4th Place, Macro
Anthony Berberian
"Dancing Hunter" Shot in Tahiti with Nikon D800
Anthony won his choice of $200 gift certificate with Bluewater Photo or Bluewater Travel!
The story:
Diving late at night, at about 50m depth off Tahiti, I usually find some very strange creatures rarely seen or pictured.
At some point, and only during 2 weeks or so, I could spot theses very small (1cm max) octopuses, which are very different from the one I usually shoot. One can clearly evaluate how small this guy can be by the relative size of the chromatophores on the tentacules, and by the transparency which helps to distinguish the internal organs.
They are usually very shy and impossible to photograph, but when the lights were reduced to a very strict minimum, this particular little guy stopped cleverly and began to dance in front of my camera. It opened its tentacles and was smart enough to feed on the plancton attracted by my lights. After a good catch, it flew away in the depths.
Location: Tahiti, French Polynesia
Camera: Nikon D800E, Nikon 60mm macro lens, Nauticam housing, dual Inon Z-240 strobes
Settings: f20, 1/250, ISO 200
