I captured this image of an American Alligator at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Imagine if the eyes were submerged and only the snout above water, would your recognize it as an alligator. Natures perfect ambush predator. There are estimated to be 1.3 million alligators in Florida. They range from fresh water lakes and ponds to rivers and brackish water, also the wetlands associated with them. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 340mm (510mm FFE)
1/250 F/7.1 Matrix Metering 0 EV ISO 900 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC
Cropped for composition and presentation
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Love it Joe- especially the way the water texture goes with the animal.Positioning spot on too . I am not an animal man but I know what I like ! I will sell my camera and go to Florida for a day with a drawing pad !! I like this.
JOhn
Hi Joe, like the thinking here, as the subject emerges from within the depths, plus the angle provides a strong composition.
Techs, well why such a slow SS, I can understand with old cameras or beginners yes, a basic fault, but I bet the RAW isn't critically sharp. You could have easily cranked up the ISO for better SS Joe and then easily have controlled any noise within LR or PS, but it would have provided a far better image overall. DoF looks OK but the tip of the snout isn't sharp, however I'm personally OK as the critical part is the head.
In terms of the image, to me the image looks a bit 'thin' in terms of 'depth', adding a Luminosity mask, bringing the Exposure on the bottom LHC & top RHC in LR helps, likewise some more USM.
Joe, you might even want to consider going B/W and put a spin on it, as I think you may have the tones there, just a thought, it could go quite 'Contrasty' and it may be in your favour here????
Please just keep a good SS in future Joe, 1/250 is just too slow, compounded if you are shooting on a boat.
Hi Joe - I too like the comp with the eyes and the end of the snout visible. Steve has made good points about ss and pp. I do find the texture of the water competing with the texture of the gator but not a deal breaker.
Hi Joe i like the concept and agree the higher POV has helped for a strong image .
I like the overall tight crop to concentrate on the subject without going too tight .
I like what Steve did to the image in terms of tone , color and sharpness .
What bothers me a bit is the overall same tone/contrast in both subject and surrounding .... i would treat them differently to make the Gator stand out more , well just my thought
Hi Joe -- I too am in agreement with the above comments , you have got a nice image and the concept just clicks because of that higher POV . Nice suggestions for some improvement .