Otters Mating

[John Hawkins]

I came across these Otters mating in J.N. Ding Darling New Years Eve. They were at it for over 2 hours. At times the female made such loud cries as if she was in terrible pain. The male had ahold of her by a tight grip with his mouth on the back of her neck They would be in the water thrasing about, all the time he would hold on tight.then would make it to the shore as the female seemed to want to get away. A few times she did get away, but went right back after him. By the sounds, you would think he was killing her. I was using my Sony A700 with a Sigma 50-500 mm Lens on a tripod. Data=1/1000, ISO 800, 160mm, 1.7ev, f/5.6. All C&C's welcomed.

[noelle zaleski]

John, must have been interesting to witness this behavior. I will look forward to photographing otters some day. Now you must find the baby otters when they arrive. :)

I think you could have taken your ISO down considerably on this one. Looks like you were shooting in full sun.

[Sid Garige]

John,

Very well composed John.

From your settings Data=1/1000, ISO 800, 160mm, 1.7ev, f/5.6
You added +1.7 exposure to this image. Otters are more closer to back and ideally you should have added -ve exposure compensation. Also light looks pretty harsh too.

Good luck next time.

[John Hawkins]

Unfortunitly, I was set at those settings when they were in the water in the shade and when they came ashore I just kept shooting. I didn't want to miss the action.

[Sid Garige]

John,

Image quality is very important. This is what separates good images from great images.:) May be next time.

[Svante Larsson]

Agree with the above comments but maybe the burn-throughs can be saved by going back to the raw conversion ?!?

[John Hawkins]

John,

Very well composed John.

From your settings Data=1/1000, ISO 800, 160mm, 1.7ev, f/5.6
You added +1.7 exposure to this image. Otters are more closer to back and ideally you should have added -ve exposure compensation. Also light looks pretty harsh too.

Good luck next time.

Is this better?

[Dave Leroy]

An exciting time for sure.

Repost does look better and it is always hard to miss the action.

A suggestion for the next time would be to try for a lower shooting angle as well.

Good for you and thanks for posting.

Dave

[Sid Garige]

Is this better?

Looks much better than original post John.

[Bill Stubbs]

John,
It's still a nice capture of the behavior; the second version looks a lot better. Dave makes a good point; a lower angle (as in down on the ground, hand held) would have been better, and I think that would have helped get a catchlight in the eyes of the otters, which would also improve the image (especially with what looks like pretty strong side lighting). This may be one of those situations where working off a tripod might not have been the best thing; hand held or working off a bean bag or ground pod might have given you more freedom to move around for a better shooting and/or lighting angle.

Regards,
Bill

[James Shadle]

Great action!
And what a difference the original and re-post!

OK this is a rhetorical question, just for fun. (Unless you want to answer:))
Knowing you where coming from the shade and did not want to miss the shot by taking time to change the settings, did Sid's comments ruffle your feathers a bit?
Assuming (yes I know what assuming does) your feathers where ruffled, did that prompt you to improve the image in post processing.

If the above is true, it was worth it. The improvement in the re-posted image was outstanding.
The image went from a "shot of record" to a marketable image!
Congratulations.

[John Hawkins]

Great action!
And what a difference the original and re-post!

OK this is a rhetorical question, just for fun. (Unless you want to answer:))
Knowing you where coming from the shade and did not want to miss the shot by taking time to change the settings, did Sid's comments ruffle your feathers a bit?
Assuming (yes I know what assuming does) your feathers where ruffled, did that prompt you to improve the image in post processing.

If the above is true, it was worth it. The improvement in the re-posted image was outstanding.
The image went from a "shot of record" to a marketable image!
Congratulations.

Thank you James. No Sid's comments didn't ruffle my feathers. That is why I am here.... to try and learn. I am an old dog, but I feel I can be taught new tricks. My biggest obstacle does seem to be forgetting the constant changes in lighting and to reset settings for the shot. I am much better at it now than in the past primarily due to the geat teachings from the generous help from some of the best photographers around. I have said this in the past, where else in any profession do you find this kind of help without pulling out a credit card. Thanks for your comments.

[James Shadle]

Thanks for the reply John.
Great attitude about learning. Amazing improvement in the re-post.