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Steve Maxson
06-04-2009, 09:32 AM
I don't expect this marine isopod to win any cuteness awards, but as a biologist, I find them interesting nevertheless. :) This one is about 1.5 inches long and was found near the base of an Oregon sea stack exposed at low tide. They live amongst the mussels and barnacles and blend in very well with their surroundings. My wife picked up one of these and discovered it was carrying babies on its underside so at least some species exhibit parental care. 40D, 90mm tilt/shift tilted to maximize DOF, 1.3 sec, f/22, ISO 200, tripod, mirror lock, cable release. Comments are welcome.

Kaushik Balakumar
06-04-2009, 04:48 PM
Nice DOF. Nice details. Very interesting subject. Finely exposed.

Roman Kurywczak
06-04-2009, 07:31 PM
Hey Steve,
Great job on DOF and environs. Must move real slow in 1.3 sec:D. I think the BG and Isopod just blend a bit much......but they all can't be wow and it is still pretty cool. What do they do?

Julie Kenward
06-04-2009, 08:14 PM
I like that it blends so well - and I like that you kept the isopod in the middle of the image. Once you see it your eyes start to roam around to see what else it is next to. Very nice use of tilt/shift lens and great overal exposure. I really like this image - cute or not!

Steve Maxson
06-04-2009, 09:08 PM
Hey Steve,
Great job on DOF and environs. Must move real slow in 1.3 sec:D. I think the BG and Isopod just blend a bit much......but they all can't be wow and it is still pretty cool. What do they do?

Hi Roman. Thanks for the comments. This guy was completely motionless while I was photographing it, so a very slow shutter speed was no problem. I agree that it blends a lot with the background. I had difficulty just spotting some of these - my wife was better at it. If you think about it, if they didn't blend in, they would quickly become bird or fish food. :) Turns out that there are many species of isopods and I don't know which one this is. I expect this one is a scavenger though some species are predators.