Category Archives: fish

Low Depth- Low Depth of Field

Posted on by under fish, Macro, molluscs, mzuiko60mm, photography

Apologies for the title, but this is what this post is about: snorkelling in one meter of water taking soft focus images. Low depth of field (DoF) results from a large (or wide) aperture (somewhat confusingly, to make the aperture larger you need to select a lower f-number on your camera). A wider aperture results in more light hitting the sensor, so it is something you’d do when taking photos under low light, but it can also be used for creative effects, as it results in only a thin slice of the image being in focus. This leaves cluttered backgrounds and foregrounds blurred out which makes for a more pleasing aesthetic effect. I used this technique for the photos above and below of a European Cowrie (Trivia monacha) (M43: f4, 1/160s, ISO100). Of course there is a trade-off: most of the subject is out of focus, so it is not a setting you would use for an ID shot that needs as much detail as possible. The golden rule is to keep the eye(s) in focus – something that worked slightly better in the second pic. Strangely, this snail has two pupils in its right eye! I have indicated the slice that is in focus in the second photo with a red line; the shell is 10-15mm in length.

While I was taking photo after photo of this snail, I was approached by several small Tompot Blennies. This species (as well as Common Blennies, but not so much Montagu’s Blennies) is very curious which is great for a photographer (although sometimes they come too close and you have to keep moving back). I used the same settings as above for the smallest individual (not longer than 4 cm). I noticed for the first time the blue spots on the dorsal fin (see first pic). I did not get THE photo but it was good practice. Finally, a close-up of a baby Topknot; although the aperture was smaller this time, the mouth is still not in focus. Sorry for all the photography talk if you are not into that, but at least I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Silver Steps Round-up

Posted on by under crustaceans, diving, fish, nudibranchs, Silver Steps

I realised I still had photos on my hard disc from a bunch of dives taken at local haunt Silver Steps in Falmouth this summer that could do with posting, as some came out quite nicely. Several photos were taken at my secret spot ‘The Crack‘ (I have now labelled all posts with photos taken in this small spot with that tag). I took some with my trusted Olympus 60mm lens and others with my new 30mm lens. The latter worked well with a large aperture to give a nice blurry background, as seen with the Tompot Blenny (Parablennius gattorugine) above (and further below). I also managed to take a good ‘full frontal’ shot of a Connemara Clingfish (Lepadogaster candolii) showing of the sucker with which they attach to the rocks.

During one dive something caught the corner of my eye: a small Spiny Lobster (Palinurus elephas) – a very nice surprise as I had not seen one here for quite a few years! These are tricky customers to take a photo of I find: their antennae are so long that you need a wide angle scene to have them in the frame, as getting close up gets you only part of the animal. Also a photo of a prawn (Palaemon, not sure which of the two possible species); such beautiful animals! Below that a block of some more good photos.

At the end of one dive I came across a nudibranch I had not seen before: a Yellow Skirt (or Venus) Seaslug (Okenia elegans). Extravagant in its colours and proportions this was one of my finds of the year. Unfortunately I could not give it the full photographic treatment I had in mind as I was running low on air when I found it. Finally a bunch of not-so-good photos but they show a range of common local species and so I have added them for completeness. You can read descriptions when you click on individual pics.

Tompot Blenny

Posted on by under 'The Crack', diving, eggs, EMWL, fish, Silver Steps

Every time I dive at my local site Silver Steps, I check out a crack in the rocks that houses a variety of Crustaceans and fish (see for instance this old post). Yesterday I brought my fancy macro-wide angle probe lens specifically to look for a Tompot Blenny (Parablennius gattorugine). I found two, including this male guarding his eggs (visible at the back, top and bottom of the crack in the photo below). The last photo shows that these guys are pretty feisty too!

Early Spring Macro

Posted on by under crustaceans, eggs, fish, Flushing, Macro, molluscs, mzuiko60mm, nudibranchs, rock pooling, seaweeds, shells, snorkeling, worms

High time for a quick update. Spring has not started in earnest yet and so the number of days in the water have been limited. As is usual, I have practiced taking pics of Flat Periwinkles (Littorina obtusata or L. fabialis) on a bank of the Penryn River. Below that another set of pics taken in Flushing and Falmouth when it was too windy and choppy to get in the water. These were all taken with my cygnustech diffuser which give the pictures a quite distinctive, slightly subdued look.

I did go in the water a few days in a row when the weather and tides allowed it, which was great. I think one time I stayed in for three hours – my core temperature took some time to recover! No special finds and only a few good pics as my strobe placement had become quite rusty but here are the best and/or the most interesting ones. (Species names in the photo captions.) Bring on proper spring weather and flat seas!

Black Backgrounds

Posted on by under cnidarians, fish, jellies, molluscs, photography

Last year I gravitated to macrophotography – in part because of the mostly bad viz, and in part because of the lack of outings to deeper/more interesting dive sites. Although through necessity, this was not really a problem, as biodiversity is greater at the small scale and I find macrophotography a bit easier than wide angle photography (especially as I am not usually floating through crystalclear, sunlit waters with many ‘charismatic’ animals). One macro trick is to use black backgrounds, avoiding the clutter of gravel, seaweed and assorted debris around the subject. For this you need to light the topic with a strobe and have open water behind it (which cannot be lit up and hence remains black). (Another strategy is using a snoot but I never managed to get that working…) Most recent posts feature examples of this technique but here are three pics I did not get round to posting. Descriptions of animals can be found in the captions.

The black background method also works for wideangle photography. As a bonus I am reposting a collection of old jellyfish photos.

Macro-Wide Angle (on land)

Posted on by under fish, fluorescence, Macro, molluscs, wide angle

I really like macrophotography and I really like wide angle photography, but what I REALLY like is macro-wide angle photography! Examples of that underwater can be seen in previous posts (e.g. here and here) but this year I also bought a normal ‘topside’ lens for this purpose: the kuangren k42. It is a difficult lens to use: it is manual focus and it is very (VERY) dark. The first few times trying it out I was almost ready to give it up – that is how hard it was to get a usable photo out of it. With a lot of perseverance I narrowed down the combination of camera and lens settings but there is a lot of practice to be done next year. (Ideally I’d also have two flashes on bendy arms instead one mounted on top of the camera to properly light the subject.) Anyway, above a White Italian Snail which has a bunch of other common names so the Latin one is always best: Theba pisana. It is not all in focus (the eyestalks are not a friend of DoF) but the perspective does manage to show both the (small) animal and its habitat which is otherwise impossible to do. I have also tried the lens a bit closer to the water, some examples below. I have since purchased another kuangren lens and hope to also experiment with – and blog about – that next year!

The Crack pt. 1

Posted on by under 'The Crack', crustaceans, diving, EMWL, fish, Silver Steps
At my local shoredive site Silver Steps here in Falmouth, there is a crack in the rocks, maybe three meters long and not very deep, that is home to an array of interesting species. I have posted pics from this spot before, for instance that of a big conger eel (which has since left it’s hidey-hole, perhaps it swam off to reproduce and die in the Mid-Atlantic?). Anyway, I visited again this week and tried close-up shots with my macrowide angle probe lens. The prawns are much bigger here in the rock pools, but I am not sure if they are Paleamon serratus or P. elegans, as this requires a closer look at the serrations on the rostrum. Regardless of species name, they are stunningly beautiful animals with their blue and yellow legs and black-striped carapace.

Some more pics below (notice that in some another animal is lurking in the background!). Some species are easier to photograph than others, clingfish are very shy for instance. Anyway, there are some more ideas I have, for instance trying to capture multiple species in one frame and post about them in ‘The Crack pt2.’!

Moody Macro

Posted on by under crustaceans, fish, Flushing, Macro, mzuiko60mm, rock pooling
A quick post with some finds from a recent walk on the shores of Flushing, specifically above-water (‘topside’) macro shots with a diffuser. This always leads to my subjects turning out with subdued grey and brown tones, but that is OK. A velvet crab, the amphipod Cymodoce truncata (looks a bit like a trilobite!), a worm pipefish covered in a film of water with some more shots (with descriptions) at the end.

Blennies

Posted on by under fish, Macro, mzuiko60mm, snorkeling
A trip to one of my favourite spots on the North Coast, Booby’s Bay, two weekends back led to a fun rockpool photography sesh. The pools here are quite different than in Falmouth: deeper, more exposed and with fewer seaweeds (see here for impressions). Shannies (Common Blennies) and Montagu’s Blennies are abundant here and I chose not to seach for things ‘more special’ but take pics of these characterful fish. Shannies are greyish and common, but actually very beautiful as you can see above. Their mottled, slimy (scale-less) skin also makes them very well-camouflaged as is clear from the photo below.
Below a few more pics, including of Montagu’s Blennies, which have a ‘quiff’. Some of these fish have hatched not too long ago and are tiny (<1 cm)! When I took these pics the weather was great (and I ditched the wetsuit) but as I am writing this post it is raining and blowing outside. My snorkel outings will be less frequent from now on unfortunately, but on the plus side my blogging will pick up….

Back to Silver Steps

Posted on by under diving, fish, Macro, molluscs, nudibranchs, Silver Steps, worms

With the camera housing back, I have been in the water again lately, taking quite a few photos. I am lagging behind with posting quite a bit (this will allow me to post when I cannot get in the water later in the year) but should occasionally maintain the blog over summer, so here is! My local haunt Silver Steps provided during two dives with the macro lens. Above a Twin Fan Worm (Bispira volutacornis). These are quite shy (i.e. they retract into their parchment-like tube when their composite eyes detect a curious diver) but also are attached to cluttered rock walls. To blur this unappealing background, I used a very shallow depth of field (f 2.8); this also has the advantage of letting a lot of light in so ISO can be decreased to 100 – sorry non-photographers!). Below a collage of other ‘usual suspects’ (names under the photos) but ALSO I SPOTTED AN OCTOPUS! Crouched in a crevice and with only a macro lens I could not do it justice but it was still a very nice encounter.