Hi all ...
Hope you missed me ........well i am back from Helgoland for intensive Seal shooting .
It was a mixed trip from all perspectives ...weather , action ,trouble with rules and new restrictions for visitors .Seals exploded in numbers , 450 pups born till i left in this season and season is not over yet .What is funny is the fact that the number of males is almost the same as the females .....so the bulls where not able to serve many females at the same time .
With the bigger number of seals being born and being published in the news , more visitors took the long way across the north sea to visit the small island . This fact caused some issues for the authority ....to keep the visitors and seals separated , as for us germans the most dangerous mammal in the country ..... So the distance should be at least thirty meters between you and the seal ....to keep you safe .
So the whole story for me is that they say .....for your safety keep the distance , i disagree about that !!!!!!!
But that caused some problems for us photogs , always having some very strict 19 or 20 year old volunteers glued to your butt and trying to tell you how dangerous these beasts are . Well these folks should go to South Georgia and walk through a breeding colony of Antarctic Fur Seals and learn what it means to be chased by some bulls .......and not these friendly Grey Seals bulls , who are more afraid if you walk up to them .
I do not want to bore you with this ..... it might have been the last time i went there ....due to the conditions . But will see .
At least i got some images ...to show here .
I got lucky with a special ....but need to keep it under the hood , until it is approved by the officials . Till now it is just a guess and i do not want to tell something that is not true .....just wait and i will post the images .Hope you understand .
Regarding the posted image ...i was after the kind of image on one day , but it was difficult to create because of the conditions and finding a spot with a cooperative bull .
Tried various settings but none really worked perfectly and the ocean and the seal also played a big role in this , the waves came and moved the seal , or the seal closed the eyes ..............well well , not perfectly happy with this one , but nevertheless i post as my latest seal creation .
Hope you like it too.
Canon EOS 1Dx II
EF 200-400 IS L at 506 mm
tripod
F 9 ; Iso 160 ; 1/125 sec ; man exp ; Auto Iso ; + 0,75 EV
Processed with DPP and PS CC 2018 ; slight crop for comp
Thanks for watching and commenting to my last posting
Hi Andreas -- glad to see you posting again ! I loved what tried to achieve here , definitely could have been better but still this is a superb piece of work . loved the panned wave and that eye almost sharp . These kind of images are difficult to come by . Enjoyed this one . TFS !
Hi Andreas - Welcome back! Looking forward to seeing more seal images from you. It's too bad about the changes to the rules at the site and that the tourists have found it as well. I like what you are trying to do here and I'm sure it was both fun and frustrating trying to accomplish it. I just wish nature cooperated a little more. I find the large brighter blob of water coming up towards the nose to be distracting and blocking a bit too much of the face. I want to see a little more of the face. Great to experiment and try different things.
Hallo
That is an excellent image IMHO.
Love the water pouring off the seal. Your perseverance certainly paid off Andreas.
You must just love those know-it-all type volunteers. LMAO!
Great idea to think of this one, Andreas. I think this type of shot has a lot of potential and I, too, enjoy a different perspective and approach. So thanks for taking a gamble by posting this one. I think this is the type of shot that takes time to absorb and think about. It is not a high-impact 'wow' shot for me but one that I think I would get more out of the more I looked at it - while simple in concept, there is quite a lot going on in the image. Keep them coming.
Flowing water
....well i am back from Helgoland for intensive Seal shooting .
. So the distance should be at least thirty meters between you and the seal ....to keep you safe .
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