Grey Seal

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi folks , coming back with a Seal image from earlier this year
Hope this fit to this month theme as light is not completely coming from back , a bit from the side as well.
Crawling on the ground was key to get this .
Hope you like it .

Canon EOS 1Dx
Ef 200-400 at 400 mm
Tripod

F 8 ; Iso 1250 ; 1/1000 sec , with hindsight i should have gone higher with the iso to gain more SS :bg3: , but at this size it is good enough :w3

Processed with DPP 4 and PS CC 2017; cropped to 80 % of FF

Thanks for looking , cheers Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely low angle and soft light Andreas. You handled the exposure especially very well.
I do wish more of the light was on the side of the face.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - I like the side/back lighting here and the illuminated whiskers. Nice low pov. I might consider more of a pano crop as an alternative eliminating the brightest band of the bg from the top. With a static subject 1/1000 should be sufficient ss.

TFS,
Rachel

[keith mitchell]

Not easy I would think Andreas with the light behind you but you got a very nice effect,I wonder about maybe lightening the face just a little bit if that is possible or even if you would wan't to.That sure is one doleful look.

Keith.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Andreas -- Nice details again and the side lighting is very nicel used to the advantage of this frame . That bright spot on the rhs is catching my eye and so I think it should go and also I see a dust spot kind of blotch on the top of the frame .

TFS !

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice shot Andreas I am a little curious why you want a faster shutter speed when presumably the subject was static and you were on a tripod and with image stabilisation? It looks very well detailed and sharp to me - a fine shot.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks folks so much for your kind comments , much appreciated .
Rachel and Jon ... with a higher SS i am more on the "safe" side , as these seals are sometimes moving slightly ... specially when we are around . They do lift their head or turn the same ... this will cause blurring even at 1/1000 sec .Tripod and IS will not help with this ....:t3..... and not to forget the blowing wind that catches up in the lens hood causing slight vibrations .
Today i rather prefer 1/2000 sec for all seal shots unless it is too dark or the wind is not strong .... which is very seldom the case on Helgoland .

Rachel i am ok with the bright band on top
Haseeb yes the brighter spot could go , but it also bothers me not that much .
Keith i stink the face is just right in terms of of lighting , does fit well to overall lighting , from my POV .
Bit thanks folks for your thoughts and suggestions .

Cheers Andreas

[Bryan Pereira]

I love the low view point and the way you have handled the backlight. You still have lots of detail in the face.
Very nice!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Bryan , much appreciated