DSLR

A sunken Zero fighter aircraft in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea.

A gorgonian grows off of a wall in Papua New Guinea.

Looking for macro amongst the wide-angle in Kimbe Bay.

By far one of my favorite subjects, and also a rather rare find is the illustrious Yellowhead Jawfish. Their colors are absolutely beautiful. The subtle ombre tones from yellow to pale aqua to violet are stunning. Like other Jawfish, they too incubate the eggs in the mouth. Normally we will have 1 that shows up each year. He’s like the lone rider. It has to be terribly stressful for him hoping to find a mate, when there isn’t another one around in site and he has to deal with all the paparazzi too. But this doesn’t stop him. He bizzies himself with creating the double entry burrow home. Spares no expense on trimming with shells and rock rubble. Then for perhaps a week or so you may see a second Yellowhead. But she disappears like the wind, first chance she gets. As photographic subjects, a 60mm is perhaps better and photographing vertically to get more of the animal in the image is the way to go. With any animal carrying eggs, you have to gain their confidence and avoid eye contact to get in close.

The Blue Throat Pike Blenny is another silent singer. Easily missed unless you are really looking for them, can appear as thin as a pencil and really blend in well with their surroundings . . . until they decide to sing. Then they expand that gullet larger than three times their girth. I often imagine that there is a whole sound thing happening there that our ears are simply not able to hone in on. With all the traffic on the reef, I often wonder if it sounds like downtown New York to them.