I was on a mission in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul to find a female green anaconda. Such encounters are very rare if they take a lot of patience and persistence. But as I patrolled the Formoso River every day, I became amazed by the amount of other wildlife in that region: anteaters, capybaras, macaws, toucans.

One finding that surprised me most was Piraputanga: a fish that feeds on low-hanging fruit. I had never before seen a fish jumping out of the water to get food. So After a daily search for anaconda, I started looking for a good spot to observe and document this behavior in the evenings. I wanted to expose the fish with dark trees in the background, but also show all the underwater activity as those fish swim in schools.

It took me two hours to position a camera, underwater flash, and surface flash in the right positions and to adjust all settings. Then I just had to capture the moment. River current and water temperature caused additional troubles.

Finally, a photo captured a Piraputanga jumping out of the water with a forest background. 

Bonito, Brasil. 2019