APISTOGRAMMA HONGSLOI DWARF CICHLIDS IN THE WILD
Apistogramma hongsloi can be found in many streams of the Orinoco River basin, especially the ones between the Sipapo and Caura River.
I have been underwater in the same spot for more than an hour, over 500 images taken in the 3 square meters in front of me. I am in Mikoljiland or what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “The Flow.”
I start to hear a faint noise which breaks the underwater silence, I look around and notice it’s raining. I turn around and lie flat on my back on the river bed, looking up. I take an image of “underwater rain” or the pattern that rain creates when it strikes the water. The trees above make a super cool effect. I capture this brief moment in time that will never be again. I turn back to my kneeling position and keep on photographing, back in “the flow.”
As time passes, I notice the noise is gone; it stopped raining. All of a sudden some big shadows appear in front of me, blocking the small amount of beautifully filtered light from the overcast day. I am taken out of my trance and pick my head out of the water. I see some small feet in front of me outside on the riverbank. They are village kids that have come to see what I am doing. I try to get back into “the flow” but they are blocking my light. I take my mask off and head out of the water.