Ocean Art 2022 - 4th Place Portrait
4th Place Portrait
Andrew Cummings
"To Be or Not to Be"
Andrew Cummings won a 3-night halfboard stay for 2 in a garden bungalow for at Havaiki Lodge!
The Story: On a night dive, my light caught from a distance the glow of 2 hamlets swimming playfully over a coral head. I approached slowly and hid low behind the coral watching their movements with delight. I enjoy shooting fish portraits, which I regard as something between macro and wide-angle, because this style of underwater photography is an opportunity to capture and show eye contact. I genuinely believe that many fish are as curious as divers. On this night, these normally very shy and skittish hamlets seemed undetracted by my presence. As I raised my camera, they danced in front of my lens occasionally stopping to pose for me. This show continued for several minutes allowing me to fire off several good shots. I chose this pose because of the contemplative nature of the fish’s facial expression, which along with the name of the fish, inspired my title for this photo.
Location: Lions Dive Beach Resort House Reef, Curacao
Equipment Used: Nikon D500 Camera, Nikon 60mm Macro Lens, Dual Ikelite DS160 Strobes, SeaLife Focus Light
Camera Settings: ISO 200, F16, 1/250 sec
