Waiting in the shadows

[Leigh Cojocar]

This picture was taken on a river boat tour of the Daintree rainforest in Cape Tribulation,Queensland,AUS. This is thought to be the oldest rainforest in the world. Although this Croc isn't very big, we did get to see some 4.5m long alpha males sunbathing themselves on the shoreline. Unfortunately they were not in a very photographic position, but I must say that they are one of the most impressive animals I've have got to see up close in the wild.

The Daintree forest is also home to some of the last remain 900 wild Cassowary's, I managed to see one in the side of the road but was unable to get a picture.

Canon 60D, Tamron 150-600 @ 329mm, F8.0 1/250 Secs handheld shot from a boat.

Converted to black & white in LR along with some adjustments (picture had a lot of contrast, and I haven't really done any wildlife B&W's before)

removed some grass in front of the crocs nose in PS.


Thanks,

Leigh

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Leigh - This looks like you were shooting in tough conditions with harsh light but also heavy shadows and from a boat which is never easy. It looks like there were some blown highlights on the croc. I find that the best b&ws are ones that start from images that have a large tonal variation. For me, it seems that the tonal variation needed may not have been present in the original image. If you want to post the straight out of camera image, people may have some suggestions for processing and conversion.

Also don't forget to add your thoughts to other people's images. It's the best way to get the most out of BPN and helps foster a community atmosphere. We recommend commenting on 3-5 other wildlife images each time you post one of your own.

Btw I also removed the "theme" prefix because this month's theme is "Close-Ups."

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Leigh. I agree with Rachel's summary above. :e3
I'd really like to see the uncropped colour version and perhaps have a crack at it to give you some options...to me it's not really working as presented...

[Leigh Cojocar]

Hello, Sorry for the delayed response but I have been travelling for the last few days away from any internet.

I might have buggered up the photo with my processing as its definitely my drawback when it comes to photography.

Although I do look at a lot of other threads, I don't feel I have the depth or insight to leave to many critiques.