THE AMAZING HAWAIIAN MICRO-LOBSTERS!™

CAPTURING THE CRITTERS!

(On film & paper)

             We have the nicest visitors and customers and increasingly I feel like the leader of a team  .  .  .  the coach and advisor  .  .  .  the mentor and cheerleader  .  .  .  and the photo and copy editor!   We have made incredible progress due to the goodwill and participation of many wonderful people who have shared their skills, stories, and photographs.

              

       Photo copyright © 1998 by John P. Hoover; used with permission

 

                     It all began with this photo that appeared in the book HAWAII'S SEA CREATURES;  A Guide to Hawaii's Marine Invertebrates by John P. Hoover. I had been researching opae-ula but needed to get a better image to help form a clear vision and this photo really jumped out because of it's clarity and detail!  I emailed Mutual Publishing requesting permission to reproduce the photo and to be put in contact with the author directly.   Two days later I received an email from John Hoover granting permission to reproduce and we began a correspondence.  John sent over a compact disc of his exceptional photo.  Not being bashful, I kept pumping John for more information.   Being a really nice guy, he consented and wrote the following:

 

MAKING A GREAT BIG PHOTO OF TINY HAWAIIANS!

By John P. Hoover

               A friend who knew I wanted to photograph the shrimp had told me about an anchialine pond where the shrimp are common. He took me there. We had to walk a long way over rough terrain. I was lugging my heavy underwater camera--a housed Nikon N90 equipped with a 1:1 macro lens, and two strobes.

               When we got there the ponds were only a foot or so deep in most spots--certainly not deep enough even to immerse the entire camera housing. But shrimp were all over the place, so I just placed the tip of the lens port into the water and started taking pictures. Even though there was bright sunlight I used the strobes to eliminate shadows and obtain maximum depth of field.

               The bottom of the pond was uneven and rarely were the shrimp all in one plane, making it difficult to get them all in focus. So I took lots of shots of which only a few came out. I used the best one in my book and also sent it to you.

____________________________________________________________________

           It's such a great photo that other portions were cropped,  flopped right to left, and used in other different ways.  I'm getting nice comments for my "collection" of photos but several of them really are portions of John's great photo!

COMPUTER PHOTO ENHANCING

          First, in the "tools" section using "line" set for 2 pixels wide and with a nice contrasting color,   strengthen the feelers and legs. 

          With the photo enlarged 400%, a one pixel wide reddish color selected from the area at the base of the feelers is carefully drawn around the outer edge of the body with the "line" function to help sharpen the outline. 

          A dark color selected from the background is used as a "brush" to go around the body and the background.  The left part of the photograph hasn't yet been touched.

          In doing so,  I learn more about the creature.  In an earlier effort,  I notice that the enhancement is not biologically accurate. As I do more,  I'll be able to do a better job.   This enhancement may be used in a future article to describe the different body parts and functions.

               Not everyone has the great equipment and talent like John Hoover.  But we're also very proud of our other associates whose enthusiasm and interest make them very valuable contributors to the Fuku-Bonsai Micro-Lobster Team. An exciting photo of the 1/2" long Micro-Lobster was taken by Bryan Yoshimura who is also taking photographs of larval development for a future major article!  If you have the interest and are willing and able to contribute,  you are cordially invited to participate in our research efforts.  Please contact me at david@fukubonsai.com       ~~~David