A big part of our day in Curaçao is about snorkelling. There are plenty of cute fish to be found, but they are difficult to photograph. I have an under water cover for my Canon PowerShot, which is perfectly capable of keeping my camera dry, but it is basically a plastic bag. This has some impact on the usability of the camera. The vision of the screen is poor, so you have to guess what you are pointing at, and it absorbs part of the already low light under water. So photographing the fish is not as much about creating artistic images, as it is about hoarding.It is about chasing the fish, and collecting all variaties available. Which, of course, is a lot of fun 🙂 .
Below my collection, for which some fish posed willingly, while others I really had to chase. And some of them are pretty fast (I’m talking about you, Bar Jack!). The collection also gave me the opportunity to experiment with a gallery. Hover over the photo to see the name of the fish, and if you click on one you enter the carousel 🙂 .
Barracuda
Porcupinefish
Juvenile Princess Parrotfish
Juvenile Queen Parrotfish
Palometa
Spotted Goatfish
Puddingwife
Schoolmaster
Doctorfish
Spotted Trunkfish
Orangespotted Filefish
Coney Fish
Bluehead Wrasse
Beaugregory
Bluestriped Grunt
Sharptail Eel
Mahogany Snapper
Ocean Surgeonfish and Princess Parrotfish
Squirrelfish
Banded Butterflyfish
Flat Needlefish
Trumpetfish
Redtail Parrotfish
Juvenile Yellowtail Damselfish
Bicolor Damselfish
Yellowtail Damselfish
Rosy Razorfish
Yellowfin Mojarra
Foureye Butterflyfish
Yellow Goatfish
Sergeant Major (and Brown Chromis)
Bar Jack
Brown Chromis
Smallmouth Grunt
Horse-Eye Jack
Queen Parrotfish
Red Hind (?)
Blue Tang
French Angelfish
Spotted Moray Eel
Sand Diver Lizardfish
Stoplight Parrotfish
Smooth Trunkfish
A few photos I managed to take under water have more esthetic appeal to me. I like the blue photo with the flat needle fish on top of this page. They are more or less transparent, and swim just below the water surface. That is why you can also see the reflections of the fish.
Another photo I like is the white photo with the horse-eye jack fishes (white ones below). I is more serene because of the sand on the bottom. And this time the fish managed to give a me nice formation.
Next some photos to display the vastness of the ocean, and the blue color when looking into the deep end. Though sometimes when the ocean is calm, and there is enough light, it really feels like a nice quiet aquarium.
Finally, just for fun: fish have to eat too 😉 .
