Big Picture: In a Flash

Text and Photo by Tobias Friedrich

Sometimes you just get lucky. We were diving on the Red Sea wreck, Chrisoula, when good fortune came my way in flash. I was waiting for a fellow photographer inside the wreck, filling up most of a small hatchway when this moray eel (Gymnothorax javanicus) slithered by me from behind, not even slightly fazed by my presence. No big surprise considering you’d call this guy ‘Sir’. My immediate reaction was fright, mostly due to surprise, but the eel’s indifference to me made all the difference! As it swam by, my ‘opportunity’ instincts started firing. How often do big animals, inside wrecks, with divers, show up in front of you, all but carrying a sign that reads: ‘Photo Op’? I finned furiously after
Mr. Moray, catching up just as he was gliding by these Italian floor tiles, once bound for Saudi Arabia. What happened next came and went in a flash – literally. The eel swam directly for the opening in the wreck, which framed another photographer, affording me the split second I needed. It was good fortune to be there and even more lucky that my camera was set for TTL metering. The exposure lit the scene evenly, balancing the interior with the background daylight, which gives nice depth to the image. It was a fleeting moment that, happily, I’m now able to enjoy over and over.