This very cooperative beaver satisfies its hunger by chewing on a favorite piece of wood for some delicious bark. The light was mostly on the bad side, but with a bit of patience the beaver slowly turned for a "down-the-barrel" look at it with some decent side light.
Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 II, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/200s., f/5.6, ISO 800, natural light, handheld (elbows braced on knee), toned down the chewed part of the stick via the burn tool- it was very originally quite white and void of any detail.
This is a nice close-up of a cute beaver munching, and judging by his looks ( and ravishing hairstyle ) I guess he was quite enjoying the sweet bark! Amazing how much detail you recovered on the chewed side of the wood:)
Love the light/shadow, split FG - a very interesting effect, as well as those dark, shiny nails grasping the wood. Wondering why you did not up the ISO for better DOF? The crop works for me, not too sure about the magenta and blues in the fur as I have never seen a beaver before. I dare say you really pushed your luck with 1/200s, but the beaver is sharp on the muzzle, so I take it you have a very steady hand, LOL!
Thank you Daniel, enjoyed viewing this cute/mean looking/dark and quite charming fellow and I am quite taken with his hairdo
Have a great week ahead, I plan to pop in more often to the Avian forum with images... so...brace yourself
Hi Daniel, Excellent close up portrait of a not-often-seen species. Like Gabriela, I have not seen a beaver before either. You handled the side lighting very well with enough details on the shadow side. Love the expression of the beaver. Loi
Hi Daniel - Great to see a beaver and even more so a close-up, down the barrel shot. You handled the shadow and light well. I love that we can see the front paws over the branch. It's interesting that the beaver ate the bark from the side in the light, in essence keeping light with light. I might be tempted to crop even closer from the top really placing the emphasis on the face and the branch.
Hi Daniel - That is one sharp image considering you have handhold-ed the 500mm with a low ss. loved the effect of light falling on the chewed part with the main eye also well lit and the yet to be chewed stick under shadows.
Hi Daniel, it's been a very long time since a Beaver has been posted here so thanks, it's so important I think we have diversity and also it showcases what a wonderful and varied world we have.
Composition is spot on for me and although perhaps the techs are not ideal in terms of SS, you have nailed the capture. Nice bit of PP and I like the fact you have that light/shade aspect, but ultimately retaining detail, depth & form, i for one would love to photograph these guys, especially swimming.