Gloomy Octopus

Blogged by Simon on April 07, 2010 10:03am | Last updated by Simon on April 07, 2010 10:04am | Category: Underwater Photography | Get a Print Get a Print |

Gloomy Octopus Gloomy Octopus (Octopus tetricus) is the most commonly found species of the Octopus family in and around Sydney. They love the muck and the opportunities for hiding in there. I have witnessed them buried in a hole, holding on to a loose leaf of seaweed with their suction disks to camouflage the entrance.

Photographically, they are interesting because they change color to blend in with their surroundings, so it’s actually worthwhile following them around to see what happens before you snap away – you are guaranteed no two photos will ever look alike. I have tried photographing them several times with the Nikon 60mm macro, but it’s just too narrow to fill the frame at any usable subject distance. Here, I used the Tokina 35mm macro instead which has a wide enough beam. You could probably try this photo as a close focus wide angle shot with the Tokina 10-17mm if the Octopus (shy!) lets you get close enough.

Other camera settings: Nikon D300, Tokina 35mm macro, f/14 for 1/250s, ISO 200. In post processing, I used a clone stamp to clean the shot of backscatter, added vignetting and level adjusted for colors, then bumped up yellows with the foliage filter in Color Efex Pro for Aperture. I should add, the subject was modelled a little in Photoshop, using liquify. I would typically not do this to marine species (look, don’t touch :), however on the soft bodied Octopus it is forgivable.

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