Grey Seal bull dominating Harbor Seal II

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Folks ,
after you have settled down after my last posting , here is another one taken 6 hours later………
I was surprised about the acceptance of the first post.

Canon EOS 1D MV
Ef 5,6 800 mm IS L
Tripod

F 8 / Iso 1600 ; 1/400 sec

Slight crop for comp

Processed with Canon DPP and PS CC

C&C welcome

Cheers Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Andreas, this looks less "obvious", he's surely brutalising and victimising the smaller seal.
I love the low angle, of course, and the light and tones are exquisite. In an ideal world I guess the BG would be "clean" :w3

[Gabriela Plesea]

A lot of drama here Andreas, left me speechless for a while...But not for long...And although I have seen similar images, I still have questions...I would never shy from capturing something like this, nature is often unkind but I have this "need to see", "need to know" and "need to capture this" attitude... in this particular case I am trying to find a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon, which could perhaps be the lack of Grey Seal females, driving the males to forcibly direct their sexual needs towards similar species...The younger the victim, the more vulnerable - and therefore less of a struggle, easy prey is my guess. But the answer is almost always pointing towards human interference, I am afraid. Not going to go there, I just want to give it to you - great behavioural shot, techs spot-on, I actually like the other fellows in the BG because their indiference helps complete the story that begins with the Grey Seal in pursuit of this vulnerable Harbour Seal. Emotional and rather painful yet a great narrative, maybe someone pays attention and puts in some research into this...who knows?

Well done Andreas, congratulations on your seal images, they provide good insight into the lives of the species and record unusual behaviour, great photography my friend!

Kind regards,

[Nancy Bell]

Lighting and unusual behavior make this a very dynamic image! Excellent capture with both mouths open and all eyes visible; plus the very visible difference in size and weight. This all adds great impact! I am fine with the bkgd animals, especially since I can see the head of one, making them identifiable and not just blobs.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - interesting interaction and perhaps not quite as brutal as the other post. Nice low pov, detail and sharpness.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks my friends for your comments . appreciate it.

Andreas

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Andreas

Did not see the previous post(yet), but in this one:

Fine with BG; it adds interest and a bit more depth.

How about a bit more tighter from the bottom to enhance the drama and angle.
Where was your focal point? F8 was a good choice, but the inside of the bull's mouth and nose a bit soft, F10 would solve that, sure the the Canon could handle 5000 ISO….:t3

Andre

[Robert Kimbrell]

Congrats Andres, I read the replys to your recent posts. You have succeeded in bringing out the emotions of your viewers. Making a beautiful image is nice, but making one that makes people laugh, cry, or worry about, is the art. This is not picture I would put on my wall, but I find it as thought provoking as just about any Image i have seen here.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Andre and Robert for taking your time and comment.

Andre i like the crop as is , for me i do see no reason to go tighter ,,because with the FG blur i feel i have a nice depth in the image.
Regarding FP , it sits on the head of the Harbor Seal , and you are right F10 would have been a better choice , or focus on the bulls head.When two seals are moving around each other , i do find it sometimes difficult to decide who will get the FP ? !

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, like the capture and POV, however I think you can afford to loose some of the FG without compromising the image. Sorry to her brief, but both time & connection is brief out here. TFSSteve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Steve leave the crop as is , i like it . no problem that you guys are just briefly jumping in , but i personally miss your very good eyes and comments…………….. whatever they are good for :t3 :bg3:.

Cheers and have fun , Andreas

[Neil Burton]

WOW Andreas, what a thing to witness and capture. Nature can be as brutal as humans sometimes, I have no nits with the shot, seal colonies are rarely clean and clear.