Spiny Tiger Shrimps - Lumix LX10 - east Bali

[bghazzal]

Hello all,
Here's what I've been working on the past few days, a clip of Spiny Tiger Shrimp  (Phyllognathia ceratophthalma). In this video, you can see both a juvenile (roughly 0.5 cm in size) and a slightly larger older Spiny Tiger Shrimp foraging and carrying various preys/lunch items, including a small crab head, in the bundle of old ropes where they live.

Adults tiger shrimps grow up to about 2 cm in size but also have, as seen here, a more complex shape, with many spikes growing out their body, more or less randomly.
I love the way these guys move, which reminds of Harlequin shrimps, and their eyes...

Equipment used:

- Panasonic Lumix LX10 (LX9/LX15 in some locales) compact camera  in a NALX10 Nauticam housing, AOI UCL-09 +18.5 diopter, Inon UCL-165M67 +6 diopter
- Backscatter MW 4300 video light and two Archon D11V2 video lights
- Homemade quadripod

Shot in Amed, east Bali, in 4K 30fps, CineD profile, edited/graded in FCPX.

cheers!
ben

Edited December 16, 2023 by bghazzal

[Troporobo]

Very nice work again!  great macro sequences and the lighting is perfect.  Thanks for sharing 

[t.tm.m]

Very lovely footage! The smaller one with its starfish is adorable. One question: For clips such as 2:00 where there is some camera movement to track the shrimp, was that applied in post or did you physically move the camera? It is quite smooth for clips like that one!

[AndreSmith]

Jees that is amazing!🙌 They are hard enough to find, never mind to capture such detailed behaviour in stunning clarity. Well done!

[Pooley]

That's some really nice work. I'm  going back to Tulamben next year - is therenmuch difference between Tulamben diving and Amed?

Mike

[bghazzal]

11 hours ago, Troporobo said:

Very nice work again!  great macro sequences and the lighting is perfect.  Thanks for sharing 

Thanks! It's what I'm trying to focus on at the moment - coming from working mosly with ambient light there's clear learning curve, but a lot of useful info to be found in strobe placement concepts.
I'm using a Backscatter MW4300 light, which is really flexible and can be used with the OS-10 snoot, but filling in with 2 smaller video lights.
It's really flexible, but it's surprising how much difference a few degrees of angles make when shooting small things, still a lot to work on there.

cheers

b

Edited December 17, 2023 by bghazzal

[bghazzal]

9 hours ago, t.tm.m said:

Very lovely footage! The smaller one with its starfish is adorable. One question: For clips such as 2:00 where there is some camera movement to track the shrimp, was that applied in post or did you physically move the camera? It is quite smooth for clips like that one!

Thank you - In this vid I didn't add any tracking / movements in post - this was using the front legs of the quadripod as a pivot point, which is something I'm working on for small actively moving subjects.
I never really managed to get the pan movement right (it's always too fast), but using the legs, some tilting is possible if the rig isn't too negative - mine is just a little negative now, and can be used handheld, which opens up possibilities.

Shooting this, the main issue I was having is that the shrimps live in a thick bunch of tangled old ropes - the ropes themselves are quite thin, but it's a big bundle on the seafloor and really moves a lot, current/water movement but also any close camera movement is enough to make the shrimps' little rope world shake - if you look closely you can the ropes wobbling in the background at times.
And it was also difficult to be in a good position to avoid having the legs of the quadripod touching the ropes - but at least the shrimps were quite cooperative and doing their thing!

cheers

b

Edited December 17, 2023 by bghazzal

[bghazzal]

8 hours ago, Pooley said:

That's some really nice work. I'm  going back to Tulamben next year - is therenmuch difference between Tulamben diving and Amed?

Mike

Thanks! It's the same, but overall I'd say Tulamben is better for macro - generally clearer water, more diversity of substrate, and just generally more things to find (probably linked to the topography of the little bays, and exposure to current) - Amed is closeby, only a few km away, but it's more built up close to the shore.
For macro dives, no real reason to come to Amed if you're in Tulamben...

However Amed is a way nicer/easier place to live long term, it's more quiet underwater, especially on the macro sites, and there are no entrance fees to nearly all sites (for now anyway), where as in Tulamben it really adds up when you're diving almost daily...
And I'd say that macro Amed does have its own charm - it's more mucky, so more like a real muck diving experience, great for cephalopods for instance. But for nudis for instance, Tulamben sites definitely have the upper hand!
cheers
b

Edited December 17, 2023 by bghazzal

[bghazzal]

8 hours ago, AndreSmith said:

Jees that is amazing!🙌 They are hard enough to find, never mind to capture such detailed behaviour in stunning clarity. Well done!

Thanks! Yes, we're lucky to have found a few living in this clearly defined area, and spotting them has been pretty constistent. Really pretty and fun little guys, I just love the way they move, suprising close to harlequin shrimps.
cheers
b

[t.tm.m]

4 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Thank you - In this vid I didn't add any tracking / movements in post - this was using the front legs of the quadripod as a pivot point, which is something I'm working on for small actively moving subjects.
I never really managed to get the pan movement right (it's always too fast), but using the legs, some tilting is possible if the rig isn't too negative - mine is just a little negative now, and can be used handheld, which opens up possibilities.

Shooting this, the main issue I was having is that the shrimps live in a thick bunch of tangled old ropes - the ropes themselves are quite thin, but it's a big bundle on the seafloor and really moves a lot, current/water movement but also any close camera movement is enough to make the shrimps' little rope world shake - if you look closely you can the ropes wobbling in the background at times.
And it was also difficult to be in a good position to avoid having the legs of the quadripod touching the ropes - but at least the shrimps were quite cooperative and doing their thing!

cheers

b

Thanks for the thoughts, it certainly worked well for you in these clips! You even seem to have damped the start and end of the movement pretty well. I'll have to try adding some floats to my setup... I haven't been able to get smooth enough movement with it as is, particularly at the start and end of the motion

[Davide DB]

Terrific images and edit.

Bravo!

[JustinO]

Beautiul footage, and really sensitively lit.   The sequence on what I think is a sponge is a really nice introduction - the contrast of the animal on the substrate is pleasing to the eye, as is the way you've captured a slightly different foraging approach there as it probes the pores.  Well done, and thanks for sharing - makes me realise I spend a little too much time on stills, and less on the video side. 

[ianmarsh]

Beautiful edit... and as others have said, the lighting is perfect.

I will also add, the music suits the atmosphere perfectly as well! Very thoughtful.

 

ian

[Chris Ross]

21 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Thanks! Yes, we're lucky to have found a few living in this clearly defined area, and spotting them has been pretty constistent. Really pretty and fun little guys, I just love the way they move, suprising close to harlequin shrimps.
cheers
b

Really nice video, well done.  I must agree though being familiar with where certain critters hang out is a big help, many of them are extremely site faithful.