Photo of the Week

In light of my new photography efforts and as an initiative to begin communicating science in a more 'visual' manner, I will begin posting a "Science Photo of the Week" here! These may be my own photos, photos I find while browsing science, or photos submitted to me in Nature and Science categories! So (drumroll...), the very first "Science Photo of the Week" is one of my own... an image of a flower found on the side of my doorstep that challenges the mind's perspective of plant vs. animal, flower vs. sea creature. Taken with a Canon Rebel T3i, the specimen was placed on a LightPad for an interesting bottom-lit illumination and captured using an ISO of 400, an aperture of f/11 and a 1/13 sec exposure time.

When I look at this picture, I think of the leafy sea dragon, a most interesting marine fish of the same family as other seahorses that has devised an intriguing method of camouflage... the fish looks like floating seaweed! The official marine emblem of the Government of South Australia, the Leafy seahorse's "leaves" can change colour "depending on age, diet, location or stress, although most adults are green to yellow-brown with thin, bands or stripes across the body."

Click on the image for a higher resolution image via Flickr.

Have a picture you would like to submit to me for potential posting as "Science Photo of the Week"?! E-mail them to me at pbrow11[at]tigers.lsu.edu!