u/ArnoTheArtist

Eye to eye with a poop fly

One of the first things we were taught in photography school was to get on eye level with your subject.
There are some exceptions to that rule, but this wasn't it.
I've been known to get down on my stomach to "get the shot", and this one was no different.

Or then... thank [insert deity of your choice here] there were no random passers-by staring at me, shaking their heads and thinking if I had entirely lost my marbles for taking a close up picture of a dog turd.

But then again... I've also been known to see the beauty in things that other people often overlook. And this Yellow Dung Fly was no different.

Enjoy your lunch!
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Yellow dung fly ─ Scathophaga stercoraria
Nikon D800, Tamron 90mm, ISO100, 1/2000 sec @ f/11, Sigma EM-140DG (TTL)

© All rights reserved.

I remember this like it was yesterday.
It wasn't the first time I saw a cuttlefish, but it was the first time I genuinely felt in the presence of a curious, self-conscious creature.

I was out on a solo dive on the house reef (those dives were the ones I loved most: no one around, no one to watch out for. Just me, myself and my camera). I was approaching 100 minutes on the clock and was considering turning back, even if I still had half a tank (it was a shallow dive, max 6-ish meters deep) when I saw it hovering above the corals. I swear it was looking at me not quite unlike I was looking at it. I approached it really slowly, and it showed no fear whatsoever. It approached me slowly as well. I've read the stories about how cuttlefish and octopuses are intelligent, some even dare to go as far as sentient, beings, but I had never─until now─actually felt this myself. I've also read the stories about how most think that interactions with divers (photographers) would('ve) be(en) because the cuttlefish or octopus sees its reflection in the lens.
I'm 100% sure that wasn't the case here, considering I had a macro lens on the camera AND I had the camera down. It was approaching me, not the camera.

It approached me well within reach of my hand. I didn't raise my hand. I just hovered there looking at it. And wondering what was going through its... mind? ...
It sounds strange to say that, but the way it looked at me, it almost felt like it was thinking the same. What is that thing, and what is going through its... mind? ...

The only reason I know how long this lasted, is because I checked my dive computer after some time, and that some time had been nearly 20 minutes.
We hovered there just looking at each other, mesmerized with each other.
I slowly raised my camera, and I may have raised my eyebrow at it in a─sort of─"may I?" gesture and it allowed me to shoot a series of wonderful pictures. When I finished the series I may have nodded as to say thank you and goodbye and slowly returned to shore.

It even put on a few different outfits on the go. Similarly to octopuses they can change colour and the shape and patterns on their skin at will.
Fascinating creatures, they are.

Broadclub cuttlefish - Sepia latimanus

Nikon D800 in Ikelite housing, Tamron 90mm, ISO100, 1/250 sec @ f/11, Ikelite DS161 / Ikelite DS51 strobes.

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