sea jellies

Sea jellies: Northeast Pacific sea nettle and spotted lagoon jelly

I said in a previous post I would share my amateurish experience on a photoshoot, so here it is! I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

A couple of weekends ago, I visited the SeaLife aquarium next to LEGOLAND California. They recently added a sea jelly exhibit (also known as jelly fish, even though they are not fish), which contains several tanks with various species of jellies swimming around. The lighting of the exhibit is very colorful, which makes it for a fun visual experience, but not so great for photos since many of the lights reflect onto the tanks, making for photos covered with many colored spots. The water tanks are cylindrical so people can view the sea jellies from all around. Again this is great for viewing but not so much for taking photos since you can see the people on the other side of the tank. If you’re patient, you can wait until they leave and find the right angle. Or you can play around in Photoshop as I did for one of the photos below since the background was very compromised.

There were several tanks with moon jellies but I won’t share any photos here because they didn’t come out well that day. I do have photos of moon jellies if you’re interested in viewing them.

These first creatures are called Northeast Pacific sea nettles. This is the second photo I took in the exhibit with my good camera.

And right then and there, my camera shut down because the battery was dead. Hum, no problem, I thought, I’ll just use the other battery I have in my bag. This would have been a brilliant idea if I had actually remembered to charge that other battery when it died a few weeks ago. So there I stood, dozens of cool sea jellies floating around me with no working camera. But wait, I had my cell phone camera with me. 5MP would work but how about the lighting? And that’s when I thought, what the heck, I have nothing to lose.

So here they are, the rest of my sea jelly photos, taken with my cell phone camera and retouched in Photoshop since I couldn’t change any settings as I took the photos. Even though a lot of the photos were blurry and useless, I’m quite impressed with the way these came out.

I love the golden brown color of their bodies, especially when it’s backlit as in the photo.

Golden brown body of a Northeast Pacific sea nettle

This next and last one is a spotted lagoon jelly, a smaller species of jellies. I took a lot of pictures of them but this is the crispest one I managed to get. However the background was horrible, between the many light reflections and several people standing right there. So I decided to delete the whole background and add one in Photoshop, almost black but not completely, with a light grain to match the not so perfect tank water.

April 3, 2014April 2, 2014 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Water photosTags: jelly fish, nature photography, Northeast Pacific sea nettle, photograph jelly fish, photograph sea jellies, photograph sea jelly, sea jellies, sea jelly, spotted lagoon jelly 10 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Sea - sea jellies

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: two colors or hues only

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Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “two colors or hues only”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

I realized it was quite a challenge to find photos that only showed two colors, and not three or more, but here’s a nice selection of my favorites, like this photo of a beautiful blue sky after the rain and a tree branch covered with leftover raindrops.

Rain drops on a tree branch after the rain

To continue with the water theme, here are some sea jellies lit up in blue in an aquarium, with the water as a black background.

I love to capture red and green on the same picture. These complementary colors are some of my favorite to see in nature, as on this Cotoneaster Lacteus bush in seeds.

Here’s another example to illustrate how well red and green go together on this passion flower in full bloom.

Passionfruit flower with large red petals and long pistils — Passion flower with large red petals and long pistils

This cactus covered with many tiny yellow blooms is a great attraction for a busy bee looking to collect nectar and pollen.

Very close to the complementary red and green I shared above, here is a splash of pink and green with this beautiful pink powder puff flower.

Pink powder puff tree - Calliandra Haematocephala — Pink powder puff tree – Calliandra Haematocephala

Yellow and green aren’t complementary colors but I still like the way they look together with this yellow rose flower about to open.

Nature sure knows how to make good use of complementary colors everywhere, such as purple and yellow on this large lily flower.

Orange and blue are another set of complementary colors. Is there any better background than a bright blue sky for these orange maple leaves?

Finally, the good thing about white is that it goes well with almost any other color. I love the soft glow it emits when put against a green background. Enjoy this white rose covered with dew drops and a white powder puff bloom as my last two choices for this colorful theme.

March 12, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, California Photos, Flower Photos, Plant Photos, Sky Photos, Water photosTags: bush with small red seeds, cactus with small yellow flowers, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cotoneaster Lacteus, jelly fish, morning dew on a white rose, orange maple leaves, photos with two colors only, pink powder puff flower, purple and yellow lily, Rain drops on a tree branch after the rain, red maple leaves, red passion flower, sea jellies, sea jelly, white powder puff flower, yellow rose 17 Comments

Aquarium creatures

Remember my 2014 nature photography calendars (choose between five different themes) are still available for sale. Look in the left sidebar on my website for the most up-to-date discount coupon code. All calendars are made to order in the USA so you support the US economy with your purchase, and a starving artist (me!). I also appreciate any referral through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and of course your blog or website.

Here are a few photos I took during a recent trip to a local aquarium. Aquarium exhibits are poorly lit to enhance your underwater experience, but the darkness is often the cause of blurry pictures. I haven’t mastered this type of photography perfectly, but I still wanted to share a few of these interesting water animals. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

Here’s a giant Pacific octopus. You’ve got to love those big suction cups.

The crab with the longest legs (up to 10 feet long!) is the Japanese spider crab. All I can say is, yum!

The coconut crab earns its name from its ability to crack a coconut shell with his pincers. And it does eat the coconut meat too!

Undersea anemones are cool looking and this one was very, very red.

Finally, sea jellies are so interesting to look at. They constantly swim underwater, grabbing food as it floats by. All that without a brain. Wow.

January 16, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Ocean photos, Plant PhotosTags: coconut crab, giant Pacific octopus, Japanese spider crab, nature photography, sea jellies, sea jelly, undersea anemone, underwater animals, underwater creatures 6 Comments

Travel theme: Contrast

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is contrast. Enjoy my photos and remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

Sorry if you’ve seen this photo earlier this week, but I think it illustrates how you can compose a great photo by contrasting different colors.

Travel theme: Contrast - Orange protea pincushion and purple lavender — Travel theme: Contrast – Orange protea pincushion and purple lavender

Red and green contrast well to make this red hibiscus flower stand out.

Travel theme: Contrast - Red hibiscus flower — Travel theme: Contrast – Red hibiscus flower

The darkness of the water offers a nice contrast with the lit sea jellies.

Travel theme: Contrast - Sea jellies — Travel theme: Contrast – Sea jellies

Of course, there no bigger contrast than white on black. Here’s an almost white full moon on a dark blue sky. You can view a large full moon in a pitch black sky here.

Travel theme: Contrast - Moon rising beyond the trees — Travel theme: Contrast – Moon rising beyond the trees

April 20, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Flower Photos, Photography, Sky PhotosTags: full moon rising, hibiscus flower, jelly fish, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, protea pin cushion, protea pincushion, red hibiscus, sea jellies, Travel theme: Contrast, Where's My Backpack's Travel Theme 7 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Circles and Curves

This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme is circles and curves. Nature is full of circles and curves so here are a few of my selections for this theme. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

Is there anything more round than a full moon?