Proving that with a bit of guidance even an Amateur photographer can take award winning shots,  Bruce Yates used a fisheye camera lens for his Windland Smith Rice Award-winning photograph of a lemon shark, giving the impression that the fish is grinning into the camera.

Yates took the picture while on holiday the Bahamas and it won the ocean division of the photographic competition. Yates says he was able to take the picture when he and his wife were out to sea on a ‘liveboard’ boat trip in shallow water where the eight-foot lemon sharks were basking.

The camera was just inches from the shark’s face and it caught an unusual expression on its mouth. "It is an expression that I have never seen on a shark before, and I doubt I could get that shot again if I tried for the rest of my life!" says Yates.

He adds that he was delighted and surprised to hear that his photo had won the competition: "it just goes to show that you don't have to be an 'expert' or professional photographer to take good photos."

The image will be on display at the Washington Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History until May.

Photo reproduced with permission
www.underwaterreflections.com

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