When I worked at Habitat every year or so we’d have occasion to go to Atlanta. That’s where Habitat is headquartered. Every time I went to Atlanta I would visit the Atlanta Aquarium. It’s definitely a family kind of outing, but I most often went by myself and just lost myself in the crowds.

I got my favorite shot from the aquarium the last year I went to Atlanta, in 2014. Of course I have seen octopi in tanks, but never as lively as theirs was that day. I pretty much had to push past the 11 to 17 year old iPhone phalanx and get close enough to the glass to get all the people out of the way. I don’t always want them out of the way though. They are good for scale.

After this trip I picked up a used 60mm f/2.8D micro Nikkor on eBay because I learned that the 60mm macro length is perfect for aquariums. I also got a rubber hood for it. For these photos, I used my nifty 50 f/1.4G and pressed it against the glass where I could. I also used my 24 f/1.4G. But if I find myself going to an aquarium in the future, you know I’ll be packing my 60 micro with that rubber hood, perfect for contact with aquarium glass. I got mine for about $230 on eBay. Sweet.