NATURESCAPES.NET 2008 FLORA AND MACRO GALLERY
IMAGE OF THE YEAR

"Fungia Pie Hole"
Image copyright Gary Parr

The fun in doing closeup/macro photography is being able to show people aspects of nature that they either can’t see or don’t take the time to see. This is particularly true with corals, an animal group that most have never seen and even fewer have seen up close. Photographing corals in aquariums requires shooting through glass and water or, in this case, shooting top down through the water surface. To avoid distortion, the water surface must be absolutely still and free of debris. This was shot using a horizontal arm on a heavy tripod to suspend the camera over the water. The lens face has to be parallel to the water surface and you must take care to avoid water-surface reflections from the strong lights that illuminate the aquarium. Equipment: Canon 20D, Sigma EX 50-mm macro lens, tripod, horizontal arm, remote release, mirror lockup. Exposure: 1/13 sec. @ f/11, ISO 400.

About the Photographer

I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, IL, and enjoy all types of photography. However, I don’t photograph people. Ten years of wedding photography cured me of that. Easily 80% of my photography involves flowers and corals, which are basically reef flowers. I enjoy the peace of working alone, exploring the shapes and details of flowers and coral and, ultimately, showing people a nature they’ve never seen.