Here's a couple more angles of that Spotted Cleaner Shrimp...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Have a nice weekend!

- Bill

Alright! I have finally made it through all the photos from my (at this point, not so) recent dive trip. I really should have finished them a long while ago, since the last dive certainly had a couple gems in them - in particular in the form of an encounter with a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp (Periclimenes yucatanicus). It was definitely a challenging subject due to the continually undulating anemone that it was hiding in, but I did manage several really sharp photos, and this particular one worked pretty well in several different crops... take a look and then cast your vote for which one you like best.

Original	2:3 Crop	Square Crop

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5.

Honestly, I didn't even notice the crab also hiding in the anemone at the time - I was so focused on capturing a species of shrimp that I'd never seen before.

There are still a handful more good shots from the trip, so hopefully I'll post a little more frequently to get them shared here. Stay tuned.

- Bill

Today's subject is an interesting one... It is called a Snapping or Pistol Shrimp (Alpheus armatus). As you can see in the shot below, they have that one larger claw - but I'll let the video explain why that is cool. These guys were somewhat easy to find on the reef because they usually were found hiding underneath the Corkscrew Anemone (Bartholomea annulata). Unfortunately, that also made them difficult to photograph as they usually were partially obscured, and there was plenty of other things for the AF system to pick up.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/120th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 100. Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

I didn't take the following video (though I certainly wish I worked for the BBC), but take a minute or so and see just how impressive that tiny little claw is...

Pretty obvious where the name comes from, huh?

- Bill