Basking in the Sun
I usually only deal with birds, but it was tough to pass up this opportunity. This was taken at La Jolla, CA. The seals are quite used to humans, so I was able to get close and shoot this with a wide angle.
The belly is a bit bright, and I couldn't recover the specular highlights.
Shooting Info:
Canon 5D3 | 16-28 f/2.8 @ 28 mm
1/320" | f/10 | ISO 250
Hi Miguel - nice to see you posting in Wildlife. Looks like the lighting conditions were tough. It's unfortunate about the blown highlights on the belly. Overall I find the image a bit light in tone. I also find the intersection of the rocks and the cliff in the bg with the seal to be less than ideal. Perhaps moving to your right in the field would have given you more water in the bg though I recognize that the shaded side of the seal would have been more prominent. Amazing that you could get so close, reminds me of the sea lions in the Galapagos. I hope you'll share more.
TFS,
Rachel
Hi Miguel, I like the use of space in this, having space to the LHS works nicely for me. The blown highlights are a shame and perhaps caused by areas being wet perhaps? Overall I feel the image lacks overall tone & depth highlighted by Rachel's comment about the shadow/shaded areas. Easily resolved in either LR or PS I feel. The image has a lot of potential, so hopefully we the aid of other contributors we may see a RP?
TFS and please feel free to comment on other images as we can all learn from each other.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Low down and wide angle perspective rocks here Miguel...!
I do wish you'd lowered your exposure a little, it would have been easier to do shadow recovery here and you would have lowered the tonality nicely overall.
Nice detail overall and a contented look says it all.
Hello Miguel, love your avian shots, so good to see you in Wildlife as well!
I just love the perspective here, just had a thought that this image would make a striking B/W, would you consider giving it a try?
The shape on the RHS of the image reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt
Kind regards,
Gabriela Plesea
Thanks all for the responses! I do wish that side wasn't blown out, and like Morkel said it would have been wise to adjust the exposure at the time (it's a bit hard now that I'm back in NM!).
When I started the post process, I intentionally left it bright on the left side, and even reduced the contrast to give it the "basking" feel. I'm not sure that was the best way to go, so it would be great to get some reposts from you guys :)
Thanks again for the critique .. I'll try to poke my head around here more often!
Nice shot, Miguel! I agree about the exposure being a little too high, but the bright areas on the belly do not bug me at all because this is exactly what it looks in real life - smooth, bright shiny spots - specially when wet. I wish I could care as little about anything in life as this animal!
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