pterantula
FollowA lone hammer (scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini) in the open blue, around Isla Manuelita, Costa Rica (Cocos Island).
A lone hammer (scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini) in the open blue, around Isla Manuelita, Costa Rica (Cocos Island).
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Awards
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Summer 2020
2020 Choice Award
Featured
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Exceptional Contrast
Jaw Dropping
All Star
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
Genius
BowmanLifeStudios
December 05, 2013
Very Cool Shot, Love the mood of the gray tones and the detail. Awesome Shot!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Isla del Coco, better known as Cocos Island, which is a full day's journey by boat off the southwest of Costa Rica. An absolutely amazing place to dive, and rumored to be (one of?) the inspiration(s) for Treasure Island.Time
Hard to recall off hand when it was taken (without checking the image data), as we were diving four times a day for over a week. Probably lunchtime.Lighting
Hammerheads are so skittish around people (seriously - don't let sensationalist media try to tell you otherwise, hammers don't like people!) that it is a serious lesson in patience and persistence just to get one to come close enough to get a portrait. So ambient lighting is usually what you'll deal with, especially when in a group (4-8) of divers. In this case, the hammers were just too far away from our rocky reef hangout, and the current was just too strong to try to hang out mid-water-column and take pictures, so I wanted to capture the ghostly shadows passing overhead.Equipment
I still had my old rig for this trip, which didn't perform all that well in low light or slow shutter speeds - Nikon D70s in Ikelite housing, Nikkor 12-24mm lens under an 8" acrylic dome. I had Sea & Sea YS90 strobes, but they're simply not powerful enough for anything more than 8-10 feet away.Inspiration
Witnessing a cloud of hundreds of scalloped hammerheads with your own eyes is one of the most amazing things that exists on Earth, I think. I tried to capture as much as I could of it, but my novice photography abilities coupled with strong currents and very shy, deep water animals presented serious challenges.Editing
I converted it to greyscale and heightened the contrast a bit, and removed a lot of spots. I think I then sharpened it a bit and did a once-over with noise reduction.In my camera bag
When I'm at home or about the neighborhood, I only use an iPhone. For traveling, I'm stuck with baggage fees: I have a 50-pound Pelican case for the underwater rig & parts, and carry two Nikon D300 bodies in my backpack, usually along with my Nikkor 18-200mm, 105mm macro, 12-24mm, and the killer Tokina 10-17mm fisheye. Then there's all the dive gear, and as a result I travel with very little clothing or non-essentials.Feedback
Cocos is serious diving - don't go there unless you are a strong swimmer, with good air-consumption rates. Adding a heavy, bulky camera rig on top of that can make an otherwise fun dive into a lesson in dangerous frustration. So, be a strong diver first. (I wasn't at the time.) After that, deep water photography requires powerful lighting, (&)or a really good sense of optimal exposure in high-contrast environments. And so much PATIENCE.