Articles

A classic New Zealand scene, a huge school of blue maomao in aptly-named Blue Maomao Arch, Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand
 

Despite hosting one of the world’s most iconic dive destinations, the Poor Knights Islands, it is rare we get to feature New Zealand images here on DPG, so this week’s Photographer of the Week is a real treat! Crispin Middleton lives in northern New Zealand on the Tutukaka Coast, the gateway to the aforementioned Poor Knights Islands. Although this subtropical marine reserve is his most visited local diving location, the next photography expedition, either domestically or internationally, is never far away.

Crispin is passionate about documenting aquatic life in his home waters around New Zealand and strives to capture imagery of the less-common species he comes across. Working as a marine biologist at the primary government research organization, Earth Sciences New Zealand, he is just as enthusiastic about creating beautiful imagery as he is about documenting marine science. Changes to the marine and freshwater ecosystems and hunting down and photographing rare or new-to-New-Zealand species are a focal point of his photography.

Traveling overseas, Crispin mainly focuses on less-photographed subjects, such as documenting crayfish or chasing unusual freshwater fish species. His underwater photography journey began all the way back in 2002 with a Nikonos IV-A. These days, he has upgraded a tad and uses the venerable Nikon D850. The Nauticam EMWL is the latest addition to Crispin’s kit bag and it has already opened up a new world of possibilities.
 

A researcher investigates a colony of invasive Mediterranean fan worms, New Zealand
 

A beautiful juvenile warehou shelters near the tentacles of a blue bottle, Poor Knights Island, New Zealand
 

A rarely seen football octopus shelters inside a salp as it drifts through open water, Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand
 

A close-focus-wide-angle image of a gem nudibranch, Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand
 

Blanket octopuses are exceptionally rarely seen in New Zealand. This is one of the few images that exist of the species from this part of the world
 

A stunning crayfish trundles across a creek bottom, Australia
 

A young flying fish, photographed on the journey from New Zealand to the Poor Knights Islands
 

At New Zealand’s Bay of Islands, jewel anemones spawn en masse—an annual event that comprises a whole 15 minutes!
 

A blue button, a man o’ war adjacent species, floats around in the inky blackness, Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand
 

A green turtle, an uncommon visitor to New Zealand’s waters, surrounded by a New Zealand icon, the blue maomao
 

A male sailfin displaying its namesake fin, Florida, USA
 

A cichlid cruises through a stunning shallow cenote, Mexico
 

A male blue ribbon eel hogs the spotlight, Anilao, Philippines
 

A sunflower star spends its life at the breakwall beneath Wellington Airport, New Zealand
 

To see more of Crispin’s fantastic underwater work, please give him a follow on Instagram.