Topaz Flowerhorn

caitycat(59)

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#animalphotography

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This, my friends, is a Topaz Flowerhorn.

I wish I knew more about it. Ah, maybe not. If that were true, all I would have to do is ask.

My friend asked me to photograph this fish for him. He is a fish/reptile/amphibian enthusiast/researcher/conservationist and he and his buddy had managed to breed this new type of fish. I guess it was pretty special because he paid me to come photograph it and swore me to secrecy until he had published his paper about it. I never really heard anything further about it after the paper went out.

Now, let me just say- photographing fish has to have been one of the hardest shoots of my life. It's like shooting a hockey game, with worse lighting, at a nearly macro scale. I was pretty much in a squat position the whole time so I was more sore the next day than any workout has ever made me (real talk: I don't work out).

Tech-wise, I took a big sheet of scrim material and laid it on top of the aquarium and placed a little speedlite to blast through it. I just had my trusty old 50D going with the 24-70 f/2.8L v.1... not exactly speed photography beasts by today's standards.

The main goal was to show off the "glowing" scales, and the pattern that they grew in. I think we achieved this pretty well. Speaking as a portrait photographer, I would have liked a bit more light in the eye, but I was happy to call it a day if the client was thrilled, which he was.

Have you ever tried photographing fish? They are interesting creatures to try and capture!