Most people know what an anemone fish does when it is scared... it goes and hides in the protective tentacles of its host anemone.

But what about when the anemone gets scared?

It just closes up shop, and that usually means the anemone fish need to push and shove to get some protection.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/25th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 3200 (Auto). Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Removed Color Cast, Auto Smart Fix in Photoshop Elements 8.0 (mouseover for original).

As you can see when you mouseover the image, the original shot had a pretty bad blue color cast - likely because the flash did not fire (I often would rapid fire shots, and by the end of the series the flash would be recycling). Luckily, Photoshop does a decent job of cleaning up that color cast.

I don't know why I keep skipping my usual critiques, but I guess I just feel like sharing photos recently - perhaps I'll get back to the regular routine soon.

This one obviously isn't the best focus I've ever achieved, but I still think the shot works well. I also looked at trying to find a different crop for it (mainly to eliminate the partial fish in the top right corner, but couldn't find one I liked. Despite its flaws, I still really like the shot.

If you haven't seen them before, you might want to check these older posts with other anemone fish: False Clownfish and the early Sneak Peak (part 2).

- Bill