Glowing Tentacles
One of my favorite displays at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a glass dome with these beautiful sea anemones in it. The lighting truly makes them glow. Now, getti...
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One of my favorite displays at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a glass dome with these beautiful sea anemones in it. The lighting truly makes them glow. Now, getting a shot is on the challenging side, since you are shooting through curved glass, in low light, with your subject moving at least a bit... But when you get the shot you want, it's worth all the previous frustration...
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Nov, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in At The Aquarium Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Underwater Fun Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. It's an amazing location for taking aquarium shots. There is a huge variety of displays from small to very large, each with their own interesting critters and amazing shot options to think about. The shot possibilities are virtually endless.Time
The shot was taken mid afternoon, but with an indoor environment, the time of day is generally not an issue. This part of the aquarium has very controlled lighting.Lighting
The lighting for the shot is part of what made this a fun challenge. This was shot through a glass dome tank. Shooting through glass has it's own challenges, now make the glass curved to add extra challenge. The light sources for the tank were spotlights from above, so only portions of the tank were well illuminated. It took some work to find the right angle and exposure to get a clean shot without my own reflection, or reflections of others walking by or looking into the tank. As always seems to happen when you pull out a camera and focus on something that doesn't seem "normal", people stop to see what you are doing. In the process, they change the light.The real challenge was getting the right angle with an anemone nicely lit by one of the spotlights.Equipment
This was shot with my Canon 7D and Tamron 16-300 VC. I didn't have my tripod or monopod with me, so a handheld shot. That became part of the challenge. I needed a fast enough shutter speed for handheld, as well as the anemones gently moving in the water. Since it was shot through glass, there was no option for a flash.Inspiration
I did a good amount of SCUBA diving in my youth, and always loved to find sea anemones. These were so delicate compared to the ones found in the shallow waters of the Monterey Bay, and also different colors than easily found in the bay. I wanted to try to capture their vibrant colors and delicate appearance.Editing
This is a second round post-processing effort. When I first took the photo, I was strictly working in LightRoom. Since then, through my affiliation with The Arcanum, I have been working to enhance my post skills. This was one of the first images I went back to do a second edit after learning some new techniques. The initial crop was done in LR, then some light clean up in PS for a few dust spots. The rest was done in Nik's Color Efex Pro v4. Two of the main filters that I think add to this image are "Darken/Lighten Center" and the "Vignette: Filter". Both allow you to choose where the center point of the filter effect. This allows you get very specific about what you are highlighting. This combination allowed virtually putting a spotlight on the anemone.In my camera bag
My bag is pretty consistent. My Canon 7D is always in it. For versatility, it's simply amazing for my primary areas of wildlife and nature. Sometimes I may want its 10fps to capture the right instant of an egret taking flight, and other times I may want the total control for a long exposure night shot. I only have two primary lenses. My "walking around" lens is my Tamron f3.5-6.3 16-300 VC. The range it offers, combined with the image quality, is simply amazing. As a general shooting lens, it has never failed me. My "wildlife" lens is my Canon EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS. I can't say enough about how great it is for wildlife. I also keep a Canon 1.4x III Extender handy for use with this lens. Past that, three spare batteries, polarizer for each lens, 1-8 ND filter for the Tamron, a remote trigger for most tripod shots, and a spare 64GB card just in case.Feedback
This shot was all about patience and angles. The patience aspect was waiting for the right moment when nobody was blocking the light or creating a reflection. The angles were similar, in finding the right angle where my camera or I were not blocking the light or creating a reflection. The curved glass made for challenges of its own. Flat glass, you can press the lens against to eliminate most reflections. Curved glass is a matter of trying possibly many angles to find the one that works with the light, has no reflections, and you have the subject you want nicely in the frame.
