1st Place Underwater Digital Art
Michal Štros
“Mysterious Pufferfish“
Michal Štros won a Bluewater Photo and Scuba or Bluewater Travel Gift Certificate!
The Story:
The original photograph of the “Valentini pufferfish” was taken near the reef off Bunaken Island. Using the Fractalius plug-in, a fractal of the pufferfish’s head was created from this image, which was then further edited with smoke brushes in Photoshop. The colorful smoke behind the fish highlights its dynamic movement and signals to potential predators that the fish is poisonous. The reflections on the water’s surface mirror the color of the wavy smoke.
Location:
Bunaken Island, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Equipment Used:
- Camera – Canon 80D
- Housing – Ikelite
- Strobe/light – Two YS-D2 Sea & Sea strobes
- Lens – Canon 60mm lens
Camera Settings:
- ISO 100
- F/16
- Shutter speed 1/160s
