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Thread: Galapagos Fur Seal

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default Galapagos Fur Seal

    Taken in the Galapagos Islands in April 2009. A different species than the sea lions, we saw much fewer fur seals.

    Canon 50D
    100-400 @235mm
    1/500
    f7.1
    ISO 400

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel

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    Hi Rachel

    Something is going on with the neck and upper head area of this image... Could it be over sharpening? More DOF would have improved this image in my opinion because you still have good background seperation behind the head to keep the subject isolated. Maybe you could darken the eye a little also. Nicely framed...

    DON

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Don - Thanks for the comment. I'm not sure I see what you are referring to unless its the sort of lines in the fur but s/he had just come out of the water and that's what s/he looked like. I'm not sure if it is matted sand or what. If you're referring to something else let me know. Thanks again, Rachel

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    Hi Rachel

    yes, its the white streaks on the neck. I thought they might have been sharpening artifacts. Not knowing what these seals look like does not help...

    regards

    DON

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    Cute little one. The eye seems wierd due to no pupil.

  6. #6
    Ken Watkins
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    I can agree that there is something "odd" here.

    The eye is very strange, I wonder if you may have caught it blinking?

    The White (sand) streaks seem to be OOF but they should not be.

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    cute little fellow looking good here
    TFS

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, yes a cute pose and the comp is 'OK', but agree that the image is note right.

    Firstly is this a big crop as it certainly isn't sharp judging by the eye? Just a thought, but can you check the exposure settings especially the compensation. Working in Exposure & Curves there are things that appear better and the eye gets close to how it looks, however I do think you might like to revisit the original file just to see if you can improve it.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Steve - no crop at all. No EC and the histogram looks ok. I shot RAW + JPEG ,would it help if I posted the JPEG version straight out of the camera instead of the converted RAW shot? Btw it was the sort of diamond shape of the eye that intrigued me about the image. I wonder if it is because the seal spends much of its time underwater and in dark caves, grottos. It seems that the pupil is just a slit in the image, probably because it is looking into harsh, direct sun.

    Thanks for your thoughts,

    Rachel

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, I don't think so, but you are most welcome. Mainly it's the fur that looks the oddest and without seeing the RAW one can only guess what's happening.

    Steve ;)
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    What we are seeing in this image of the eye is a nictitating membrane. It allows the seal to keep it's eyes moist & protected from debris & still be able to see. It is perfectly normal. Many marine mammals & other creatures have this eye feature as it allows them to hunt & still protect their eyes from foreign objects. It is a translucent third eyelid or haw. It is also used to clear debris from the eye. E.G. Eagles use a haw to protect their eyes from their chicks when feeding them. Peregrin falcons, stooping @ 200 MPH. continuously blink their haw to clear their eyes of dust during the stoop.
    Andrew

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Wow Andrew, thanks so much for the explanation about the eye. I guess in some ways it's another way to see Darwin's theory at work in the Galapagos. Thanks again.

    Rachel

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