2nd Place Compact Macro
Brian Vaccarella
“My Eggs“
The Story: During a recent trip to North Sulawesi in the fall of 2020 for the Mangatasik Underwater Photography Competition just as domestic travel restrictions were easing due to the pandemic, I was fortunate enough to visit the amazing macro critter haven of the Lembeh Strait for my second time. Based at Yos Dive I had the best of Lembeh at my doorstep and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint…on the first day of diving my guide Kiel and I found this incredible 3mm Hairy Shrimp with eggs. These creatures are difficult to shoot due to their small size and propensity to “jump” around just as the camera focuses, add a little current or surge and the level of difficulty multiplies! Not happy with my shots using video lights or my strobe we decided to try backlighting the subject with my snooted Big Blue light and the results were amazing! Once I realized it also had eggs I set out to get the tiny shrimp glowing to isolate all the minut hairs and the precious cargo she was carrying.
Location: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Equipment Used: Canon G7X Mark II Camera, Fantasea Housing, AOI UCL-05 & UCL-09 Diopters, Big Blue AL1200 with Big Blue Snoot
Camera Settings: 1/250, F11, ISO 125
