platypus

[greg cowle]

Just a little platypus, this one is about 40cm. It is in deep shade, unfortunately with the oily fur and rubbery bill there is a strong reflection of the blue sky and clouds. My polarizer may have helped control this, but was not in my bag for some reason... only one person to blame.
400mm, 1/320, f8, ISO16000.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Greg,

This is one of the most interesting looking creatures on the Planet And you did your best under the circumstances, pushing the camera's capabilities as far as you thought was reasonable. Don't know what equipment you use as you do not mention it, but I see no noise as such which is a good thing. Composition is great and the subject fills the frame nicely, lovely pose too.

Ideally the face/eyes could be sharper but not sure it was possible as the subject is partially immersed in water. Good thinking on DoF, I just find the SS quite low. The blue cast you mentioned - or reflection rather - you can remove to some extent, if you like. I really have no idea what this animal looks like in real life so I do not dare comment on colour

Looking forward to what the others say, and also hoping you have some more images of this semi-aquatic species, thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

[greg cowle]

Thanks Gabriela, it is an interesting creature. I had worked aggressively on the blue shy reflection, but this was the best I was able to do. The conditions are challenging, but I like to find different creatures. Have you ever photographed something like a sea otter feeding? It has a similar problem in looking not sharp. Water is sheeting off the fur in the few second it is on the surface, including the eye. Interesting fact, the platypus closes its eye under water, and senses for prey with sensors in the bill.
I'll keep trying until I get one with the underwater camera, that will solve all the problems.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Greg,

It would be fun to get an underwater camera, I also thought about it at some stage. But things would get too complicated...and not sure I want more gear at this stage

Interesting about the sensors in the platypus's bill. I'll do some reading, would like to know more about the species

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Greg ... what a stunner from the pure sighting POV . The Platypus is such a special species ...so unique in many ways !!!
Seen them myself in 1995 ..... well long ago .
Where have you taken the image ...?
Image could stand some more tonal depth and needs some color correction , i am ok with the blues would give them more depth !!! There is some magenta in the fur that i would correct ....and would drop the exp a tad more .

Thanks that you posted this , enjoyed to watch this .

Cheers Andreas

Gabriela - i bet an underwater housing would not help i think , they are so shy and very often swimming in this fuzzy water , you will not see much under the water surface .

[John Mack]

So cool to see a platypus on here. Looks pretty good for the high ISO. More room behind would be nice.

[greg cowle]

Thanks John and Andreas for the comments. The color here is tough, but I'd also note that this is in deep shade, so the light contains more of the blue part of the spectrum than the red. There are options as to whether to reproduce as seen, or correct for a different spectrum.
This was taken in the tablelands near Cairns. The water is cloudy, made worse by a historic wet season. I am searching other creeks for clearer water, but even this one may get clearer if the wet season ever ends. So I won't give up on my underwater camera - although I would not be in the water, just holding it from the bank. Platypus close their eyes underwater so I may be able to sneak an image.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Greg -- Interesting to see this specie posted here, havent see it before myself , so really enjoyed viewing this one. Agree with the above suggestions reg improving this image.

Nice one. TFS !

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Greg, a super rare encounter, a species I have never seen too. Tough situation and light but you did your best. TFS.

[Arthur Morris]

I absolutley love this one for the uniqueness of both the creature and the photo. Fantastic.

with love, artie

[greg cowle]

Thanks Artie, appreciated.