Crabzilla - Photographing a “Monster” Crab | Exposure

It has down all the elements: the legs, the pincers, the ice stalks, the antennae. So, I took a few images. The shadow looked amazing, the lighting was great, yet there was just something missing.

Coconut crabs are really good indicators of how untouched and how pristine an island environment really is. They're large, they're fairly predictable, they're pretty slow, and they taste phenomenal, I've heard. Looking at the sheer number of coconut crabs on the atoll really illustrates how untouched and how intact our terrestrial environment really is. Nobody there—the largest restful crustacean on our planet—2 to 3 kgs in weight. There is talk about leg spans of 3 foot plus. They are the true beasts of the crustacean world.

One evening, when one of the Rangers was measuring one of the larger crabs, her head torch cast a shadow onto the ground. It was this most incredible arachnid, science fiction shadow that was just so iconic. So, I have to somehow incorporate that beast-like silhouette into the image of the coconut crab. I really wanted to pay homage to all those horror and science fiction films because a lot of these alien creatures have a crab-like resemblance.

As I was walking back to the station, I walked past this old coral rock building. Here, I took my torch, put it sort of eye level with a large crab that was sitting in front of the building, and it cast the most kick-ass shadow. It was just one of those moments where you go, "Whoa!"

I had a person in the doorway, and all of a sudden, the first image started coming together. You start going, "Okay, all right, this is working." You know, the balance of the image, the light, the head towards the light streaming out, and of course, the crab shadow on the wall.

There was again one element missing. As I was thinking about that, there was a crab that was scuttling along, and that was the last piece of the puzzle—the last element that had to come together.