Honorable Mention Compact Macro

Andrew Leighton

"Purple Rhinopia"

Andrew won a $100 gift certificate from Bluewater Photo or Bluewater Travel

The Story:  As soon as we got out of the car owner of the dive shop popped his head out the window and bursting with excitement said he had found a Rhinopia.  He described the general area and we decided to search for it during our second dive of the day.  There were five of us on this particular weekend, and although all of us were familiar with the dive sites around Anilao, this particular spot wasn’t even considered a dive site.  We fanned out along the bottom looking for a creature that none of us had seen before, but generally knew what it looked like.  Within five minutes I spotted it and then we got busy taking pictures.  As soon as I saw the Rhinopia’s intricate fins and the shape of its mouth, I know I wanted to use by video touch to create a silhouette.  The incredible thing about this experience was that as I was taking pictures I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and there was a second Rhinopia crawling along the bottom toward me!  I guess that is what I love about underwater photography and diving in general: a sense of excitement before every dive, the exploration and discovery of the unknown, and that fact that you never know what’s going to happen.

Location:  Anilao, Philippines

Camera: Canon G7X (F11, 1/250, ISO 125) With Nauticam Housing and iTorch V25 Video Light

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