Humpback Breach

[Grant Atkinson]

Canon 7D, Canon 70-200f4L lens,(focal length 180mm) iso 320, s/speed 1/6000s, f5.6, -1EV Comp, handheld, from a boat. Cropped to 13mp. Processed in ACR and PS. Location Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 20 June 2010, 12h57. Photographed this humpbacked whale amongst some sardine shoals and Cape gannets, from an inflatable boat in a fresh wind, and a choppy sea, hence the fast shutter speed.
All C and C welcome

www.grantatkinson.com (http://www.grantatkinson.com)

[Rachel Hollander]

Grant - gorgeous shot under tough conditions. There seems to be some kind of artifact (though I'm not sure) just behind the whale where the water meets the sky on the rhs. Love the color, the splash and the bird.

Congrats and TFS,
Rachel

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Rachel, those are Cape gannets in the distance, if it is the small white things you are talking of? I could clone them out but the one is in the spray from the whale...??
Thanks for commenting
Grant

[Rachel Hollander]

Grant - I knew they were gannets and it may just be spray but there seems to be a slightly darker sort of oval shape behind the whale that the first gannet above the water line is in. I don't see water droplets in it so that's why I didn't think it was spray. It starts just below where the line of the top of the fin would be if you continued the fin out the back of the whale. Sorry, if this doesn't make sense. I would not clone the gannets out.

Rachel

[PeterCollins]

i think its just a compression artifact, would be surprised it if it there on the full res image

But i do see what your talking about Rachel

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Peter -glad to know I'm not going crazy.

[Steve Canuel]

Hey Grant,
I like the trailing water coming off the body and the position of the fins. I also like the angle of the body, seems like you caught him at his peak and just starting to tumble back over. I think this might look good as more of a square crop too, coming in from the sides to the edge of the white water and close to the fin.

[Harshad Barve]

Terrific image for all reasons said above Grant , I liked this very much as posted
TFS

[Alfred Forns]

Sweet !!!! Must have been fun in the zodiac Nailed this one !! Love that pose and how the whale is lit !! Big Congrats !!

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks for the comments. Rachel and Peter, I am in a learning curve with sharpening for web, and maybe I overdid it with this one. Al, it was fun in the inflatable, fortunately the wind, swell and whales were moving in the same direction when we were shooting, however when we had to turn for home it was a bit bumpy and wet, but well worth it!
cheers
grant

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Grant, A great experience and good capture.

Would run some NR just on the sky which would help (see below), not sure what the 'smudge' is, tried to indicate it, as trying to describe would be hopeless I think. Is it spray? You also have some halo along the sky/sea horizon too.

TFS
Steve

[DanWalters]

Great action! Like the water coming off the whale and the seagull on the left side.

[Myer Bornstein]

love it humpbacks make great subjects when they are performing. caught the action well

[Hilary Hann]

Magnificent creature and you've done well here Grant. I'm sure the area of concern will be easily fixed, if it even appears on your full file. I'm viewing on my iPhone so can't really comment on any iq details.

[Grant Atkinson]

Thanks Steve, the halos are from oversharpening...I applied two passes of USM, one to the full size file and one to the downsized for web shot, however I probably need to lower the percent of USM..I am getting there, with everyones help, thanks Hilary
Thanks also Steve for pointing out the area that is of concern..that is the whales fine misty breath as it exhales...the droplets are very much smaller than the spray, and are not lit due to the shadow of the whale.
Thanks for looking and commenting
cheers
Grant

[Steve Kaluski]

Appreciate the clarification Grant.

Perhaps you could add little things like this in next time. I appreciate that you do add a significant amount into your intro's which is great and would like to see more throughout ALL postings, as it really does help the viewer and clarifies any small points that might be raised, although you can never cover everything. :D:D:D

Once again, thanks for the feedback.

Steve ;)

[Rachel Hollander]

Grant - thanks for the explanation. Sorry for sending everyone on the wild goose chase. Again, congrats on the great image.

Rachel

[Grant Atkinson]

Rachel and Steve, thanks for your comments, and I am glad we figured it out...whale breath sounds much less worrying to me than compression artifacts;)
grant