The other day, I was in the car with my dad when I noticed he still had this little ceramic Koi I bought for him back in 2001. I automatically asked to borrow it so that I can use it in a photo.

This Koi figurine is only about 2cm long. I bought it while touring the Byodo-in Temple in Oʻahu (Kaneohe Region), Hawaii. The Koi came with a little card insert that described it as a good luck charm that represents strength, perseverance, and success in life.

I wanted to create an underwater scene, so I used a painting with varying tones of blue in it, some blue string for water ripples, little white shells, rhinestones for 'bubbles', and gold glitter for sand-like particles sort of reflecting the sunlight coming down from above (which is in reality a light bulb). The reason the Koi looks like it's sort of floating/swimming is because there's actually glass separating the materials I used from the painting. The angle at which I focused in and shot the photo also added to the effect.

I'm happy with how it all came together. I just wish I had seashells that were smaller than the Koi, but unfortunately these were the smallest ones I had.

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- Nikon D70, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G AF lens, +10 close up lens
- 2 lamps with incandescent (white) 120 watt bulbs as light source
- string + glass + painting + glitter + rhinestones + ceramic Koi + seashells
- square crop, color & contrast adjustment, sharpening (PS CS)

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Copyright © Malgorzata Krawczyk (aka Gosia)

My photos are NOT stock images and may NOT be used in any way without expressed written permission.