Description
LOCATION: Papua New Guinea
STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: It’s all about fish psychology – getting inches away without disturbing their daytime sleep took me hours and hours of experimentation over several months with this particular school of nocturnal cardinalfish. Go back to the same coral head at night, and there is not a cardinalfish to be found. But during the late afternoon, the sun streamed through the murky green water and created an earth-toned composition with a perfect sparkle of gold from the fish’s reflective sides.
This wonderful, calm lagoon is a hidden gem in the middle of the South Pacific. Witu Crater is the remnant of an extinct volcano, far out to sea. It’s peak is ~1000′ above sea level, and only about 5-degrees of the caldera’s circle is open to the sea. I could slip my boat through that tiny entrance, and not only have a calm night in the lagoon, but also spend time working with species who prefer a sheltered environment to the open-ocean currents. It’s also the home to several New Guinean tribes, and is littered with WWII relics. But the water was never as clear as on the outside of the caldera – 15′ visibility was the norm on the inside (hence the greenish tone to the water in the photo), whereas on the outside, it was swept by by wonderfully clear waters. This huge acropora coral is home to several thousand cardinalfish, and it’s only about 12′ deep. That meant I could spend several hours on a single tank of air, inching closer, and learning their boundaries. Week after week, month after month, I’d gain more experience learning the school’s quirks. Honestly, maybe I spent too much time with them, but for me, it was therapeutic. An easy, current-free & shallow environment where I could watch them and learn about them – much like my own personal aquarium. And add to it, immediately below that school, lived the most beautiful blue ribbon eel, which is a notoriously difficult subject to photograph with a super-wide fisheye lens. All that time spent motionless allowed me to get my camera’s lens nearly pressed up against that eel’s face and shoot some interesting portraits with the cardinalfish behind her. Inside Witu Crater is definitely one of my favorite places on Earth, and I’m lucky to have spent so much time there. Looking forward to returning some day, and I hope not a thing has changed.
TO PURCHASE GOLD RUSH AS A FINE ART PRINT ON ALUMINUM: Far more subdued in color than many of my other coral reef scenic shots, Gold Rush is equally suited to blending with a decor than commanding it. It works particularly well with Earth tones and wood accents. For sizing, it can be cropped into other shapes such as a long panoramic or a square. Purchase it online here as a 3:2 ratio horizontal in standard sizes, but for a custom-size print, contact our design team for assistance.