just wow...
Florida FSU Tates Hell 2013
Started by
Guest_Casper_*
, Aug 21 2013 04:46 PM
102 replies to this topic
#43
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 10 January 2014 - 04:52 PM
Wow, amazing shots Isaac, Casper, Bryce. I'm wondering if Isaac's "Russetfin topminnow" might be a Lined, F. lineolatus (female). I'm glad you told us that thing Bryce is holding (bottom of post # 37) is a camera ... I would not have recognized it as such. And I'll bet some TSA agents might not either.
#44
Guest_Casper_*
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Posted 10 January 2014 - 08:36 PM
Wow WEE McGee. Wonderful vivid photgraphs Isaac. Intense color. Your Momma would be proud! You captured so many cool critters, and i really think you got that swimming Bowfin primo. That was a beautiful spring and chasing those 2 maybe 3 Bowfins was a lot of fun. Those Russets, Russet is where i first heard the name via Scott Metee's Bama book, but i reckon it may be where you were that particular day. In Tates Hell they are somewhat of a mystery and called Escambia i believe, debated somewhat in the FL Collectors Guide. They do look like Lined Topminnows but i can't get that focused. They are a hardy and prolific Topminnow even surviving under the ice here in TN. You and Bryce blow me away. Looking forward to another adventure come Spring.
Thanks for sharing these awesome photographs.
Thanks for sharing these awesome photographs.
#45
Guest_keepnatives_*
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Posted 10 January 2014 - 10:50 PM
Extraordinary, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, marvelous, wonderful, sensational, stunning, incredible, unbelievable, phenomenal, outstanding, momentous, uncommon, unique, surprising, fantastic, terrific, tremendous, stupendous, awesome, wondrous, remarkable, staggering, breathtaking, mind-boggling, brilliant, colossal, fabulous, superb, surpassing belief, sublime, incomprehensible, inconceivable, unimaginable, striking, mind-bending, energizing, mind-blowing, enlightening, enlivening, captivating, enchanting, fascinating.
Yeah, like I thought, words can't possibly describe your art.
Yeah, like I thought, words can't possibly describe your art.
#47
Isaac Szabo
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- Marble Falls, AR
Posted 11 January 2014 - 01:04 AM
Thanks guys. It was a fun trip. And thanks again to Casper for organizing it - it's a lot of work.
Gerald, I don't have much experience with the starhead topminnow group, so you could be right. I based my identification of russetfin, F. escambiae, mainly on range. This fish is from Econfina Creek in Bay county, FL. According to Peterson's, F. lineolatus doesn't occur that far west. F. escambiae is the only starhead topminnow in Peteson's for that drainage.
Gerald, I don't have much experience with the starhead topminnow group, so you could be right. I based my identification of russetfin, F. escambiae, mainly on range. This fish is from Econfina Creek in Bay county, FL. According to Peterson's, F. lineolatus doesn't occur that far west. F. escambiae is the only starhead topminnow in Peteson's for that drainage.
#48
Guest_khudgins_*
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Posted 11 January 2014 - 04:18 AM
Really impressed with all the photos. I had a blast in 2009 (was it really that long ago?) and looks like all of you did this trip, as well. Wish my schedule let me fit in.
I will agree... That topminnow photo is about the best I've ever seen.
I will agree... That topminnow photo is about the best I've ever seen.
#49
Guest_Doug_Dame_*
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Posted 11 January 2014 - 05:30 PM
Gerald, I don't have much experience with the starhead topminnow group, so you could be right. I based my identification of russetfin, F. escambiae, mainly on range. This fish is from Econfina Creek in Bay county, FL. According to Peterson's, F. lineolatus doesn't occur that far west. F. escambiae is the only starhead topminnow in Peteson's for that drainage.
The "doesn't look quite like it's supposed to" is why there's some question as to whether the F. escambiae in this area is a different species ("telogia"), or a subspecies etc. Bruce Stallsmith has been coordinating some DNA work on that. There's a little range of blairae into Florida too, but the only Florida location for blairae I know of is on the other side of the Escambia R., which is probably 150 miles and a couple of drainages away. And Lineolatus isn't supposed to get quite this far west.
A fabulous photo. I don't recall having seen one with the color on the nose like that.
#50
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 12 January 2014 - 05:32 AM
Isaac sometimes it takes me a while to read every post, kind of my job, Brother you have the skills needed for underwater Photography. Your photos are amazing here, as always! You really know how to incorporate the artistic element. If that is not intentional, you fooled me. Thanks
#51
Isaac Szabo
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Posted 13 January 2014 - 11:06 AM
Thanks Matt. My involvement in photography as an art form preceded my interest in native fish/underwater photography, so I definitely try to approach it from that angle.
Doug, what about it looks off for escambiae? Peterson's doesn't show an image of a female escambiae but says it is very similar to nottii except without dark specks between the 6-8 horizontal stripes. I remember on the trip Phil saying that lineolatus doesn't get the red-orange color on the face like escambiae does.
Doug, what about it looks off for escambiae? Peterson's doesn't show an image of a female escambiae but says it is very similar to nottii except without dark specks between the 6-8 horizontal stripes. I remember on the trip Phil saying that lineolatus doesn't get the red-orange color on the face like escambiae does.
#52
Guest_Dustin_*
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Posted 13 January 2014 - 12:11 PM
Lineolatus does get the red on the face though it seems to be slightly more brick red and less orangy. The stripes on lineolatus are continuous and uniform though and your fish shows breaks so I don't think it is lineolatus.
#53
Guest_Doug_Dame_*
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Posted 13 January 2014 - 07:01 PM
Thanks Matt. My involvement in photography as an art form preceded my interest in native fish/underwater photography, so I definitely try to approach it from that angle.
And that definitely shows.
Doug, what about it looks off for escambiae? Peterson's doesn't show an image of a female escambiae but says it is very similar to nottii except without dark specks between the 6-8 horizontal stripes. I remember on the trip Phil saying that lineolatus doesn't get the red-orange color on the face like escambiae does.
I should have been more precise with my wording, "doesn't look quite right according to some other people who do a lot of field-work." I'm not really sure myself. When I think of a classic escambiae, as for instance pictured in Petersons', I think of rows of small red dots on the flanks. These guys have something that is closer to rows of contiguous/overlapping larger dots or dashes, and they're more black than red. Whereas lineolatus has lines (females and juvvies) or bars (adult males) that are generally solid in appearance rather than made up of spots. The sexual dimorphism of these is also not as pronounced as lineolatus, and it's a chunkier, more heavily bodied fish. I have not seen this a lot in the wild, but habitat also seems to separate this from lineolatus, the escambaie aff telogia I have personally encountered (4 or 5 locations) are stream and river fish, whereas lineolatus in my experience favors ponds and other standing waters.
Red-faces on lineolatus are pretty common. What I hadn't noticed before, and is clearly shown in the picture, is the black around the lips. I don't know if escambaie are supposed to also have red faces in season, there's not a lot of easily accessible information or reference photos on the species to my knowledge.
#56
Isaac Szabo
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Posted 21 January 2014 - 09:54 PM
Thanks Lance. Hopefully we will get to hang out someday. For subject isolation, the first thing that comes to mind is to get as close as possible and to get low - at or slightly below the fish's level is usually best. Positioning yourself in this way will really help to isolate your subject from the background for a number of reasons that I won't go into. You can also try shooting more wide open. Most underwater photographers use strobes and often stop down to f/16 or more. However, I shoot only available light, so I am often forced shoot in the f/4 - f/5.6 range. This is not ideal in some ways, but it does create a blurrier background, helping to isolate the subject. Shooting available light also allows me to search out scenes where the subject in is sunlight and the background is in shadow. That type of scene really helps to isolate a subject. Lastly, if you have really clear water (like 20ft+ visibility), you can back off and use a longer lens. Shooting underwater is similar to shooting in a fog, and in most cases you wouldn't want to shoot from more than a couple of feet away from your subject. However, in extremely clear water you can use a longer lens (like 60mm) and shoot larger fish from something like 5-8ft away. Longer lenses have a narrower field of view and increased blur effect, thus isolating your subject and creating a fish portrait look.
#60
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 22 January 2014 - 09:18 PM
Wild pygmy sunfish!!!!! aaaaaah so cute!Day 9 Springs
A pretty day forcasted i drove south 2 hours to rendevous with Isaac at a favored snorkel site from my past wanders, Fanning Springs. Home habitat of Mullet and Sunfish aplenty. Spotted Suckers too and beneath the safety of fist sized stones Isaac exposed blue barred Pygmy Sunfish. After a couple hours there Isaac had another spring noted nearby, Manatee Springs and into it we were soon face to face with the beasty Bowfin and lots of other species in this pretty spring head and run to the river. We stayed til dusk and found a Florida BBQ roadhouse to warm us back up.
They live under stones?! *Immediately adds some rock cover to my aquariums.*
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