole of the Caribbean which had most of these fish in them, but they are purely identification shots.

"So I thought, wouldn't it be good to produce an ID book for Bermuda? Then I thought, wouldn't it be good to produce a book that is more interesting than an ID book?"

The result was 'Bermuda Reef Portraits' a partnership between Mr. Lucas and the Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS).

The money made from the sale of the book will go to BZS education, research and conservation projects.

BZS is donating books to schools and libraries.

"I am hoping it will be a resource for people growing up so they know more about the reefs, and more about the inhabitants of the reefs," said Mr. Lucas. "That in turn will move conservation efforts forward. I am hoping the book will be used by education programmes here."

Some of Mr. Lucas' photographs are already being used in the Bermuda Aquarium Museum & Zoo's publicity literature.

It took Mr. Lucas about six years to take the photographs for the book.

"A lot of getting a good picture underwater is luck," said Mr. Lucas. "The photographs I am most proud of is the little guys. The juvenile cocoa damsel fish and the juvenile beaugregory damselfish are two of my favourites."

The book also includes lush pictures of angel fish, turtles, parrotfish, a graysby and many other types of fish that will be familiar and unfamiliar to Bermudians.

"The biggest stuff is easier to photograph," said Mr. Lucas. "But you don't want to just take a picture; you want to take a picture with a nice background."

He first started taking the pictures to try to catalogue what he was seeing when he went diving. He wanted a visual reference on his computer.

"Then later on I realised the first ID-type photographs were a little boring visually," he said. "I like to take a picture of a fish head on so you see the head, but the side as well.

"Cleaning stations are a good place to take photographs. Some of the little fish will clean the bigger fish of parasites and dead skin.If you find a cleaning station you can just wait with your camera and eventually the fish will come along to it. A lot of their day is taken up with hygiene."

The book also includes a lion fish, an aggressive fish that is finding its way into Bermuda waters. "Potentially, they could have a devastating effect here in the Caribbean," said Mr. Lucas. "These fish are toxic. They kill other fish and they don't seem to have any predators. They are a major concern."

The Aquarium is training a group of people to cull them.

"Fishermen have to be very careful when handling them," said Mr. Lucas. "If stung seek medical treatment."

Mr. Lucas said he has done a lot of diving with Blue Water Divers in Somerset. His son Ben used to be a partner there.

"Ben taught me and my wife to dive," said Mr. Lucas. "It was also Ben who encouraged my wife and I to take up photography. He used to see that people would do 50 or 60 dives and then move on to the next thing. He could see we were keen. He suggested that both of us get a camera.

"I have been to all those popular sites that tourists go to, but I am also lucky to have dived at a lot of virgin reef.

"That means we don't know if it has been dived before. That gives me a range of opportunity."

But he said sometimes fish can be a bit contrary.

"I might go out one day with a macro lens on the camera intending to take small stuff and then there is only big stuff, or vice versa," Mr. Lucas said. "Sometimes it can be very frustrating."

He said big-time professional photographers often have a crew to carry around equipment for just such eventualities. This is a luxury he does not have.

Mr. Lucas shoots with a Nikon Digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera and uses ikelite strobes.

"On the surface the camera weighs about 14 pounds but underwater it is neutral," said Mr. Lucas. "The size is a problem though if you are in current. Fortunately, we don't have much current which makes it an ideal place to take photographs."

He said he doesn't have one of the higher end cameras, but he is fortunate that it takes good pictures anyway.

"I am a very poor photographer above water," said Mr. Lucas. "When I can't dive anymore, then I will learn how to take pictures above water.

"I am 60 now. I figure I have got at least another 10 years of diving. You have to be in good health to dive because it is physically taxing."

Mr. Lucas said he might one day like to make another book including photographs he has taken on his dives around the world including in the Caribbean, Belize, Galapagos Islands and Hawaii, and many other places.

"Galapagos was just amazing," said Mr. Lucas. "I have been twice diving there. It is one of the must do things if you can afford it. The Bermuda Zoological Society had organised one of the trips. I stayed on an extra week to dive."

Mr. Lucas said he would like to see more seasonal protection to certain fish species that are fished in Bermuda.

"If we did that I believe fishermen would enjoy bigger catches the rest of the year," said Mr. Lucas.

"We do that to a certain extent now, but we ought to think about extending that and possibly having more areas where you are not allowed to fish. The fish can breed in those areas and then go into other areas where there is fishing.

"I eat fish, and I support fishing when it is done properly."

For more information about Mr. Lucas' photographs go to http://www.ronlucasphoto.smugmug.com/.