Description
Alien #30: A pair of juvenile African Pompanos (Alectis ciliaris) glide together in unison, just a few feet under the surface, but over a half mile above the sea floor. At this stage in their lives, pompanos (a relative of jacks/trevalley) are pelagic, and magnitudes prettier than their adult counterparts, who tend to stay somewhat near shallower reefs and lack the beautiful, flowing fins.
As I rolled off the boat, through sheer dumb luck, I nearly landed on these two beauties. Normally, on a nighttime Aliens blackwater drift dive, I take at least the first minute to get my lighting in position, start my descent, and begin hunting for critters, but on this night, it was GO GO GO! from the moment I rolled off the boat, over a deepwater trench near Kume Island, Okinawa. I nearly landed on these two beauties, and through the mass of bubbles created at splashdown, I struggled to keep my lights and my eyes on them. After the initial chaos, I dimmed my lights, and began tracking them, practically ignoring the location of my downline and everything else in the world – this was a moment that I had visualized for many, many years, and it may be my only chance to get it right. I’d seen single juvenile pompanos many times (both in the daytime, and at night), and even found a few pairs, but in the past, there was always something preventing me from getting the shot – tonight, everything was perfect; just beginning the dive, great visibility, calm-ish seas, and all alone with two, beautiful specimens of the perfect size. Eureka!
And while I say the “perfect size”, that’s relative. I might actually describe them as a little too big. With bodies of about 2.5″, and fins trailing over 18″, I definitely could’ve used a wider lens that I normally take when hunting for Aliens. Normally, the critter is at somewhere around 1-6″ from my lens while taking the photographs, but to shoot these pompanos, I had to back way up to 3-4′ away. And while that might not sound like much for an above-water photograph, in underwater photography, that’s almost a deal-breaker. But with some very awkward forward-reaching strobe positioning that would make any seasoned underwater photographer think me crazy, I was able to make it work. If only anyone else had been there to laugh at me… For nearly 30 minutes, the two fish & I drifted together, during which, my primary challenge became getting their eyes on the same plane to get them both in focus. They maintained nearly perfect synchronization, likely due to their sensitive lateral line system which helps them to feel vibrations from nearby objects and move their body accordingly. Myself – much less graceful. One would think after all this time underwater that I might grow a lateral line myself, but I guess that’s one goal I may never achieve.
You may purchase this print in square sizes on luxurious aluminum from 15″x15″ up to 48″x48″ online here, but if you’d like a different shape or custom size (up to 72″ wide), contact the gallery by phone, email, or stop in.
