WOW! That is a very short summary of my recent trip to the Misool Ecoresort in Raja Ampat, Papua, Indonesia. I am still getting over my jetlag, but starting to process my new images. I shot a variety of subjects from wide-angle soft coral underwater landscapes to above water remote beach sunsets, but some of my favorite images are of the anemonefish. I have wanted to photograph them ever since I first saw them underwater during my visit to Indonesia in 2000 and later while watching "Finding Nemo" hundreds of times with my daughters. It took me a few years, but I finally had the opportunity during this trip. These fish are constantly darting around in an agitated state while having a cute expression on their face, which makes them very frustrating to photograph. I spent 20-30 minutes patiently waiting for this clownfish to move into the most aesthetic position, all the while I photographed a hundred or more pictures that required immediate deletion. This image resonates with me for the head-on pouty expression on the clownfish's face as well as the symmetry of the color and texture of the anemome around it. I created this image using my Canon 5DmkII and 100mm f2.8 macro lens in my Ikelite 5DmkII housing with dual Ikelite DS160 strobes set on TTL. This image required minimal processing using Aperture 3 and Photoshop CS5.
Click here to purchase a print of this image.
Wonderful color. The red/orange with black “edging” of the fish is such bright contrast to the cream and white of the anemone. Love the curves – curve of the fish, echoing curve of the anemone…..
Thank you, Rebecca! I edited your typo for you. I learned something. This type of clownfish is actually called a false clownfish. The “real” ones have a lot more black on them. I think I only saw 1 pair like that, but did not get a great photo of them. I have many more new images from my trip coming in the weeks ahead.
Something you and others might find of interest. As I looked at your image I thought it was way over saturated. Then I realized I was in IE9. I usually use FF so, just out of curiosity, I opened your post in FF and sure enough, the Clown fish was a much more realistic color. I’ve heard people talk about these differences before, but I had never seen them so graphically obvious. Not sure it matters but I have a Spectraview calibrated NEC monitor.