Honorable Mention Compact Macro

Daniela Menegon

"The Hedgehog"

The Story: Diving in the waters of the Fjord-du-Saguenay one finds three distinct layers. The first is the lukewarm river water, then the hazy halo-thermocline where even reading a computer can be a problem, and finally into the clear but cold darkness of the salt water below. All the dives are along the vertical wall of the fjord where venturing a little away means losing sight of it and becoming disorientated. The walls are magnificent, filled with all kinds of marine life where one can spend hours in a single spot except that the cold water of two degrees Celsius and the current make it nearly impossible to hang out without moving for long time. 

On the day that I took this photo, as always when we arrived in the darkness, the hunt for the hystrix was on. All my buddies know that they have to find me one who is looking towards the camera. These little creatures of 15-25mm tend to have a bad habit of having their backs to us! Luck was with me as I drifted along in the current. I spied this little guy looking out from his perch on red soft coral. His eyes followed me whenever I moved while trying to get several angles for a photo. However, strangely enough, he didn’t move away from my dive light, nor from the flashes of the strobes. Johnny became the star of the dive that day. 

Location:  Quebec, Canada

Equipment Used:  Sony RX100 II Camera, Ikelite Housing, Dual Sea & Sea YS-01 Strobes, UNCU-02 Diopter

Camera Settings: 1/800, F11, ISO 100

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