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A longnose batfish, a fish composed of a number of sharp, geometric angles, unusual in the fish world, photographed head on. Batfish have very characterful faces with their droopy mouths, typically forward-facing eyes, and unusual shape. They make for fantastic portraits for both full-body and close-up pictures (Nikon D700, Nikon 60mm Macro lens, Nauticam housing, dual Retra Flash strobes)
 

Some of the most impactful animal portraits are those of fish. They come in every shape, texture, color and pattern, and there are some truly remarkable fish faces. Anthropomorphizing a fish may be more challenging than a tiger or a gorilla, but it is a fun challenge, and fish portraits are probably my favorite type of images to shoot.

Often, longer focal length macro lenses in the 100mm-plus range are the most useful for creating interesting fish portraits, as they allow you to fill the frame from further away. However, depending on the subject, just about any lens can be used to make compelling portraits, from long macro lenses to short macro lenses to fisheyes.

I find that fish faces are most impactful with dramatic lighting. Cross-lighting, inward lighting, snooted lighting are my go-tos when photographing fish faces. While I do have portraits using standard lighting, I feel the more dramatic the light, the more dramatic and intense the subject looks in these types of images. Usually, a compelling portrait includes great eye contact, the subject fills the frame, and the subject is often facing the camera—although this isn’t always necessary. The key, though, is to capture the character of your subject. However best you are able to do that, bringing out the character of a fish can make your picture more impactful and more relatable to a viewer.
 

Southern stargazers have perhaps one of the best faces on earth. Their death’s-head-like grin is truly unique, even amongst other stargazers and just begs for close-up pictures. The crevices and craters created by the shape of the fish’s skull allows a photographer to pull out textures and contrast with the right lighting (Nikon D700, Nikon 105mm Macro lens, Nauticam housing, Retra Flash strobe and Retra LSD snoot)
 

Intense eye contact is “usually” key for compelling wildlife portraits. This spotfin jawfish locked its eyes on the lens and seemed to stare straight through the camera, right at me. Inward lighting with two snoots isolated the face from the surroundings and created more pop and really emphasized those enormous and colorful eyes (OM System OM-1, Olympus 60mm Macro lens, AOI housing, dual Backscatter MF-2 strobes with Optical Snoot OS-1)
 

An intense stare-down with a polkadot batfish. Batfish do not have forward facing eyes. Their eyes can rotate forward but generally are pointed out peripherally. While they will make more eye contact than this, having them make eye contact is easier said than done. However, with such a remarkable face, even marginal eye contact can create wonderful portraits. Here, dual snoots were used, pointed in at each other to separate just the face of the batfish (OM System OM-1, Olympus 60mm Macro lens, AOI housing, dual Backscatter MF-2 strobes and Optical Snoot OS-1)
 

Fish face portraits do not have to be frame filling. I struggle with small in frame macro: The urge to fill the frame is always strong but often that isn’t the best image of a given subject. Snooted lighting still draws attention to the wonderful face of this mosshead warbonnet. Warbonnets are known for their wacky hairdos so it was important to me to make sure its hair was included in the light (Nikon D4, Nikon 105mm Macro lens, Nauticam housing, Retra Flash strobe with Retra LSD snoot, Kraken Hydra 2500 V1 video light)
 

Who says you need a macro lens to make fish portraits? Large subjects like this wolf eel are perfect for fish faces with wide-angle lenses. This male was far too big for a macro lens but fortunately a small domed fisheye was perfect to still largely fill the frame with the fish’s head and get eye contact (Nikon D4, Nikonos RS 13mm, Nauticam housing, dual Retra Flash strobes)
 

Seahorses are an ever popular underwater subject, and for good reason. However, they are notorious for looking anywhere but at the camera. Frustratingly, seahorses often tilt or turn away when approached and getting them facing you and then looking at you is easier said than done. Patience is key when waiting for eye contact from marine species. Even a single eye making direct contact is far more impactful than both eyes looking away (Nikon D500, Nikon 105mm Macro lens, Nauticam housing, Nauticam SMC-1, dual Retra Flash strobes)
 

While eye contact is ideal, sometimes it just doesn’t happen, no matter how long you wait! That doesn’t mean you can’t make a fun picture though! This adorable spiny lumpsucker’s screwy eyes give it the appearance of being drunk. In this case, I feel the lack of eye contact doesn’t detract (Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 100mm Macro, Nauticam housing, dual Inon Z-330 strobes)