Notes from the field :

Wolf Island, Galapagos: The Galapagos Islands are known for their abundance of many unique species, both on land and underwater. While many travel to the Galapagos Islands specifically for their larger animals like hammerhead sharks and sea lions, the smaller, bottom dwellers should not be overlooked. While stonefish are not unique to the Galapagos, there certainly are an abundance of them here. Their unique camouflage makes them difficult to spot, especially with the barnacle incrusted rocks you find in this area.

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About the subject :

The Stone scorpion fish (Scorpaena plumieri mystes) is a bottom dwelling fish, often remaining motionless unless disturbed. They grow to about 14 inches long, which is how long this particular one was. The spines in their dorsal fin are extremely venomous, and will cause a painful wound if stepped on. And since they are camouflaged so well, many waders have stepped on scorpion fish thinking they were just another rock! Ouch! They can also change their colors to blend with different backgrounds.

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Technical details :

This image was made using an underwater housing, an Aquatica A100, for the Nikon F100 camera, and a macro port for the 105 mm f2.8 AF Nikon lens. Two underwater strobes (Ikelite SS100's) were used for even lighting and to bring out the detail and coloration of this unusual fish. This is one of the first images made with this new housed camera setup, and we are very excited at the new opportunities this system has opened up for us.

In the case of this stonefish, we were able to photograph it from a reasonable distance (using the 105 mm lens) with out disturbing it. In contrast to a Nikonos setup, a housed SLR now offers you all of its benefits underwater! The biggest benefits for us initially were using autofocus, and being able to precisely compose images in the viewfinder. With the F100 camera, you can select one of the multiple focus areas to be on the fish's eye and maintain composition, which was another treat.

You could make this same photograph with a Nikonos and a 1:3 macro framer, however, chances are this fish wouldn't stick around when you placed a framer in its face. I think you could say we are hooked on housings now!!.

Look for more images from the Galapagos Islands, a trip report, and our first thoughts on using a housed camera system soon!

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About the composition :

1] I wanted to take advantage of the natural camouflage of this scorpion fish to create a somewhat abstract image. Trying to figure out what you are looking at adds interest to the image. Then once you discover it, it all falls into place.

2] The diagonal composition was the result of trying to get the fish's eyes and mouth to be in the frame, and excluding as much background as possible.

3] Eye slightly above center, and likely the element that eventually ties the entire image together.

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