Keri Wilk
Taking refuge in the empty skeleton of a sea urchin, this male sailfin blenny stayed perched at its hole, suspiciously eyeing passersby. After setting up my tripod-mounted snoot just inches from the hole, it was clear that my presence wasn’t welcome; the blenny made several lunging attacks before conceding defeat to my makeshift PVC snoot.
Rather than pointing the snoot directly orthogonal to the plane of the subject to create a circular spotlight, I instead pointed it at a sharp angle to cast an oval-shaped disc of light. This not only created a more balanced shape of light to fit the frame’s proportions, but it also cast shadows over each of the bumps on the urchin, accentuating the texture and creating a more dynamic image.
My Equipment
Camera: Nikon D300 in Ikelite housing
Lens: Nikon 105mm with SubSee +10 magnifier
Strobes: Ikelite DS125 with homemade snoot
Settings: 1/250 @f/16, ISO 200
We've got an awesome photo gallery of marine life in Smaller Than a Quarter!
