Juvenile Frogfish – Underwater Photographers’ Favourite But A Challenging One.

When I was into underwater photography in the beginning, I was not only introduced to the large marine critters like Green Sea Turtle but also to very tiny baby Frogfish which were  less than 5mm in size! These critters were like sand grain or bits of algae bouncing on the sandy bottom!  I had a hard time chasing after them and focusing on these highly mobile subjects. But finally I managed to take a few very memorable images which I shared here. These two baby Frogfish are less than 5 mm in length.

This juvenile Frogfish is only a speck. Less than 5 mm. It was almost translucent.

This is another tiny Frogfish about 5mm. Could be a Hairy Frogfish?

It was a real challenge to take these images as even gentle current can easily lift and move this tiny little speck of baby Frogfish up and down the sandy sea floor and disappearing from your lens completely. This is all the more difficult when you are in macro and manual mode. But with patience, I was able to capture some of these images.  In the process, I learned a lot and also improve in my diving skills and buoyancy, setting of the rig, handling of the camera, strobe and  light setting and how to respond and react in between each breath!

A pair of juvenile Painted Frogfish moving in tandem.

Juvenile Frogfish come in different shades of colour from white, beige, orange and other dark coloration.

At that time, I  was very fortunate to meet the General Manager of Cocotinos Dive Resort, Martinus Wawanda who was an enthusiastic diver and an underwater photographer. He was very helpful and full of encouragement in my early days of underwater photography and shared his insights and experiences and in the process I learned a lot from him.  He would often join me in my dives and also shared his new finds of marine critters from Frogfish to Flamboyant Cuttlefish. There were many occasions when we were just looking at tiny baby Frogfish like these below:

Baby Painted Frogfish with its typical markings on the skin..

Baby Frogfish with front dorsal spine erect. This is the illicium or future “fishing rod”.Yet to develop.

This tiny Frogfish was less than 1 cm.

Baby Painted Frogfish.

Tiny Painted Frogfish with its illicium erected without the esca searching for food.

Taking macro- and super-macro shots of tiny marine critters require a lot patience and at the same time a good understanding of your camera, strobe setting and strobe angle, light intensity, understanding of back scatter and knowledge and use of the histogram in the LED screen.  In addition, it will be good to have a general knowledge of the marine critters’ behaviour and habitats that you are after, as this will also help.

It is from challenges of taking these tiny critters that we become better underwater photographers.  My early experience really made me appreciate the need for being discipline in the preparation for a underwater photography session, the object of my dive, the marine critters I am looking out and type of photographs I intend to have and I want at the end of my dive. If not, I  need to know the cause, problems or the issues, identify them, learn from the experience and start all over again.

Enjoy  your underwater photographic journey and experience, just as I did, from my trials and tribulations of the tiny critters and learning in the process and enjoying it by sharing it with others.