Seal - Splish Splash Bow

[Andreas Liedmann]

Yep another month another theme , i will start off with a ........... great a Seal Image .... LOL .
Hope you do not become bored as this month i will fire off all seal images i can get my hands on and process them , well staying in BPN´s limits .Otherwise there would be hundreds if not thousands . , But stay cool i will not do that .
So here is the first one taken where ..... you would not believe on Helgoland .

Canon EOS 1Dx
EF 500 IS L II + 1,4 TC
Handheld

F 8 ; Iso 5000 ; 1/1600 sec

Processed with DPP 4 and PS CC ; cropped to pano and leveled .

Ps: i wished the algae have not been there , but they have been not very cooperative ... the algae !!!

Thanks for watching and leaving a comment to my last thread .

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Andreas - Somehow I thought you might have a few for this month's theme. Here I think the low pov hurt you because no way to avoid the oof seaweed/algae. For me it kills an otherwise very nice portrait and splash. I might also look at a little less sharpening on the splash if it were mine.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Andreas - agree with Rachel that the seaweed draws my eye a tad too much.
Nice light, splash and angle otherwise.
Nice overall colour tone - would also perhaps tone down brightest brights?

[haseeb badar]

Hi Andreas -- I always enjoy your Seal images, pls keep them coming ! I would also agree on the distraction algae is causing , otherwise it is a very good image and sharpnening on water splash is ok for me . TFS!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks so much folks for your honest thoughts and feedback , i was pretty sure about your reactions . Actually i was not sure if i could manage to get rid of the algae , so i tried with RP ..... WDYT ?
Normally i would stay away from that massive elements influence ....... so just for the fun and experience i removed that stuff.

Thanks again, Andreas

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Andreas,

Love the image, it is so much better with the algae removed. My thoughts on removing something like that are... it should not have been there in the first place. As long as it is not an image to enter into a contest where the rules prevent it, any tweaks that have such an impact of the final image should be done. The waves are still the same, the seal is still the same. If you could have cropped it out, would you have? Same thing removing a distracting element. Thank you for sharing.

[haseeb badar]

Andreas , this looks much better now ! very nicely done !

[Raymond Barlow]

I agree with removing minor issues such as the algae., also would have cropped / positioned the head more to the left side, but also keeping as much splash as possible.
The low angle is killer! Also, I would leave the tc in the bag, to give you more room to work the image in pp., with better focus accuracy, and sharper images.
(though I am not sure how the 1Dx is for cropping.)

In the end, superb shot sir!

[BenBotha]

Rp is so much better. The algae did not add anything to the image, I think removing it is just positive.
Ben

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, much prefer the RP, but then how far do you take manipulation, but I do think the image is better for it. Agree with Rachel on less sharpening on the water, think how sharpening works, hence less.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Joseph ,Haseeb,Raymomd ,Ben and Steve for your comments , much appreciated .
Normally i do find this kind of manipulation way to heavy , just did it for demo purpose even if it does help the image for a more pleasing look .In an ideal world the algae would not have been there , but that is nature and if the seal wants to come onto the beach with the algae in front of him ..... he/she will do so . and i take the shot .
For me personally it is more about the splash being superbly divided by the seal , that´s why i kept the seal centered .
After looking again and again i have to agree that the water does look a bit too sharp ..... thanks Steve and Rachel for the pointer , it is coming just from my own detail extraction in the WF .
If i am in the right mood today , will rework the image completely .

Thanks again , Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

For me personally it is more about the splash being superbly divided by the seal , that´s why i kept the seal centered .

Valid point.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Andreas,

... I like your thinking behind this image. Thought I did not mind the algae until I saw the RP... truly wonderful Boetie, and the splash frames the subject so well!

My apologies for coming in so late, there are days when I just do not get to spend time by the computer, although I so miss my BPN time...Andre's kids are here for the holidays

Love this, well composed, nice POV, sweet look from the seal there and the colours are awesome, OP a tad too sharp as already mentioned, now sorted:)

We miss you Boetie, and will be in touch soon...Forgive me for being so brief, no "story" tonight (apart from a couple of images in Story Sequences - would appreciate it if you found the time to look...)

Hugs from your SA Sister, as well as wishing you a great Sunday