Pygmy Seahorse, "Plucked Chicken"

Also called "Denise's pygmy seahorse", Hippocampus denise lives on with gorgonian seafans (Annella reticulata, Muricella sp., and Echinogorgia sp.). The photos of this pygmy seahorse, or "pyg" for short were all taken with a Nexus housed Nikon F4, 105mm lens and Woody's diopter. This is my preferred setup. I've seen photographers using long lens, extensions,etc. They seem to have great difficulty finding and composing their photograph. I find the 105mm and push on diopter very easy to use. Of course my F4 has the sportfinder which makes it quite easy to compose photos of pygmy seahorses and other small subjects. Many people on the trip wanted to photograph pygmy seahorses.. there are so many that I find them a bit boring but did take down my macro rig to shoot the pygmy seahorses for 20 min. then returned my camera to the dive tender and swapped it for a wide angle setup to continue my dive.

2004 Rajah Ampat Diving Underwater Photography