Grey Seal

[William Dickson]

Canon 7D
Canon F/2.8 300mm with 2xTC
F/5.6
1/400
ISO 200

Processed in CS6

I was on the seashore today at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland taking pictures of waders, when this little guy popped his head up.

This is my first wildlife image, so any advice would be much appreciated :S3:

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful! Pin sharp, the seal looking straight into the lens (well, that's the perception)! Well done!

[Loi Nguyen]

For the first Wildlife posting, you did it with a bang I would say! Looks like you had side lighting which isn't easy to handle, but you did very well here. I'm not on a good monitor, so could be off, but I feel the image is a little dark overall. The relative slow SS works well for you here, but you also could have increased the ISO to get more SS. Loi

[William Dickson]

Yes your correct Loi,the light from the sun was coming from the side, and i found it a wee bit awkward, i was thinking about the ISO, but with me using the 7D, I was also thinking about the noise, so, thats why I kept it on 200, but, I understand where you are coming from :w3. Cheers

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi William - Welcome to the Wildlife Forum and nice first post. You handled the side-lighting well. I do think you needed a bit more ss. With that lens and camera combo I would have wanted a ss of at least 1/800. I have a 7D and although it's certainly not as good at high ISOs as my 5D3, I have no problem going to ISO 800 and even 1600 if the image is properly exposed. Did you lighten the image in post? There does seem to be some noise in the bg and I would run some NR.

Don't be shy about commenting on other images in the Wildlife Forum. It's the best way to learn and get the most out of BPN and also fosters a sense of community.

TFS,
Rachel

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the advice Rachel. I will keep that in mind :S3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi William, still away so can't give too much in-depth feedback, so...

I quite like the low POV, framing and composition. The image isn't sharp, is this a big crop, and like Rachel, I too get the impression you have lightened it overall. There seems little overall tonal value as so it lacks depth. The ISO needed to be higher, but I think you need to get a better grasp of ISO, SS & DoF based on the images posted to date. It might sound harsh, but this is the platform you need to understand to achieve a good image.

Perhaps when I'm back William you can send me the RAW and I will take a look for you, as it could partly be down to processing, but will let you know.

TFS
Steve

PS Good to have you venturing into this Forum too, the more you shoot, the better you will become, especially with diverse subjects.

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that Steve, I understand what you are saying, and will attempt to remedy these points

[Jamie Douglas]

Hello William and welcome to the wildlife forum.

Some good points raised above to consider for the next time.

Was that out Kirk Caldy way ;). I was born in Glasgow and grew up in England and will never forget the abuse I received at work one day in Edinburgh when I asked my colleagues where Kirk Caldy was. Lesson learned eh!

[William Dickson]

Hello William and welcome to the wildlife forum.

Some good points raised above to consider for the next time.

Was that out Kirk Caldy way ;). I was born in Glasgow and grew up in England and will never forget the abuse I received at work one day in Edinburgh when I asked my colleagues where Kirk Caldy was. Lesson learned eh!

Hi Jamie

Yes it was on the shore at Kirkcaldy, I live in Kirkcaldy. It used to be world famous for making linoleum.

Here's a wee poem aboot it :wave:

http://www.rampantscotland.com/poetry/blpoems_kirkcaldy.htm