Feather Duster and Friends

I took this photo in 2008 in Belize. This is one of my favorite photos because it really seems like you're seeing through the eyes of a fish in the school. And, major bonus...it's a picture of a feather duster worm! Slippery dicks are not a rare fish, but most snorkelers don't see them this close up. Same with the fairy basslet. Just wish I'd had a better camera when I took this. Hopefully, I can make up for that on our next snorkeling trip.

This photo also translates well to our art-accessories (ornaments, coasters, keepsake boxes) which can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/hswtphotography.

Perfect Camo

Terry took this picture in the British Virgin Islands with a 5 meg Sealife camera. The critter who is trying to blend into the encrusting coral is a trumpet fish. Most divers and snorklers see trumpet fish at the surface of the water. And, you can often spot them from the shoreline. So, it was unusual to find this one on the sea floor. I think a closer crop would show case his camo even more, but unfortunately that's not really an option with only 5 megs to work with. Let's hope we find one of his friends on our next snorkeling trip!

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Crowns

I took this photo in Bocas del Toro, Panama. I like it because it works on both macro and micro levels, which is unusual for a photo taken while snoreling. The overall photo shows a huge colony of coral. But, if you look more closely you start to see all the creatures that call this colony home. The magenta split crown feather duster worms are the first creatures to catch your eye. Then you start to notice the light blue encrusing sponge. Take a closer look and you'll see the flame clams behind the worms, the slippery dicks or the very young rock beauties. This picture is just teaming with sea life!

Limited edition prints of this photo (and other photos from HSWT Photography) are available on Rtist.com. Artware by HSWT Photography is available from CafePress. And, you can join us on facebook. :)

Cruising Not For Me

We did our first ship cruise (Royal Carribbean - Magesty of the Seas) last week. It was a real disappointment. I know that the snorkeling in the Bahama's isn't the greatest, so I wasn't expecting much from that. But, the cruise was just too hokey from the entertainment, to the activities, to the annoying waitress. The most surprising thing was that the food at the buffet was better than in the dining room.

Still the trip wasn't a total waste. We did discover that while Atlantis was fun for a day, there's not enough to do to spend a weekend there, let alone an entire week. The best ride was the ocean (i.e. body surfing in the waves at the man-made beach). The water slides were ok and the river rapids was fun.

And, I saw my first ocean triggerfish. Unfortunately, he was too quick for me to get a good picture of him. But, I'm still hoping we got a couple of good pics this trip. Will post some once I finish working on them.

Too crop or not to crop

Cropping is so subjective and I seem to be stuck on standard sizes. Everytime I stray from them, I end up recropping to a standard size. The pics above are a good example. The last crop is the one we are selling. I like it because its a standard size for easy framing and it shows the whole school of blue tangs in context. The first image is a close crop suggested by a friend of mine. I think it makes a nice abstract image, but looses context. The second image is a closer crop of just the school, but I don't think its a better crop than the one we're selling. Hope I made the right cropping choice.

Getting Ready for a Juried Show

We've been busily printing photos in preparation for our first juried art & craft show. So, I thought I'd share one of our photos that's only available at the show. Beautiful Teenager is a fine art photograph of an intermediate stage French angelfish. I took this picture while snorkeling in Grand Cayman in November, 2006. I recently went thru some of our older photos and reworked them in photoshop and got some amazing results. The only thing is that they were taken with 5 meg underwater cameras so they don't have enough pixels to be enlarged. Still it's nice to revisit these photos and make them available as 5x7s or 8x10s.