'Ups'

[Anette Mossbacher]

Bearded seal somewhere in Svalbard on a glacier having fun playing with us cat & mouse. This seal had so much fun fooling us, switching the sides at least 20x for 15min. till it took off, but after 30min this one came back and started the same game

LR my "unusual" thing, this one was done quite different than PS CS6, Levels, USM, pulled the cyan and blue slider far into the minus, sharpening in PS, now here
Cropped in square, since this chap swopped to both side, so he was more or less sitting in the middle of the frame. Square worked best for me
Also, since I have a post it on my screen: FLIP THE IMAGE, this one is flipped horizontally, looks much better

1Dx ISO 1000
lens 70-200mm II & 2x set to 400mm... my little fake Fiat 500

beyond f/8 > f/9 1/320sec HH, gloves have been than wet!!

[Martin Dunn]

Neat shot Anette.
Good to see you got rid of the blue cast

I really like the shot but I am not sure about the composition.
I'm just not a fan of square frames.

[Andre Pretorius]

He looks like a real Sergeant-Major with that moustache!
I do not mind the square crop.
The detail on the head is stunning, but on the chest less. The ice and water behind him seems more in focus behind him than in front. Was the focal point on nose or eyes?
Did well to get sharp image at that SS!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Martin & Andre,


Martin many thanks. I learned Photography long time ago with a Hasselblad, I have no probs with square crops, not even with triangle if anyone comes up with one. That is as you said a matter of taste. My thoughts on that is, try it out more often, sometimes it is just that crop which suits.
The blue was another thing. Makes me nuts

Andre, I checked for you, the AF 'red brick' sits right on Sergeant-Major's left moustache Now guess what did I do wrong here. I found it right away. When you find it you will win 99 Anzac cookies and a cuppa from me. Hey the cuppa does 'muh' when you drink your coffee out of it
PS Sure will let you kow when I come down again for the Cheetah place, thanks a lot

Have both a great eve

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette, great to see a different species from the trip and on here.

Obviously you got the better of his/her curiosity, for the seal to keep coming back, but to your advantage in getting shots in the bag, can I assume this was from a zodiac? I think you were borderline on SS and with the 1DX I would have no hesitation in cracking up the ISO 2000, 3200 as the IQ is still good. In getting the reach I do feel a little bit of IQ has been lost using the 2x, but avoiding to hefty a crop, it can workout well and at this size it looks good. Nice depth of detail & tone, but personally I get the impression it has been 'worked on', perhaps a little too processed in parts, but this is just my thought and by no means correct. However, for me the colour & toning works extremely well and compliments the scene & subject. Regarding the crop, I also feel it may not be the ideal route and although perhaps it has been used widely recently, have you considered a pano, or dare I say the 16 x 9 route, even with the subject slightly smaller in frame, but keeping it positioned on the RHS?

TFS
Steve

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Steve,

yes from the zodiac, was drifting, motor still on, but later on off, since this one played so much.
I worked for the details not to much, nothing done actually on the body, since the fur was just flat like a plate for me from the water. Had to lift the shadow and on the RHS, under it's moustache, you see a bit darker patch on the fur, that was blue as blue & cyan. Lifted than the overall blue & cyan a bit to get it out global. The body than another round itself. Cropping I tried a few, with the normal crop it takes to much off I think. This chap sits right in the middle where he/she popped up!
Here a RP with normal crop, a pano loose a lot!
Thanks so much Steve, will check tomorrow my steps through again, what is to much. Today I want to go earlier to bed!!

Have a great eve and thanks so much

Ciao
Anette

[Morkel Erasmus]

Cute pose and moment Anette.
I prefer the crop on the repost!
Nice cold tones throughout here. I like seeing the different species you get to see in the Arctic through your and Rachel's lenses.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Anette - nice to see one of these as we didn't have any luck with seals at all. I much prefer the comp of your rp. I like the almost silvery/gray tones to this one. Will be interested to see what tweaks you and Mr. Detail come up with.

TFS,
Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Morkel and Rachel,

thanks a lot, will see what we figure out.

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[edwardselfe]

This is really nice - and the RP is better. Love the details you have already - look at the hairs above the eyes! To me, it looks a little grainy in the background and you could perhaps smooth that a little.
Ed

[Martin Dunn]

Anette, I do think the re-post looks better, I might even shave a tiny bit more from the bottom.
Like you I learned a long time ago with a square framed camera (an old Yashica TLR) but I was much happier once I switch to a Bronica 6x4.5cm)
I still have it but it doesn't get much use these days.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Alright the RP got the votes, than I do it that way. Thanks so much everybody.
SteveK. not sure with pano, that cuts of much more of the ORG as with the RP. I think the whole IO will suffer than.
If I am wrong, please do let me know.
Thanks so much everybody

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Markus Jais]

Very cute shot. I like both the square and the repost with a slight tendency towards the square.
The blueish/grayish colors look great - I think this would also look great in B&W.

I like the look on the seal's face.

Markus

[Anette Mossbacher]

Thanks a lot Markus

Have a great weekend

Ciao
Anette

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Annette, this is indeed very well done! With the 2X in place, the IQ is quiet good. I like the RP better. Very nice color scheme and great pose by the little fella. TFS.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Anette

I looked and looked- will have to forfeit the cookies?!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Sanjeev,

the 70-200mm II with the 2x works actually very well as a "fake" 200-400mm & 1.4x!! I call that the Fiat 500 ( little car in Europe, very popular and fast )
Thanks so much for your comment.

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Anette Mossbacher]

Andre, the oven was just beeping, cookies ready

I did a mistake while sharpening the OP, I sharpened the BG as well, in the RP I was very careful and did not sharpen anything of the BG
As said, AF "red brick" sits on the LHS moustache

All cookies for me… jodel jodel …

Have a great Sunday

Ciao
Anette

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Anette, great view of his 'beard' and I like the eye contact. The surrounding ice shows how cold their enviroment is, and I do like your repost in pane # 6.

[Steve Canuel]

LIke the comp and color palette of this one Annette. Both look good , with a slight edge to the comp of the repost.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Thanks so much Steve

Ciao
Anette