Grumpy

Wolf eel portrait · Size 1 m

The story · in my own words

It is not an eel. The wolf eel is a wolffish that has grown long, and the face belongs to an animal that pairs for life and keeps a single den in the rocks for years. Juveniles are orange; this grey, heavy-jawed head is an adult.

It eats red sea urchins, spines and all: front teeth grip and hold the urchin, molars further back in the jaw crush it. The skin is thick and slick, made for rock.

Several frames were made of this face, each with the light moved, to see how much of the detail the skin would give up. Browning Wall, Hurst Island, British Columbia.

A wolf eel as a portrait, Browning Pass.

$150Sizes below

01Choose a size

Open edition · printed to order

Choose a size

Buy this print · $150

Prices in US dollars; shipping is a flat $25 to Canada and the United States. Printed to order and shipped from Canada. Framing is not offered: shipping glass across a border is a bad idea for everyone.

02How it was made

How it was made · from the file

Eight lines from the dive

Exposure

ISO 125 · 1/125 · f13

Camera

1DX MKII + EF28-70mm f/3.5-4.5

Housing

Nauticam 1DX MKII

Lighting

Dual Retra strobes, Gen I

Accessories

Nauticam WACP

Technique

Cross-over

Conditions

Particulate and surge

Visibility

8 m

The technique and lighting lines link to the craft articles that explain them. A dash means the record does not hold it, and I would rather show the gap than fill it.

03Where

Where · British Columbia