1st Place, Compact Wide Angle

Brian Christiansen

"Cetaceclipse"

Brian won 10-night dive package from Lissenung Island Resort!

The story:  "Cetaceclipse" was taken in the anchorage off of Deshaies, Guadeloupe in the Caribbean on an Olympus TG3.  My partner at the time and I were cruising south through the islands and decided to take advantage of this deep, protected anchorage on the northwest side of Guadeloupe.  This was our first time to this island and we had heard of some wonderful hikes and a lovely botanical garden to keep her occupied while I finished the previous year's accounting and filed taxes online.  What we had not heard about was the harbor's diverse marine life! After a 3am arrival, 9am came to soon, and no sooner had the first sip of coffee touched my lips than I realized a pod of dolphins was swimming around our little sailboat which commonly attracts animals of all makes and models.  I dropped everything, grabbed the nearest camera, mask and maybe a fin (later I ended up with my whole kit, but that would take hours) and jumped in.  The pod seemed like one family group with an obvious matriarch who had a young one.  The ones I spent the most time with were two adolescents who were nonstop playing with each other and me:) The compact camera worked well in this situation because I could easily play with the dolphins until in the right position and then snap off a few pictures just the way I imagined.  This went on for several hours and I played with quite a few different angles and combinations, eventually crawling out of the water to grab my mirrorless rig and snap off some more.  There are hundreds of pictures from this series and many of them very nice because of the time spent with the dolphins and their willingness to be models and take direction;) Ha! If anything, I hope this photo shows the unobstructed fun you can have with wild animals when you let your guard down and enter their element with few expectations.

Location: Deshaies, Guadeloupe 16deg18.424'N  061deg47.879'W

Camera:  Olympus TG-3

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