Felt like sharing some SeaHorses...

[Marriard]

Thorny Seahorse Hippocampus hystrix
Anilao, The Philippines

Tigertail Seahorse Hippocampus comes
Phuket, Thailand

White's Seahorse Hippocampus whitei
Sydney, Australia

Pygmy Seahorse Hippocampus bargibanti
Gato Island, The Philippines

Longsnout Seahorse Hippocampus reidi
West Palm Beach, Florida

Common Seahorse Hippocampus taeniopterus
Malapascua Island, The Philippines

Pot-bellied Seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis
Sydney Aquarium

Enjoy,
M

 

[Mike Veitch]

nice stuff Paul...

i think i got that same one from anilao... Basura?

 

[parabolic]

Marriard

Those are beautiful. They are difficult animals to photograph well, maybe something about their texture. But your photos are artwork, you have nailed them. Your head shots are spectacular. Post more please,

++Ken++

 

[jonix]

M, very nice.

 

[justleesa]

just beautiful!

Never seen one so I was wondering, how willing are they as models? do they hang around or do they shy off?

 

[sasscuba]

Very Nice.

 

[Jamdiver]

Just wonderful marriard, as others have said, great texture in your photos there...
And of course your composition, lighting, colours are all spot on .

 

[Marriard]

just beautiful!

Never seen one so I was wondering, how willing are they as models? do they hang around or do they shy off?

Tremendously difficult animals to work with to get a reasonable shot.

At night they actively shy away from the light, so the straight on look is very difficult. I find that a red filter improves your chances of a good image 100% at least.

During the day they are also shy and tend to drift away, so still very difficult. Also as they are very light sensitive, you don't want to 'strobe' them for ever. I wont take anymore than 2 or 4 images without a reasonable break for the animal. Sometimes a lot less if there are a lot of other divers. They will hang around, but they are not the most robust of animals.

Also a lot are found attatched to things moving in the current, so you have to take that into account often as well. The White's for example is on some open water kelp. That image was a production to get (but one of my favourites).

Pygmy's are of course tiny, and you only have to look a way for a second and you sometimes have top start hunting from scratch again (and they swim to the other side of the fan which will drive you nuts).

Tigertails are probably the easist (apart from the huge ones in Galapogas).

M

 

[Gilligan]

Great collection of shots.

 

[justleesa]

Makes me appriciate you pictures even more!! not only beautiful, but fantastic!!

Thanks for the info!!!