Reply To: May 26 challenge topic is Portfolio.

[Ariane]

First of all, thanks @Lena and @ianmarriner for your super encouraging comments! And cat Kaya has definitely earned herself a treat for this 🐱😄

Sooo… since I am wrapping up this short Tulamben trip half a day earlier than @paula, I get to go first! But extra thanks to @paula for pushing me towards a second, and fully underwater, submission.

So here it goes, fresh out of the camera: an adorable baby frogfish we found yesterday.

1. Found perfectly camouflaged on a bright red sponge I took a side shot to show it nestled in the environment.
2. It then started walking down the sponge and I wanted to see if I could get a different subject separation using shallow DOF and a blurrier background.
3. Froggy then reached the bottom of the sponge and it was the perfect occasion to show how tiny it really is by including more of the environment. Though I forgot to stop down my aperture again for this shot.
4. It continued walking on the black sand, so I aimed (well, the guide aimed 😅) for a snooted shot and tried to get the classic frontal frogfish portrait look that feels a bit more graphical.
5. And lastly, a shot to show its movement: a grumpy frogfish walk.

Overall I got to say that I found the challenge way more difficult underwater. I tried a few times during this trip but for some critters I could really only get one way of taking its picture work. And sometimes critters also disappear just when you have finalized to set up your camera for a different technique 😅. But definitely a very good challenge to make you think of different ways to see and tell a story.

• This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by  Ariane Hinkel.