The Eyes Have It

Text and images courtesy of Robert Stansfield.

“I’ve always been an avid photographer. After learning to dive, taking a camera underwater seemed the next logical step.”

“The underwater macro world is more fascinating than I could have ever imagined. Marine species have fascinating eyes. The adaptations are incredible. Corneal iridescence is a beautiful thing.”

“This peacock flounder eye gets mistaken for an octopus so many times it makes me chuckle. The appendages around the eye make it look very alien.”

“Lesser Electric Rays allow you to get very close but appear to be fascinated by a strobe charging up.”

“The key to good macro photography is subject separation. It’s essential to make these super well-camouflaged subjects pop and stand out from their surroundings.”

“From a diving perspective, solid fundamentals are essential. We don’t want to destroy the environment just to take a photo.”

“The eye of a webbed burrfish looks like an alien planet. It’s not often I enjoy backscatter but here I feel it really works.”

Dive Deeper (Into Stanfield’s work):

Oceanographic: In Black Water

www.blackwatercozumel.com

www.instagram.com/bobtec

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Robert Stansfield is a published and multi-award-winning photographer. He is currently the owner of Blackwater Cozumel, Mexico’s first blackwater dive operation. As such, he organizes many macro workshops on Cozumel. Robert is an ambassador for the Marelux and Kraken brands and has been a diver since 2000. He is a TDI Cave Diver and an SSI/PADI instructor. Before becoming totally dedicated to diving and underwater photography, Robert worked as a touring video engineer for live events, including with big recording artists in rock and roll music. He also used his video engineering skills during the Olympics and FIFA World Cups.