Hi Darrell - Welcome to the Wildlife Forum! Good action captured and the open mouth and splash add to the impact. You don't give any information about the pp, including what program used and whether this is ff or a crop. First thing is that the embedded color profile is RGB not sRGB so depending on browser used, there may be a shift in the colors as viewed. It is better to convert to sRGB when resizing for posting on the web. Also you can post it larger. BPN allows 1200px across and 1000px high. I do feel the image is a bit tight and needs more room below if you have it. Interesting to see the tag but some may say remove it.
I would have increased the ISO to at least 800 and also stopped down a little for more dof and maybe a bit more ss given the fast action. Some of the whites are blown and the blacks choked, the midtones also seem a bit heavy and opening them on the seals brings out a lot more detail. Without seeing the RAW it is difficult to tell if these problems come from the capture or from the processing.
The best way to get the most out of BPN and learn from each other is to participate and comment on other people's posts as well. We recommend commenting on 3-5 other wildlife images each time you post one of your own. Your critiques do not have to be technical in nature, just tell us what you like and don't like about an image. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images. I bet you have some good whale images from Hawaii too.
Hi Darrell, can't add much more to what Rachel has said. Normally 1/2000 should be good, but with all the action you were probably needing more like 1/4000+ and as you had plenty of ISO this would not have been an issue.
No idea on your Post Production skills and where you are on that journey, but you do understand that 'sharpening' an image is a requirement, as the image either has Noise reduction applied Globally and or no sharpening applied I think. I've not looked at the image as much as Rachel, but one thing to remember is, if you shoot higher ISO you want to avoid lightening an image as this will highlight any noise in the darks/Shadow areas and so Exposure is a key factor.
Hi Darrel -- Welcome to BPN_Wildlife forum ! A nice action scene to start with. Nothing much to add for me as it is already well covered above , do keep a check on the NR work, it has affected this image to quite an extent .
A very special frame of endangered species - thank you so much for sharing this with us. Love the behaviour aspect you have captured here.
I notice you received detailed feedback from Rachel as well as Steve, I shall not repeat what has already been said. I would personally love to see a slightly "bigger picture" here if possible as I feel the framing is too tight. And I really look forward to more from you. You might find the comments and suggestions a bit overwhelming at first, but do not let this put you off as we are all here to learn from each other