Southern Elephant Seal looks after his female !!!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey folks,
took this image of this couple at a lonely and romantic beach on South Georgia, where this very sensitive :eek3: male was trying to mate with the female ! Trying ! maybe he is still trying !!!

Canon EOS 1D MK IV
EF 24- 105 IS L at 55mm
HH

F8 ; ISO 400 ; 1/640sec

Almost FF ; cropped for slight rotation

Processed in RPP and PS

Thanks for watching

Cheers Andreas


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[Grady Weed]

Andreas,

Now this one is the best so far, by far. First; the bg is is not distracting, but adds interest. The penguins are clearly seen and the landscape has some finer details than the other images. Secondly; the happy expression and the contented look on the female evokes more emotion, simply by the expressions. Third; the colors are a tad better. Nicely framed and well presented. TFS.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - very different image to see a tender moment by the bull usually known for his battles and scars. Well caputured though it appears you were on a little higher ground this time. I like that you can see the teeth and eye so well. The penguins also add interest. I might consider cropping a little off the top to just below the line of mist/clouds.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Grady and Rachel for your comments, appreciated !

Rachel - two reasons for the higher perspective , first i was even closer and the bull with female was less relaxed than the other one, second i wanted to include the mountains and not that much the pebbles on the beach.If i had gone lower , the pebbles would have been more dominant.

Thanks hope you understand my reasons.

Andreas

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

Hi Andreas,

Great image and lovely moment captured here. Love the penguins in the right corner. You might have gone higher a little but to avoid intersecting the "horizon line" with the nose of the bull. If it were mine I would remove the stone in the LRC.

Good job.

Clemens

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey shipmate,
thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
You are right with the intersection, things i have to learn are plentiful .But i do not care about the stone !!

Cheers Andreas

[Clemens Vanderwerf]

The stone is not a big deal, but I personally like to keep my frame edges clear.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Yep, that is more than fair enough.

[Sid Garige]

Excellent shooting angle Andreas. I see your point about striking balance in between rocks in foregound and background mountains. Very well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, one of your best, love this habitat/environment content, very well executed.

My only though would be, if you are using LR/ACR is to bring a Grad filter down to define more of the sky/ridge of the mountains in the very BKG.

TFS
Steve :cheers:

[Andreas Liedmann]

thanks Steve , i still do not use ACR /LR , so i should do it other way in Ps - will give it a go , but later.

What about you , do you move back to Canon`s DPP , like your mate A. R.?

Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, OK you can create quite easily a ND filter in PS, however with ACR/LR you will be working on the RAW which as you know, is much better for IQ. Using LR/ACR is so quick & easy with a lot more available to choose from in terms of what you add into the Gradient, ie exposure, highlights, contrast, clarity... plus, you can choose the angle/position you wish to place it.


What about you , do you move back to Canon`s DPP , like your mate A. R.?
In all honesty I might have a quick look at how the RAW file compares, however I cannot export (when required) as Smart Object from DPP which gives me event greater flexibility to the IQ, as it's still an 'unbaked image'.

[Andreas Liedmann]

In all honesty I might have a quick look at how the RAW file compares, however I cannot export (when required) as Smart Object from DPP which gives me event greater flexibility to the IQ, as it's still an 'unbaked image'.

That is still a big advantage of ACR / LR and will be forever i think.

[Steve Kaluski]

LR/ACR IMHO is the way to go, plus using ProRGB it expands so much colour range (and your file size), but it means you are using a greater capacity of information you camera has captured. Going RGB means you are throwing away a lot of valuable info you have already captured. You have the kit, why let both it and yourself down by only using a % of image content?

Your call. :w3

[gail bisson]

This is a terrific shot Andreas.
I love the moment captured and the penguins in the BG.
Gail

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Gail. really appreciated !!

Andreas

[Roman Kurywczak]

Fantastic image all around. Very well composed and the WA give it a very nice look. All the elements are there so very well done!

[Alan Lillich]

Great pose and composition, especially getting the male's eye wide open. The penguins add a very nice BG touch.

[Jamie Douglas]

Nice one Andreas, a superb wide angle image with lots of detail and no distracting elements. I agree that trying to add some more depth to the mtns would take this up a notch.


Jamie

[Morkel Erasmus]

I agree, one of your best. I love it. Quirky moments in nature are a pleasure to capture and view...tells a whole story and the penguins add a lot too.
Ditto on the suggestion to darken the top half a tad and ditto on using ProPhoto RGB in RAW files. :5