1st Place Compact Wide Angle
Bryant Turffs
“The Beauty of the Swamp“
The Story:
Exploring new environments, especially seldom visited ones, is one of the greatest pleasures of underwater photography for me. The Everglades is a rightfully foreboding environment, but also one of great beauty and interest. To capture this image, I was careful about avoiding risks, like alligators, in the area that I was snorkeling. Shooting with my GoPro made getting the camera close to my subjects easy. In this frame, I sought to capture a beautiful, native, Florida Gar against the backdrop of a cypress dome with light rays filtering through the trees. As a fish nerd, observing the many beautiful species that call this environment home is another joy. This image also features native largemouth bass in the background. Although not featured here, many of my frames from this day of shooting also captured invasive fishes, illustrating just one of the many impacts human actions have had on this imperiled ecosystem.
Location:
Everglades National Park, Florida, USA
Equipment Used:
- Camera: GoPro
- Housing:
- Lens: AOI Ultra Wide Lens
- Lights/Strobes:
Camera Settings:
- Aperture: F2.8
- Shutter Speed: 1/180 sec
- ISO: 791
