I have my eye on you.

[Ron Morse]

An armored cat fish looking right into the camera.

http://img415.imageshack.us/img415/8572/dpp0016om5.jpg

[Mary Bull]

Ron, that's awesome!

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Ron,

You do these shots so well.

Excellent skin texure.

Is it really looking at the camera?

Are those scales or else how is it armored? Also the camera lens and lighting setup etc.

Is the animal in water?

asher

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Is the animal in water?

More important, was the camera in the water??? http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif

I assume the cat fish was in a tank, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was an easy target. An intriguing shot that leaves something to guess.

Bart

[Ron Morse]

Thank you Mary, Asher and Bart.

Yes he was watching me.

They do not have scales. They have bony plates that are segmented as they move back from the head. They have 3 ( can't remember ) maybe 4 rows of teeth that run down their side from front to back for protection.

It has been over 40 years since I studied Ichthyology but the little dots all over the head could have a sensory purpose since this fish is for the most part nocturnal.

The lense was either a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro or a Tamron 24-135mm. It was over a year ago and I can't remember which but I think the Tamron.

I used my ST-E2 and a slave flash as I always do. Two slaves are better than 1 on a deep tank since the water kills the light from reaching the bottom quite effectively.

One thing to remember is that all your expensive glass has a piece of glass between it and the subject of no higher quality than a piece of window glass. In this case 1/2" thick.

If you look at the right side about half way down the fish in this shot you will see the start of the protective teeth. From my studies they are actually teeth on the outside.

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/543/mg455301hp6.jpg