*notcot in nature , 12:35

David Doubilet’s Nudibranchs- 07.08.08

nudibranch.jpgNudibranchs ~ i’ve been obsessed with these gorgeous creatures since my first dives as a kid in south east asia. David Doubilet ~ i grew up on his breath taking photography. Combine them ~ and video ~ and National Geographic… and i’ve been swooning over this Nudibranch feature on the National Geographic website for days now. So looking beyond the subject matter for a moment, from a photographic/design perspective… what really struck me about this series of photos, was the process! Seldom do you see these beautiful (tiny) little slug like creatures pop off so vibrantly on a perfectly white background… they look more like supermodels in a photo studio… so watching the video blew my mind to see that David Doubilet and his team actually went diving with a portable studio that they brought TO the nudibranches, shooting them where they found them, and only moving them when they weren’t doing any complicated nudibranch activities (mating, feeding, etc). See the full gallery here, and see some of my favorites as well as the set up they used on the next page!


nudibranch1.jpg

nudibranch2.jpg

nudibranch3.jpg

nudibranch4.jpg

nudibranch5.jpg

nudibranch6.jpg

Tags: - - - -

16 Notes

note to Bart.. yeah I agree with you.. He’s disturbing the nudis …
but then again he could have taken the nudis home put it in the tank (with the light boxes) and photographed the whole scene and release the nudi (hopefully not into trash can.
But no !! he took the elaborate task of bringing the whole “studio” underwater !!

PS: btw nudi is pretty abundance.

----- pandu 10.06.10 23:04

I have to comment on what Bart said even though I am sure he will never read this. Education in the most important thing when talking about the marine environment. Doubilet is capturing pictures to let people know that these kind of things are out there. Would it be better for photographers to never take these pictures so that people never see what is out there? You can’t depend on human beings to fix the issues at hand if they don’t know what they are losing. I think that is a little more important than stressing out these little guys who don’t even know what is happening. I love nudibranchs by the way! They ROCK!!! :)

----- Anonymous 29.03.10 14:44

I have to comment on what Bart said even though I am sure he will never read this. Education in the most important thing when talking about the marine environment. Doubilet is capturing pictures to let people know that these kind of things are out there. Would it be better for photographers to never take these pictures so that people never see what is out there? You can’t depend on human beings to fix the issues at hand if they don’t know what they are losing. I think that is a little more important than stressing out these little guys who don’t even know what is happening. I love nudibranchs by the way! They ROCK!!! :)

----- Anonymous 29.03.10 14:03

i love these creatues they amaze me but we reasently got a harbor put in at our beach and now they dont come close to shore anymore :-( but love the pics XD!!! love u

----- georgie_on_maggie 22.02.10 20:50


It’s a great technique but some wouldn’t do it since they don’t like to move any species for photos. The Nudis are very abundant and as you see in the photos they are cruising around without an damage. I think the photos were worth it. Remember some scientists capture their species and dissect them in the lab…. I’m sure these nudis lived on to have more nudis!

Sean

----- Scuba Sean 14.10.08 12:46

I’ve never seen (or known i’ve seen) a Nudibranch before. these are fantastic. they kind of look like little marscapone sea creatures.

----- jHill 07.10.08 12:00

Also, adding to Sue’s comments, work like this helps people understand why they should try their best to be environmentally friendly.

I doubt very much that the little critters suffered too much because of their photo shoot. It’s a lot harder for them to survive a day of their lives than for us. They don’t even have telly! I’m sure they can take it. :p

----- Will 07.10.08 08:21

These are wonderful images. And as for “stressing-out” the Nudibranchs, how do we know what they’re thinking? Maybe they feel like they are the fabulous creatures of the sea and they’re glad to flaunt it!

----- Sue 21.09.08 13:33

Hi,

I have to admit your shots look cool but is this how we do underwater photography and care about the marine environment? This is no underwater photography, this is ruining the marine environment by causing stress to the poor little nudibranchs. Please think of that before you start doing this kind of work and thinking only about the publicity and result you will get.

Thanks.
Bart

----- Bart Kluskens 24.08.08 19:33

As a Scubadiver and Photographer (above and below water) all I can say is WOW. Awsome pictures and amazing setup.

----- Doug Pieper 18.07.08 13:10

Amazing.

----- Ky 11.07.08 08:53

so cool!

----- rugenius 09.07.08 01:33

Wow, how cool looking are THOSE guys!!!

----- andym801 08.07.08 17:35

David is my friend’s father and I’ve had the chance to meet him several times now. Fascinating man with some incredible stories to tell. My friend was fortunate to follow along on many of his trips as she grew up, scuba diving with manta rays and jellies all over the world!

The world is just awesome.

----- Garrett 08.07.08 14:49

What is really strange is that I was just looking at these exact images this morning, so I could have them as background images on my desktop.

I never usually buy National Geographic, but the nudibranchs are what compelled me to get this issue last month.

----- Erin 08.07.08 14:11

absolutely STUNNING

----- Scott Ortner 08.07.08 14:05


Copyright NOTCOT INC 2005-2019 - Privacy Policy - Work In Progress! Please be nice!