I don't like digital, but I really really like this shot...

Very clean image, great composition.

dont like digital? who cares. great pic btw, very humorous.

I think this photo really has it all: great composition and lighting, interesting subject matter, and it tells a story. Very well done.

Wow! This really tells a story about the food chain! I love how the light plays on the surface of the sand. Well done!

i AM PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED BT THE WAY THE SHARK IS SUROUNDED... creating a pleasing composition and a natural frame.. Excellent!!

Most nature shots are bad drafts of real nature... This one is a rarity, such a capture, so beautiful. Thank you!

Nicely captured! Don't like digital? By definition if he is viewing this on a computer screen then it is digital, better start liking it.

Excellent but ... can you fly?? Maybe you are on a boat...

Great capture, very original (at least to me) idea / occurance.

Very nice photo. I particularly like the fact that it is in cold but slightly desaturated tones, unlike most blueish U/W photos. Shooting from above and using the white sand as a backdrop was a very good choice to that effect.

By the way, to set the record straight, the behaviour we see here is not a predatory scene as is suggested by some of the comments above. Technically this is called school polarization if i recall correctly. Some types of fish (not all) that go in schools exhibit this behaviour whereby upon meeting a foreign swimmer, they move in concert to create a loophole enclosing it and thus swim around it. The would do the same for a diver for example. It is not neccessarily a move of 'running away' rather it is a pattern of their group motion. It is a very beautiful behaviour to witness. The movement is so well-synchronized that you are inclined to believe they are all controlled by one mind, being parts of a unique existence.

I dont know that much about the fish behavior as Nikos knows, but i don know either why i like that much this pic (lol). jus kidin. this is a great composition no doubt in it. Regards.

Not the most loved guy on the neighborhood, uh...? :-)

Amazing picture here... a great capture and a really suited title!

good and exiting shot

Very beautiful - great shot

This is outstanding in every way. A great shot! I wish I was in there too.

This is really a fantastic photo.

Wonderfully graceful shot! I was frustrated that in Rangiroia I couldn't get any good shots of the sharks... there were just so many. Also, I agree with the other commenter about the desaturation... it really keeps the amazing blue of the water from interrupting the fairly overt message here.

Thanks to all of you... especially to Nikos for the informative background. A few words to the technic, which was in this case the minor problem... the biggest was the reflection and "choreography";-) . It took me about two hours to get this image, not because its very difficult, but because i liked to be in an almost square angle to the surface to get the most clarity. The desaturation was not actually caused by taking out color, but by shifting the "temperature" towards a level where you could say its the color temperature of the water, very much as if you would do it when you photograph with color corrected film and tungsten light in a room lit by lamps... it leaves the shark with the color you would see him in sunlight, rather then what you usually would see in a couple of meters under water.

Seems to be taken in any atoll of the Tuamotu, or Bora Bora ? The reflects of sunrays are so wide that it must not be in high sea...

Felix, can you confirm there has been no manipulation, since the color of the water is near to absolute transparency ?

Atmosphere of respect, definitely. Great picture :-)

A great job, beautiful moment, colours and cut. Thanks!

Luca Guarneri

See life at its best.......( not for the small once..)

Wow!

Too small-the only bad in this photo.

you have been able to turn wildlife photography into beautiful art. i wish i had this hanging on my wall at home. so many elements come together, the shark the fish the sand the sun rays, all combined to create a magical image. RESPECT.

Update Oct 2004: "Respect" wins Honorable Mentions at the Lucie Awards in New York

+ + +

awesome

Excellent!

nice

The photograph ended up by mistake in the Franz Polynesia section. I have to admit though, that you see similar things and the same species in Bora Bora waters. In fact I did even snorkel with black tip reef sharks off Bora Bora. Anyhow this photo was taken on Kuramathi Island in the Maldives. Apologies for my error.

POW should - should

Wonderful image !

Amazing shot!!!

Breath-taking.