Jelly Cloud by Thomas Vignaud

Thursday, 11th October 2007

Jelly Cloud

by Thomas Vignaud

I was freediving with my camera, around a island, when I suddently saw a big yellow gellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata). When I came closer, I saw a school of juveniles fish, probably Trachurus trachurus, who were staying close to the gellyfish to escape predators. After a few shots, I started to place my external strobe behind the jellyfish : I had few nice results with orange lightning, and this one is the best.

Equipment: Canon EOS 400D and Canon 60mm macro USM

Thomas Vignaud

I’m a Master student in sea sciences and I’m working on sharks. I’m also a professional diver and I love underwater photography.

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Jelly Cloud by Thomas Vignaud was Photo of the Day on Thursday, October 11th, 2007. It is tagged Fish, Jellyfish, Underwater. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

23 Comments

Bradfored Decker Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 6:09 am
I really like the details. Nice shot
janet Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 6:24 am
I almost want to give them names very nice photo!!
Anna Ridley Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Wow! What a tremendous photo. Congratulations!
Anurag Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Just keep on giving this a visual feast Thomas. But again I ask you (Pl. do venture an answer) – Why is the sea so colourful when there is so little light beyond a few meters beneath the surface?!
Rasmus Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Great photo with beautiful light using your flASH through the jellyfish.
Can you put your camera in some sort of waterproof container?
Thomas Vignaud Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 8:47 am
Hi and thanks
Anurag, as I said in the comment of the photo, I use an external strobe : it give the true color of the things back. things ARE colored, but the light is absorb by the water, especially red/orange, so we see it with blue/green dominant.
Tuğrul Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
extraordinary and wonderful photo !!
thanks for sharing it.
andrew Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
wow, what a vivid colors. Great shot.
Lynda Lehmann Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Amazing capture, worth the work!
TomBrooklyn Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Very pretty. Interesting how you can see the fish innards and spine. Submit to Strobist.
kml Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Wow – that cam out really good! Glad you tried something different!
David Constable Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
great shot, well done
Renee Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Thanks for sharing thomas!! nice shot!!
Ann Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Congratulations.A terrific image.
Calvin Says:
October 11th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
What a great shot!! i love all the bright vivid colors and how you can see the fish’s insides, it’s so cool.Great work.
Terry Everson Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 12:13 am
Stunning!
Anurag Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 8:55 am
Thomas
Yes I know that, What I ment to ask was that as a marine biologist, why does marine life display such warm red yellow colors when most of the light available is blue. warm colors would appear black in the available light. So what use do these colors would have. Evolution should have just(de)selected them out!
Pauline Jones Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 10:22 am
This is a really interesting picture.
Thomas Vignaud Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Anurag,
ok, I understand what did you ask now

colors usually comes from chemicals of what animals eat (if you change alimentation of some species, they change the colors. some anelids have”feathers” who are white at the bigning (one kind of alimentation) and orange on the second part (another kind of alimentation)
or genetic factor.
so, even if evolution don’t selected colors, there is colors (who can be useless).
Underwater, there is always some light. even deeper than -300m, shrimps are super red : it is an evolution selection, because shrimps have the colors who is not where they leave. so, they become invisible, exept if you have a red light. so, some fish can really make red light (as a car at night) to find shrimps.
anyway, there is enought light where people dive, and it is sometimes very usefull : fish really know it’s a bad idea to eat a nudibranch, who is full of colors.
It can be a sexual attraction (usually on fish, like Thalasoma pavo), a repelent(like nudibranch), something to atract another specie as a prey or a helper.
but, as I said, sometimes it’s just useless. some fish are becoming red when they have to swim a lot, and so it help to know is there is strong current
It is very complex, and colors definitivly have a very important role, as odors, sounds, and more humans can’t feel !
Anurag Says:
October 13th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Thanks Thomas!!
mike Says:
October 4th, 2009 at 1:34 am
Wow, they are a pretty type of fish. I like their colors.
Rajib Singha Says:
October 12th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Congrats. Thanks for sharing.
Su Says:
October 15th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Fasinating insight into another world and thanks for the explanations.