Reply To: April 2026 challenge topic is Using Backlighting for Subject Separation

[Bill]

Thanks Elena and Nicolas for initiating this!

This is a sponge decorator crab that has clothed itself in a suit of orange coloured sponge for camouflage. This crab has the added advantage of dozens of tube worms that have colonized the sponge, giving it an additional layer of camouflage like a bed of flowers.

I wanted to highlight the flower-like gills of the tube worms protruding from their tubes by adding a backlight to the scene. I lit the crab from the front with one strobe with a beam restrictor (the crab was a bit too large for the beam of my snoot), and then I placed my focus torch on the sand behind the sponge where the crab was resting. I tested various positions of the torch so its light would (i) provide some depth to the scene (by partially lighting the edges of the sponge from behind) and (ii) highlight some of the whorls of the tube worms’ gills.

As far as improvements go, I think it would be a stronger image if I had positioned the torch directly behind the crab so that more of the tube worms’ gills would have been highlighted.

I took this photo at Chowder Bay, Sydney Harbour.

Equipment: Sony a1, Nikon 60 mm macro lens, Monster adapter, Nauticam housing, single Retra Pro X strobe with a macro ring.

Settings: F11, 1/100 sec, ISO 320, strobe 12% power