Photography is an important part of my identity, and it lies in the intersection between my hobby and my work. My passion in nature photography was a factor that encouraged me to pursue PhD in computer vision and imaging systems. I am particularly interested in macrophotography of small aquatic organisms, and I want to use photography as a way to help introduce my research about the ocean to more general audience. I believe that powerful images can help raise interests in scientific research and can encourage general public to be more engaged with science.
As an engineer, I am also passionate about using new technology to help improve quality of photos. I developed my own tools using maker technology to help me capture unique pictures. You can learn more about my techniques and tools below. Also, you can see my latest work by following my Instagram.
British Ecological Society Capturing Ecology 2020
Overall runner-up
The paralarvae of California two-spot octopus, Octopus bimaculatus, hatching from their egg sacs. The egg yolks attached to their mouths will sustain them for a short period before they have to start hunting to survive.
Technique: Side scattered flash photography
Featured in
- National Geographic Kids UK Jan 7, 2021
- Amateur Photographer magazine March 9, 2021 (p. 50-51)
UC San Diego Art of Science 2021
Judges' Award
The collage of tiny ocean drifters imaged by the Scripps Plankton Camera showing the hidden beauty of the underwater world that is unseen to naked eyes.
Technique: Underwater darkfield microscopy (by Scripps Plankton Camera of Jaffe Lab, UCSD)
Featured in
- Explore Magazine Fall 2021 (p. 12-13)
British Ecological Society Capturing Ecology 2021
Highly commended
A funnel-web spider emerges from its web that is fully covered by morning dews. The tropical highland climate of Phu Kradueng National Park, Thailand, causes a large temperature swing that forms these dews every morning.
Technique: Macrophotography
Small plankton are generally transparent, so it is difficult to capture their details with regular flash illumination. To overcome this challenge, we can illuminate the subject from behind instead. This illumination technique greatly increases the contrast of these transparent organisms. Combining with a translation stage, we can also perform focus stacking to increase the depth of field of images.
Some amazing organisms have fluorescence proteins that produce amazing coloration when stimulated by light of certain frequency. This technique is particularly useful for coral photography because many corals produce various types of fluorescence proteins.
I developed an LED array comprising of royal blue, blue, violet and cyan LEDs to stimulate these fluorescence proteins. By synchronizing the LED with the camera, I can also capture the movement of coral tentacles.
For relative large and non-transparent subject in macrophotography (~1-5cm), side-scatter illumination can produce better quality images compared to darkfield. The technique also avoids illuminating the background, which is a challenge with a typical front illumination.
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