Green Moray ( Gymnothorax funebris )

Well it is much better than the white pause..... It is a world that not so many people know as personal experience, I'm one of them... so that under water realm is intricasy and fascinating. I wonder how light is practiced in what looks to me a dark " planet". I like the composition, "cut" diagonaly with that long fish that looks really ominous and still a beautiful creature. I like his upper slipper that has a motion feeling.

Interesting color palette nuances, different textures. and it looks that you were very close. Is it a dangerous fish?Thanks for sharing, Gord.

Actually, I guess, you're the alien here. A wonderfully malevolent portrait in blue and green.

Pnina;

 

I had grown accustom to those white uploads and I actually miss them a bit.

 

The coral reef community is a weird world inhabited by some mighty strange creatures. This Moray eel is capable of inflicting a nasty bite however like most animals, biting is a last resort used only if the eel is cornered and feels threatened. This one was around 2 meters long and was free swimming along a wall, slipping in and out of crevices looking for food. Morays have unusual gill structures, you can see the hole in the side behind the head and below the upper fin. Unlike most fish which have a rigid gill plate equip with muscles to fan water over the gills, the moray swims with its mouth open and when at rest they open and close theirs mouth to draw fresh oxygen rich water over the gills. Because their mouths are often open and they have lots of sharp teeth they have gotten a poorly deserved reputation as ill tempered or inclined to bite.

 

Light underwater is still light and in many regards behaves the same way, but there are numerous extra challenges. Water is 800 times denser than air so it filters out light and creates haze at a very accelerated pace compared to air. As you go deeper more and more of the visible wavelengths are filtered out until at around 100 feet, where we were in the Caribbean at any rate , you are left with and eerie black and white world with a blueish cast. You need a flash to restore natural colour below around 25 feet. Even water as clear as the Caribbean contains a huge amount of suspended particulate matter so a wide angle lens is useful to get as little water as possible between your camera and subject. Lots of challenges to deal with makes this a fun new aspect of photography for me.

 

Jack;

 

Alien is precisely the feeling I have when I am down there. You are the only creature clearly out of context and struggling to cope. The remainder of the reef community look upon you as an oddity -- some kind of awkward slow intruder into their realm. Oddly enough, being wrapped in neoprene with a metal tank strapped to ones back must make people appear benign, as the fish did not generally appear concerned about our intrusion.

Thanks for taking the time. Very interesting explanation and a good lesson in underwater reality and photography, Very much appreciated. Educating as well.

I smiled reading your answer in the next one....;-))

Pnina;

 

I am only beginning to study and understand the inhabitants of the reef. It is a pleasure to share what little I know of this world as it make it all the more fun.

With much amateur underwater photography I've seen, I usually sense more than anything attention only to color. Depth, composition, energy, and a sense of life/movement often seem to be absent. Your photo stands out for the very reason that you've attended to all those other elements and given it more presence than what I'm more used to in this genre. To begin, I like the concentration on blue-green, which sets up a certain mood, not as bold as a more varied palette but also not as typical and providing that subdued feeling, almost a sense of the protectiveness of the water and surroundings. There is plenty of variety within the tones and lighting you've used to involve my imagination. I like the composition and perspective, which has the fish coming out toward the viewer (good lighting also emphasizes this). The mouth seems just right to show off some expression and this photo has a sense of involvement, not just a sense -- more often found in such nature pictures -- of "look what I can capture with a camera."

 

I've never been diving (except a brief foray with scuba in Hawaii) and haven't spent much time under water -- though lots of time living near and appreciating from the sidelines oceans and rivers -- but have always thought it would be a world I would love to explore. One reason I love movies (not on TV, but in theaters) is that I love the sense of being enveloped by the darkness and focused on the light and action on the screen. It has always felt safe and warm to me, and seems to enable my imagination to soar and to focus. My sense is that being underwater might be a very similar experience for me.

This character was slipping in and out of crevices hunting , when I

spotted him during a wall dive in Roatan. Thanks for any

constructive comments.

When I began looking around PN and the web in general at underwater photography, in order to try and educate myself in terms of gear and technique, I noticed many of the same issues which you have described. By and large it seems that most of the basics of composition , even basics of spatial relationship are pretty much ignored. Part of the issue is I suspect the difficulty of managing to get your subject in the frame and in focus, which for an amateur diver/photographer such as myself, is indeed a significant challenge. Your subject is in motion and you are being pushed about by swells and current , opportunities tend to be fleeting. Flash is often mandatory because of low light, yet flash does not travel far underwater and creates all sort of issues with back-scatter etc.

 

 

 

A second issue is I believe the fact that many of the divers taking a camera down with them are not photographers when they are above the water and consequently are not well versed in the basics of photography. I met a number of people while diving whom had very elaborate gear to take down expensive SLR cameras and set their cameras on automatic and were shooting JPEGs. One person was astonished to discover that they could set a custom white balance to compensate for the filtering effect of the water.

 

 

 

I am fortunate in that I can apply much of what I've learned above water shooting orchids and other nature. My eye naturally wants to find compositions, to incorporate flow and drama. I am still a long way off of being able to achieve my vision down there, but that is part of the fun. At this stage I am often content to succeed in cataloging another species. There is a magnificent pristine beauty to this underwater world which I have not even begun to figure out how to convey. I suspect that to some extent it may not even be possible.

 

 

Diving is a terrific experience which I would highly recommend to anyone curious about the oceans and adventurous by spirit. The reef community is the most alive place I have ever visited. It reminds me of the canopy of a rain forest in terms of density and diversity of life. However the reef is much easier to navigate, being neutrally buoyant you can rise or fall along a submerged cliff to explore with only a few fin kicks.

 

Fred, thanks for taking time to look at this photo. I appreciate that you have approached the photo with a photographers eye.

This is a heck of a shot, Gord. Amazing timing to catch him smiling so nicely. If I could, I'd spend all my time just looking under the surface of water.

Liz ;

 

This guy was on the move swimming in and out of crevices as he went. I managed to get ahead of the eel and take this as he swam by. I too could spend all day underwater. I was only away for one week however I dove 3 times a day, twice in the morning and most afternoons as well.