Behind the Shot: King of the Hill, Chris Gug

The first shot within the collection that will finally result in “King of the Hill”: The crab wasn’t in a really perfect spot but and the anemone was tucked too far down into the tube to be aesthetically pleasing. Patience and perseverence had been finally rewarded!

 

In September 2025, my spouse and I picked up life and moved the world over. Unlike previous instances, this transfer was a bit totally different. First, we closed my artwork gallery in Florida and the remainder of the underwater images enterprise, and handed the reins over to a brand new gallery proprietor and enterprise accomplice in a transfer that, I wish to say, makes me now 98% retired. Second, this transfer would possibly simply be everlasting. Of paramount significance to me was liberating up my time to dive the way in which I need to dive, and shoot for me, slightly than for the print. After exhaustive analysis and visiting a number of totally different components of the world in the hunt for the spot that will tick probably the most marks off our want lists, we settled on the Tulamben and Amed area of Bali. Like any journey, whether or not for per week, or for the remainder of our lives, cameras had been assembled and we had been underwater inside 12 hours of landing!

When I say that I wished to free myself to dive and shoot as I like, I sought out a spot the place shore diving was as prevalent, if no more prevalent, than boat diving. This permits me to go in at daybreak or nightfall or 3am, permits me to remain so long as I need, and permits me to dive with no group or a information continuously nagging me (“Are you okay?”, “How much air do you have?”, and so on.) I need to proceed observing a bulldozer shrimp and goby pair with out taking a single photograph for 90 minutes if I need to, as a result of I can come again tomorrow if I need to! Ahh… yeah, retirement guidelines! And actually, what I really like most about this schedule is I’ll see one thing superb, and I’ll simply return to it time and again and over, typically with totally different lens setups or gear, and simply work on my schedule till I get what I need.

 

Originally, I deliberate to shoot the crab with the Nauticam EMWL however I didn’t ever fairly get what I used to be going for

 

One of my main pursuits over my 30-plus years as knowledgeable underwater photographer has been interspecies relationships and symbiosis. This applies to paper nautiluses driving jellyfish in blackwater diving, simply because it does to lice dwelling on the face of a whale. I’ve all the time felt {that a} relationship between two creatures is much extra highly effective than a terrific portrait of both species alone. After all, a photograph is not only speculated to be aesthetically pleasing; it additionally wants to inform a narrative, and the extra it will possibly achieve this with no caption, the higher.

As a results of this wholesome obsession, I’ll often cowl 1/a centesimal the gap of some other diver, and anybody who’s ever wished to dive with me has by no means returned for a second dive! I’ll examine each tunicate for a shrimp or a goby with eggs, each cucumber for imperator shrimp, each man-o-war for the man-o-war fish, each clownfish for a tongue louse. Even most paid guides get extremely annoyed with my slower-than-a-nudibranch tempo! Finding these hidden (and typically surprising) relationships takes time—and leads to way more disappointments than successes.

 

A flock of horny shrimps typically adorned the tube of my goal tube anemone, and whereas they’re cool critters, they weren’t the topic I used to be after

 

Having seen a harlequin swimming crab (Lissocarcinus laevis) up contained in the tube of a unique retracted tube anemone a couple of days earlier than, I grew to become obsessive about studying about visualizing how my shot would look if I may discover the right situation. I even sketched out my imaginative and prescient, as I typically do (although in case you noticed it, you’ll know why I’m a photographer slightly than a sketch artist!). In it, I drew the crab on the sand under the tube, as a result of in my expertise, that’s the place they all the time had been, scavenging detritus, typically together with a couple of horny shrimp waving their booties within the present. I had visualized the shot utilizing my regular lens alternative for all muck diving, the Nauticam EMWL with 160° goal lens, so in my thoughts, I used to be going to be about 5mm from the crab, focus level close to the underside, and aiming drastically upwards to get a blue background, and perhaps even switching to a vertical orientation.

I had seen this actual tube anemone on a number of dives over the previous months. Sometimes, it was tucked in; different instances, it was partially or absolutely prolonged. It often had a couple of horny shrimp dwelling on its base, however not all the time. Once it had an unsightly decorator crab on it. But on at the present time, all the things simply appeared to line up: better-than-average visibility, minimal present, a terrific topic sheltered underneath its stinging umbrella that felt utterly unafraid, and anemone arms that had been no less than partially prolonged.

 

An ugly—actually ugly!—decorator crab sheltering on the identical tube anemone

 

My imaginative and prescient was to make use of the EMWL with 160° goal lens from 5mm away, however on at the present time, I had deliberate on simply macro with an Nauticam SMC-3. So I flipped the SMC-3 out of the way in which and got down to make the visualized composition by backing waaay up, maybe two or three away—undoubtedly additional than I’d usually desire!

To reduce backscatter, my first thought was to carry the strobes as far ahead as potential, in order to not illuminate the water between the lens and the crab. And with out diffusers, with the strobes up near the crab, I used to be capable of extra exactly purpose the flash simply barely under the crab, in order to not illuminate your complete anemone. This made for a really forward-heavy setup with numerous wobbly shake, so, wishing I had a tripod, I ended up bracing the digital camera housing in opposition to the nice sand. Tulamben shore diving is already infamous for nice sand clogging housings on the very best of days, so doing this was simply including insult to damage.

 

A reasonably harlequin swimming crab on the base of an attention-grabbing anemone. Not fairly the imaginative and prescient I had in thoughts for the ultimate picture!

 

A distinct harlequin swimming crab on a unique tube anemone, however not in a really perfect place—one shot and I moved on

 

Yet one other harlequin swimming crab in a tube anemone—snooted this time

 

But the crab was joyful to oblige. Over the following 20 minutes or so, it barely moved a muscle, though it was awake and would sometimes groom an antenna. By the time I obtained all the things in place, I spotted the anemone was slowly increasing and bringing its arms into full glory. Five minutes in, after I had my settings proper and had fired a couple of take a look at photographs, it was absolutely prolonged, and each the mannequin and the photographer had been lastly able to get to work. And but, it’s superb how briskly I can carry a tank from a 3rd all the way down to virtually nothing once I’m excited, and shortly after, I used to be compelled to go away for my security cease. No downside: I reside simply up the highway, so I’ll simply return in a day or so, proper?

Well, like I discussed, that tube anemone lives a fairly dynamic life. When I returned after a couple of days, there was no harlequin swimming crab to be discovered. And within the many instances I’ve been again, there have been new short-term residents, however none has been as fairly as that crab within the photograph. Lesson realized: When it’s scorching, drop all the things and get again to it instantly, as a result of Mother Nature doesn’t anticipate it to be handy on our schedule! Still, there are many tube anemones on the market, every with their very own cool shade, from yellow, to crimson, to purple, and I stay up for many extra years of taking pictures them in ways in which I haven’t even considered but!

 

The closing outcome, “King of the Hill,” was the Gold winner within the Traditional class of DPG Masters Underwater Imaging Competition 2025

 

---

To see extra of Gug’s award-winning work, please give him a observe on Instagram and go to his web site, www.gugunderwater.com.