I've been struggling for some time now to find a way to take an interesting photo of what I call the "King Kong" crab...for lack of a better name. (Does anyone know the binomial name for this crab?)
This dark-maroon, velvety-textured crustacean is about the most un-photogenic (read: "butt ugly") animal I've ever come across. This is the reason I set myself the challenge of creating a captivating image of this crab...to underscore the point that photography is art. In this case, the art of making this homely critter look intriguing.
So I as stared at this odd-looking animal, I thought of King Kong, and I imagined how this creature might have been portrayed in a King Kong movie. Here's what I came up with:
What I saw in my mind's eye was King Kong towering on the craggly rocks of a remote island, surveying his dominion, with the evening sun in the background framing his imposing figure (never mind that the crab is only a few centimetres tall).
Shortly after taking this picture, I came across another crab, this specimen nestled in among the polyps of a soft coral organism. Again, with King Kong in mind, I took the photo below imagining the great beast lurking among exotic trees in a primeval forest, poised to leap out and ambush unwary explorers.
Photography can be much more than just documenting what you see. It can be creating what you imagine...for others to see.
Oh...in case you're wondering...yes, my mind wanders to strange, distant places all the time.