Under the sea at Kurnell in Sydney's south, Matty Smith positioned himself beside a football-sized orange octopus, and prepared to take the ultimate underwater adventurer's selfie.
But the octopus was having none of it. Normally nocturnal, the creature had risen early on Sunday in the mating season, and Smith's expensive camera gear seemed to be making him all … hands-y.
![Little sucker: An octopus gives an unexpected close-up while grappling with photographer Matty Smith's camera.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701170520im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/0/7/z/3/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx03i6.png/1498618245880.jpg)
"They can be quite boisterous at this time of year and this one was actually trying to wrestle my camera out of my hands," Smith, 40, of Stanwell Park, north of Wollongong, told the Illwarra Mercury.
"All the suckers you can see are on the glass [housing] of my camera."
![Smiling assassin': An American crocodile in a mangrove 60 nautical miles off the south coast of Cuba.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701170520im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/0/7/q/d/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx03i6.png/1498618245880.jpg)
The resulting photograph, shot at The Monument dive spot, is the latest in a long line of head-turning captures from Smith, whose underwater adventures have netted him a suite of top awards over the past four years, including Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year - Animal Behaviour, in 2016, and overall winner in 2014.
A contract engineer, Smith also works as a photographer-in-residence for Ocean Geographic magazine, regularly diving and travelling the world in pursuit of unforgettable underwater moments.
His next assignment will take him to Cocos Island in Costa Rica in September, to shoot the annual hammerhead shark aggregation.
Sunday's dive was timed to make use of the clear conditions before the 9am tide came in and clouded the water.
![Underwater photographer Matty Smith.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701170520im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/0/7/q/g/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gx03i6.png/1498618245880.jpg)
Smith departed with his camera gear intact. Things also ended well for the octopus, last seen with a near-identical companion.
"I saw them snuggling under a rock on my next dive," Smith said.
"I love a happy ending."