Fauna, Meet Flora

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 15, 2010265 views8 comments

I was searching through some images this AM for some candidates for use in a brochure of a client of mine and came across this image I shot a few months back (but hadn't got around to converting from RAW). I immediately thought of Paul Duval's recent post "Flora as Fauna". So...same theme...thanks Paul!

Many of you have probably heard me say that I like simplicity in images - this is definitely and example of what I mean! The main subject is as "Egg Yolk Jellyfish" (also known as a "Fried Egg Jellyfish") - they're quite large with bells up to 2 feet in diameter and tentacles reaching 20 feet. This one was about 16" across. I shot it from an inflatable boat with totally blue skies (which is where the blue reflections in this image come from) but in deep shade along a cliff-face (which helped me remove the bulk of the reflections from the inky black water). I used a circular polarizer to help further remove reflections from the water's surface. Personally I always find the ocean quite mysterious, and like how darkly the water is rendered here - what it's hiding down there always intrigues me!

The "flora" in this image is simply a piece of bull kelp the jellyfish was swimming by...

And...the face in the "egg yolk" (which, I'm sure, everyone saw?)?

Don't know where that came from...an apparition? A Virgin Mary-like thing? A hint of the evolutionary goal of the jellyfish? Something the jellyfish just ate? Don't know. But kinda fun!

Subject: Fried Egg Jellyfish (Phacellophora camtschatica) and Bull Kelp
Location: Off the northern tip of Vancouver Island), BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @ 135mm - handheld from inflatable zodiac. VR on and in "Active" mode. Circular polarizer used
Exposure: 1/160s at f8. ISO 2000. -0.67 stop compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Crop: This is full frame

Comments and feedback greatly appreciated...probably better to view larger version prior to doing so...

Cheers...

Brad

PS: The client loved the image and selected this image for use in the brochure!

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 15, 2010 at 10:41 PM

Wow, it looks like the sun from the box of raisin bran ended up in that jellyfish.

The blues lining the kelp and the fringe of the jelly are great.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on November 16, 2010 at 8:50 AM

Brad,

Proud to be a help....Nice title

There's could have been some many other "bad" breakfast analogies, but I think the choice appropriate and the image stellar, I can see why you recommended the polarizer, the jelly and kelp seem to be floating in space.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Clinton Bauder on November 16, 2010 at 1:25 PM

Very nice Brad. I love completely featureless negative space and the blue reflections at the edge of the bull kelp.

BTW - "what's hiding down there" is very pretty and photogenic. Just saying...

Clinton

Registered on December 8, 2009, 31 Posts, 231 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on November 16, 2010 at 4:46 PM

This was about to become one of my favorites...but then you had to point out the apparition! Now I cannot ignore it!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 16, 2010 at 5:02 PM

Hey Lon,

Yeah, I know - in a way it kind of spoils it for me too! A good friend of mine says it reminds her of a fetal baby and can't even look at the image anymore!! Oh well, you win some, you lose some...

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Joe Sulik on November 16, 2010 at 8:32 PM

Another incredible image Brad! I love the simple composition.

Registered on January 7, 2009, 51 Posts, 165 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on November 17, 2010 at 8:03 AM

Brad,

I don't see the face, do I have to turn the jelly over or is it 'sunnyside' up already.

STill have the same opiion of the image and I think the phantom left.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Ant on November 21, 2010 at 4:10 PM

It is a truly splendid image. I love the details of the edge of the jellyfish, and the contrast of colors. Simplicity is certainly the main aspect of this picture, but it is a simplicity which has a lot in it, and the eye gets marvellously lost in the scene...

Registered on April 13, 2009, 27 Posts, 474 Comments