Last week I was fortunate to work with Monsoon Aquatics – a leading supplier of premium hand-picked Australian coral and marine life – to photograph some of their staff and processes at their Cairns facilities. It’s a fairly unique business in that involves collecting, storing and supplying coral to retailers in Australia and public aquariums around the world. It’s Monsoon’s philosophy that by bringing the wonder and beauty of the coral reef to the world, it can be enjoyed, understood and valued. The company is going further by hoping to expand into simulated coral spawning and, if successful, believe they will be the first in the world to make it commercially viable.
The business engaged me to create some environmental portraits of their key staff, in line with the style of portraits taken at their other facilities in Bundaberg and Darwin. The blue light coral tanks at the facility proved to be an interesting backdrop, but with the challenge of balancing the blue LED lighting with professional strobes. Other photos included some editorial style shots of their staff handling the collected corals and preparing them for delivery to their clients.
Checking coral species growing in a blue light holding tank
