Photo of the Week: December 19, 2011

Hi Gang!

In just a couple of days I will be picking Captain Steve up at the San Diego airport, and along with another mutual friend, Steve Ando, we will be heading to Mexico’s Revillagigedo Islands on the liveaboard dive boat Rocio Del Mar. This will be my third trip on the Rocio in the past 16 months. The other two were trips to the Midriff Island in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Diving in the Midriffs is a lot different than diving at the Revillagigedo Islands. The water at the Revillagigedo Islands (aka Socorros) should be considerably warmer than at the Midriffs, and the vis should be in the 60 to 100 foot plus range. At least that is what we are hoping for. As for the diving at the Revillagigedo Islands, it is centered around trying to find big animals like whale sharks and schools of scalloped hammerheads.

In any case, the boat will be the same, so tonight I was looking through my images from my previous Rocio Del Mar trips, and I decided that this shot of an intermediate phase Cortez damselfish, Stegastes rectifraenum, would make a good choice for this week’s POTW. As its common name suggests the Cortez damselfish is a member of the family Pomacentridae, the family that contains all 321 species of the world’s damselfishes. This little guy was only a couple inches long, and when full-grown will be less than four inches in lenght, but despite its diminutive size an intermediate stage Cortez damselfish makes a big impression. The adults are a dull brownish hue with only faint blue markings that are not always evident. Kind of blah compared to the stunning colors of the juveniles and intermediate stage fish.

Cortez damselfish are typically encountered in the eastern Pacific and Sea of Cortez in relatively shallow, rocky reef communities. They are active swimmers that are neither the most wary nor most cooperative of fishes when it comes to trying to take their picture. They are constantly on the move, but never swim too far, and seem to at least sometimes be a little bit curious about divers and cameras. Cortez damsels are an omnivorous species that feed on a wide variety of food sources. Studies specimens have lived for as long as 11 years.

The key to my photographic success was to be quick with my camera system when I had a chance to compose an interesting frame without moving so fast that I frightened the fish causing it to alter its pose or swim away. It was a case of trying to be quick without getting in such a hurry that I scared the fish.

I composed my frame as quickly as I could when the opportunity for this shot presented itself, and then focused on the eye as fast as I could as I almost always try to do when photographing any creature that has at least one eye in my shot. I banged off a series of three frames before the fish moved. This shot represents my best effort, and I hope you enjoy it! I should mention that I spent quite a bit more time working with this Cortez damselfish. I had several chances to bang off a series of a few shots. It is kind of a be quick, compose, focus and shoot, and then work with the fish again until I could bang off a few more shots. Repeat, and then repeat some more.

The Revillagigedo Islands are mostly about big animal encounters, so I doubt we will spend much, if any, time looking for creatures as small as Cortez damselfish. But you never know. I look forward to my trip with Captain Steve, and to providing a report in my POTW column when we return.

See you next week,

Marty