4th Place Cold Water

Brook Peterson

"California Kelp Forest"

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

The story:  Early in the Fall, I had spent a day at Santa Barbara Island, in the Channel Islands, shooting the beautiful kelp forest and gorgonian fans.  When I later reviewed my images I noticed that the fisheye lens in the horizontal format created a fish bowl effect with the kelp. I liked the idea but the bend in the kelp was unrealistic.  I resolved to make another trip to the same island a month later and shoot the gorgonian fans and kelp again.  This time, I carefully planned a vertical shot so that the fan was the main focal point, and the kelp pointed toward the sky in a way that captured the majestic height of the towering kelp forest.  This shot was the result.

Location: Santa Barbara Island, California, USA

Camera: Nikon D810 and Sigma 15mm Lens (F9, 1/125, ISO 320) with Sea & Sea Housing and Dual Sea & Sea YS-D1 Strobes.

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