Photo of the Week: September 2009 Week 5

Hi Gang!

Squid are wonderful photographic subjects. Many species are quite colorful. Some are curious. Others quite shy, and still others seem to be curious one moment, shy the next, and curious once again only moments later. Members of these species often approach, then back away, then approach, then back away leaving you to believe that with just one more approach they will become comfortable with your presence and give you that perfect "take my picture now" pose. In my experience, more often than not, most squids hover just beyond that perfect "frame-filling" range. The exception is common, or market, squid when they are mating off the coast of southern California. They are often easy to approach as theyare involved in the serious matter of procreation. The same is probably true with many other species, but I have never encountered them when they were mating.

This week’s POTW is an image of a Caribbean reef squid that I captured on a recent trip to the Caribbean nation of Curacao. Curacao is a delightful destination that I think is vastly underrated by the sport diving community. In that respect the island reminds me of Hawaiian Islands. Photographic subjects abound in Curacao, and squid are definitely among my favorite. I have often encountered Caribbean reef squid during daytime dives in relatively shallow water. The squid tend to gather in loose aggregations of a dozen or so animals. But as I said earlier, seeing them is one thing, getting close enough to fill your frame is an entirely different matter. I’d love to tell you that after many tries I have finally figured out how to approach and get close to reef squid anytime I want to, but that is not the case. I have learned not to chase madly. Chasing is a sure way to cover a lot of ground without ever getting as close as you need to in order to be able to compose a compelling frame. Sitting perfectly still seems to work well on some occasions, but I can also attest to the fact that sometimes the squid swim away and never return. I have usually had my best luck by slowly approaching the squid and once I was certain that they were aware of my presence, I remained still and let their natural curiosity bring them to me. When that approach works, it usually does so in stages as the squid approach, retreat, approach, stop and hover, retreat, and approach again in what seems like a never-ending sequence that indicates interest in me, but also indicates a simultaneous lack of trust or comfort with my presence. The next consideration is which lens to use.

I have seen some spectacular images of reef squid taken with a fisheye lens as the squid hovered right next to the photographer’s dome port. I have tried to get a similar shot, but I have yet to find such a cooperative squid. Most of my best images have been acquired with a Nikon 17 to 55 mm lens with the focal length being somewhere between 40 and 55 mm. I try my best to focus right on the squid’s eye, but often the leading parts of the tentacles that are closest to the lens are out of focus. I’d rather have the other end of the squid’s body be soft, or out-of-focus, but that can mean that the eye is not in the sharpest plane of focus. In other words, Caribbean reef squid are just the wrong size to be easy. Get too close and with many lenses you can’t get the entire animal in focus. From too far away either you can’t fill the frame or you have to shoot through so much water that the image quality is less than ideal. Patience and persistence has been the best way for me to overcome the problem. Shooting in shallow water also helps, and that is one factor that often seems to work in my favor as Caribbean reef squid can often be found in 5 to 30 feet of water. Whether or not to use a strobe, or strobes, presents another dilemma. Using a strobe(s) helps bring out the colors, and the colors in reef squid are often spectacular, but the use of strobe light can easily lead to greatly overexposed eyes. Because eyes are often the point of critical focus and the place viewers look to get oriented to the subject, gross over exposure can be ruinous.

The bottom line is that I have achieved my best results when shooting in the top 15 feet of water in bright daylight without using strobes. That has enabled me to capture colors, including the warmer hues near the red end of the spectrum that are often present in Caribbean reef squid without over exposing the eyes. I bracket my exposures just to be sure. I hope you enjoy this week’s POTW, and that someday you get an opportunity to photograph Caribbean reef squid as well. No doubt, they are a challenging subject for underwater photographers, but that also means that good photographs are especially rewarding.

See you next week!

Marty