Turn Off Your Mind - Relax

[William Dickson]

Canon 1DX
f/4 500mm with 1.4
f/5.6
1/800
ISO 800

One from last year..I spotted this seal on one of the islands when we were on the boat heading to the Bass Rock. It was out of distance for a close up, so I decided to make it smaller in frame as I really liked the surroundings of barnacles, seaweed and volcanic rock. which shows the tide marks perfectly. I don't know what type of seal it is, but looks like a young one, laying there so relaxed.

Will

[John Mack]

Relaxed indeed. The overall setting is pretty nice. Looks like the seal is going to take it easy for awhile.

[Marc Mol]

Wonderful moment, mood, eye contact and framing here William,

I'd try running an S curve on the mid tones just to give those contrasting rock, seaweed/algae colours some added pop. Just fine nonetheless.

TFS

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Will,

If I were you I would print this frame and hang it on my bedroom wall

Wonderful mood indeed and very sweet relaxed pose from the subject. I stand to be corrected but I think it is a Grey Seal - hope Andreas can confirm for us?

Love the inclusion of habitat here and I am sure you can extract more from it - yes curves will work, but how about some vibrance and saturation on those algae?

Having said the above I think it's also worth trying a B/W conversion:)

Hope you get out there more often and capture images like this, quite unusual and I enjoyed viewing - many thanks for sharing!

Kind regards,

[William Dickson]

Thanks guys, much appreciated, glad you like it..Hi Gabriela...Never thought about the bedroom wall, but yes it would look nice in there.

Will

[Jonathan Ashton]

It's an Atlantic seal Will - he's got a big hooter! It is a little more like a cow's face, whereas the common seal is rounder and cuter, having a shorter muzzle.. I like the title and the pose, for me a tad small in the frame.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Will, nice to see a Seal in a different environment.

Overall it does need a few Curves adjustments and perhaps a lit Vibrance for the seaweed. There is some nice detail in the backdrop which again comes out through some simple Lights & Darks within Curves, NOT by adding Black or Contrast. If you try to use what I told you in Curves you should be able to pin point more accurately, but you may need more than just one adjustment. Some additional sharpening would help too.

TFS
Steve

[William Dickson]

Thanks for the repost Steve, I'll download your version, and compare it with my OP...yes I'll give it another go ...I liked this one.

Will