2005: Underwater Worlds - Highly Commended Print
Malcolm Hey (United Kingdom)
Reclining emperor shrimp
Twirling and whirling in a crimson leotard and white tutu, the Spanish dancer (a large nudibranch, or seaslug) emerges to feed at night. Sometimes it has a passive partner, an emperor shrimp, tucked in the frilly folds of its gills. The tiny shrimp (about a centimetre - 0.4 inches long) turns red to blend in with its host's costume. Malcolm's sharp eye picked it out during a night-dive on the coral reef at Mandado Bay, at the north-eastern tip of Sulawesi. But he had to wait for the right choreographic moment. 'A slack current gave me ample opportunity to photograph the Spanish dancer when it was resting,' he says. 'But it was a while before the shrimp moved into the best position.'
Nikon F90X with Nikon 60mm macro lens; 1/125 sec at f22; Fujichrome Velvia; underwater housing, two strobes.
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