Many years ago I took a photography course.
On one of the evenings of that class, professional models were brought in so that we could practice portraits.
We were able to tell those professionals things like "give me sad" or "show me happy" and they would pretend those emotions as we framed and took our pixtures.
Sometimes I think the fish we are seeing will stop and pose too.
Here is a Spotted Drumfish posing.... but I don't remember saying "show me bored, let's get this over with".
Here is another pixture of the rock star of our Bonaire 2019 trip.
This is the same Longlure Frogfish that I was posting pixtures of a few weeks ago.... but this is from a different day of diving.
He was in the same general area of the reef but had relocated himself to a spot where my only option was to photograph him from above.
There is clearly no "longlure" on his face.... so he must be in one of those regrowing phases, that they go through periodically.
I am not sure but I suspect it belongs on that small button like spot between and below his eyes.
Now this is the coloring that I would call normal for a Spotted Moray eel.
But he is striking kind of a different pose.... and I'm not sure what that's all about.
Typically, the opening and closing of their mouth is associated with breathing and not aggression.
I don't remember there being any aggression here either but that opening of the mouth is something more than just breathing.... maybe a yawn?
I am going to tell you that this is a very small Spotted Moray.... but I am not going to say it with an enormous amount of confidence.
His body is white and he is covered with brown spots.... but the coloring of those spots is not quite right.
They are typically a much darker brown and this guy just kind of looks pale and washed out.... as Spotted Moray's go.
But there is nothing else in my book of eels that he could be.... so I am going to call him a spotted moray and suggest that he get more sleep and eat more vegetables.
Here is another one of my many octopus is his hole pixtures.
But in this one, top center of the frame, I am pretty sure that we are looking at his eyeball.
You know when you are kind of asleep but are just waking up.... and you want to see what's going on in the world around you.
So, you crack your eye open just enough to see.... but not enough for anyone looking at you to know for sure that you are awake.
I think that's what this guy is doing to me.... as I make my pixture.
This little fellow is a Smooth Trunkfish.... he is not a baby but he is not an adult either.
They start life small and round, so much so that you can't hardly believe that they are not a floating marble. We have seen them so small and round that it really wasn't possible to see the eyes and the fins.
By the time they are an adult they will have a shape that can only be describe as "boxy and triangular".
You can see that this guy is somewhere in between those two shapes.
This is a Butter Hamlet.
A pretty common fish on the reef.... but one that always seems to be very busy and as a result not an easy subject to get a pixture of.
I am never sure whether all that busy movement is industrious labor or a general state of wariness.
Either way, when one of them has the time (or the courage) to pose it only seems fair to take the pixture.
The Blue Parrotfish is most definitely blue.... generally somewhere between powder blue and what I would call an indigo blue.
I always think it's a little creepy how closely their eye matches the color of their body.... to me, it just doesn't even look like a real eye.
Flamingo Tongues are a member of the snail family.
That always seems a little hard to believe.... when you are looking at their pretty shells.
But the angle of this pixture lets us see the foot (kinda looks like a skirt) that they use to attach themselves to the coral.... which does look kind of snail like to me.
Some of the things that we see on the reef, like this Lionfish, are excellent subjects for close-ups.
He is absolutely unconcerned with me and what I am doing.
Secure in the knowledge that his defense system, will drive me off, long before I can harm him.... were I foolish enough to touch him.
In this case, that defense system is venomous spines amongst his fin array.
If I was smart like the other fish, I would also note his conspicuous coloring.... as that is also a warning to leave him alone.
When you see a Bar Jack.... you think power swimmer.
They are named for the stripe or bar, bright blue with a black border, that runs along their back.
They are neither large nor small by the standards of the fish that we see along the reef.... typically 8-14in in length.
You can see them swimming alone or in groups, generally in open water.
Something about the way they move gives you that impression of power and if they decide that something nearby would make a good meal.... you are going to see a burst of speed that is truly impressive.
They are not at all concerned about the presence of divers. In fact, they will often make close passes, apparently attracted by our bubbles.
