Description
Looking at it now, you wouldn’t think that this adorable little ~9cm, post-larval sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) will grow up to be an apex predator and the fastest fish in the ocean. I’ve photographed several sailfish in their larval stage, but younger ones are typically more colorless, as the blues in the dorsal fin and the yellows in the pectorals don’t start to come in until this size. When I found this one out over ~250m of water, I was just finishing the dive, and it was floating on it’s side at the surface. It perked up as soon as my lights hit it, but continued to float like a leaf. For ~25 minutes, I tried shooting it in that position, but the surface of the water was reflecting back the flash from me strobes, and I just couldn’t nail the shot I was after. Finally, it dipped down about 10cm from the surface for a moment, and I was able to fire off several shots. Still shooting at a somewhat upwards angle, I was able to get a reflection that I was happy with (instead of the blinding reflection when he was doing “the leaf”), and I felt it added a cool element to the shot. At that point, I finished the tank, and lost the fish while I was bobbing around, 5 miles from shore, waiting to be picked up by the boat. Admittedly, a sailfish may be one of the least “Alien” creatures in the Aliens Collection, but I still feel like it belongs, as it occupies the same niche as the more freaky creatures during this young stage of it’s life.
For printing, we offer the Aliens as squares on either aluminum or canvas, but they are customizable into other shapes if your design plan requires it. You can purchase this fine sailfish wall art online in standard sizes, but if you’d like to discuss a custom crop or size, please contact one of our design consultants at the art gallery. Perhaps our most popular arrangement for Aliens is a grouping of three of our 15″ x 15″ aluminums, but I encourage you to discuss the size & shape of your project’s wall, and one of our design consultants will help you develop an amazing contemporary art installation that blurs the lines between natural beauty and scientific fascination. Maximum size for Alien 11 is a 96″ print.