Wild Harbor Seal

[Ryan Schain]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4230404886_e9393afd5f_o.jpg

Low angled shot of a Harbor Seal hauled out on the rocks at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park on the Jersey Shore. It seems to be almost trying to make sense of me.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 L IS

Exposure: 1/1000
Aperture: F/6.3
Focal Lengh: 400 mm
ISO Speed: 200
EC: +2/3

[Robert Amoruso]

Ryan,

I like the expression on the seal's face. I would selectively lower the luminosity of the highlights on the head. Differences are subtle but noticable when toggled on and off in PS.

I would also suggest cropping some of the space off the left.

I reposted with the following in PSCS3:

Reverse s-curve.
Shadows/Highlights correction at Shadows 25/25/30, Highlights 68/25/30, Midtone Contrast +32.

See my tutorial at http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20434 for more info on these two adjustments.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Ryan

For these you need just about perfect light and a good sun angle to illuminate the seal, they are not easy !!! Tech wise would have tried stopping down a little more for dof !! Excellent image !!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree with Alfred. A higher depth of field would be great. You had enough shutter speed to play around. Look forward to more.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi