2 a.m. in the Arctic

[Rachel Hollander]

This is a male polar bear first seen in the after-midnight sun from the pack ice above Svalbard, Norway.

Canon 5D3
300 II plus 2x III
1/2000
f5.6
ISO 800
Tripod from deck of moving boat, cropped to remove some stray ice top and bottom, levels, curves, various color adjustments, luminosity masks, sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Beautiful light, great environs and awesome composition Rachel. Colours look accurate too! Well done. TFS.

[Andrew Merwin]

Great light Rachel. Excellent techs as well. I like the cocked paw & the comp. TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, I cant get my head around such lovely light ' after midnight ' :w3 but there is sure enough of it to bring out the detail in the polar bear, not to mention the detail on the ice too. Well exposed on the big guy, and he sure looks comfy.

[peter delaney]

Nice image....Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel,

that is indeed a great light you had. Love the image all the way. The comp is great for me. Love the detail in the snow as well. Very nice image :bg3:

Have a great eve

Ciao

Anette

[Nancy Bell]

Fabulous! Great composition with the warm colored water above and below the white ice sheet & the bear. It's nice that the warm color is also picked up on parts of the bear. Impressive pose with those big front feet and head facing towards you. Surely this was a trip of a lifetime!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, your trip captured some wonderful light portraying the subject in a nice golden environment. I like the shot, but the first of the series is still the best IMHO.

Detail, tone & colour looks good, just wonder if there may be a masking issue?

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I'm glad you like this one. Steve - it was a last minute adjustment with the burn tool that created the issue you see.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Another lovely polar bear from your series. Beautiful light, colors, and sharpness. Loi

[edwardselfe]

This is lovely. I too see the slight pattern repetition around the bear, however, the colours are great, the composition very good, and the environment perfect. Just wonder if it needs a tiny bit of CW rotation.
Ed

[Martin Dunn]

Another lovely shot Rachel.
Personally i would prefer more of a pano composition. I find the brightness of the water at top and bottom is a bit too much. I would crop some of the water from the top of the frame.
something like this

[Girish Prahalad]

Excellent image. love the setting here. the details, comp & exp are superb.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Loi, Ed, Martin and Girish, much appreciated. Martin - thanks but I prefer the op comp.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Shreyas Mantri]

Excellent shot! I like the grumpy stare of this bear - hating anyone who lays eyes on his private floating island :bg3:

TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

Loving this 2am light Rachel! Great scene and well exposed/composed.
Does it need a hint of CW rotation? Not saying the bear needs to lie level, but just overall it seems to my eyes to slant a bit? :e3