Underwater Bubbles Rise to the Surface, Abstract Photo

Underwater Bubbles Rise to the Surface, Abstract Photo, Phillip Colla Photography

Underwater Bubbles Rise to the Surface, Abstract Photo

Filed under: Abstract, Galapagos Diaries on 4/29/2009

Today’s abstract photo, this time from the distant island of Darwin (aka, Culpepper) in the Galapagos.

A safety stop after a good dive in Galapagos is sort of like the aftermath of good sex: one drifts along lazily, quite relaxed, tuned out and somewhat befuddled, thinking “whoa, that was pretty good!” and wondering how long until one can do it again. On these safety stops I have at times nearly fallen asleep, in the zone watching a school of fish flit about in the water column picking particles of food, while the bubbles of the divers below me float idly upward and past me. One day the bubbles caught my eye. They form mushrooms, expanding as they rise due to changes in pressure, impossibly smooth on top and with a mirror-sheen, only to grow large enough that they become unstable and burst apart. Soon each of the broken pieces assumes its own mushroom shape and the cycle begins anew until the bubbles finally hit the surface. I shot some photos of these bubbles, including some with my friends and me reflected in the bubble-mirrors, but this is the one I found most appealing. Abstract #4 in a series of 15:

Bubbles rise from the depths of the ocean. Black and white / grainy., Copyright Phillip Colla, image #16445, all rights reserved worldwide.

Bubbles rise from the depths of the ocean. Black and white / grainy. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.
Image: 16445
Location: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

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Updated: November 21, 2009