The Unfortunate Salmon

Great Bear, Great Fish, Great light & splashing water!
I love everything about this picture, the only nit is coming wave in the middle of the frame but you couldn't do anything about it.
Jagdeep Rajput
PS: Forgot to mention...blood driping from the mouth of fish!

Thanks Jagdeep - but it's not a wave, it's simply the oof water in the foreground. The water was hardly deep enough for the salmon to swim in, let alone for waves to form.

I love the Action here !!! Splashing Water .. Dripping Water ... Spurting Blood ... Absolutely Dramatic Moment

Thank goodness for the large version. I'm amazed at how large that paw is. Also, the blood path from the fish tells quite a story. Great action shot.

Spectacular! The blood dripping from the salmon is incredible, along with everything else. Well done!

Marsel, this simply unbelievable... How can we critique an image like this? All I can say is
This is easily one of the best wildlife photos I have ever seen! Thanks for sharing, you have outperformed yourself again.

Another stunning wildlife image! I think the low viewpoint makes it work so well.

An amazing shot and a pleasure to view.

Simply excellent.

incredible moment, and perfectly captured! what a great shot!

Absolutely horrible image! That poor Salmon being killed, way too graphic!


All kidding aside, looks like you caputured one of those perfect moments in nature a perfect way, another one for on the wall!

Just out of curiosity, how does the 'normal' public view this image (meaning non-photographers), and by that I mean the squirting blood? I've heard a lot of complaints about 'graphic' images in the past, I get the impression a lot of people only want to see the good side of nature and not the reality of kill of be killed. ( Apperently a Golden Eagle ripping the intestines out of a Hare is distastefull )

My back aches big time! Will be visiting my chiropractor, the moment I close this window. I second Vincent - you have simply outperformed yourself. Love the details in the larger version a lot!

The larger image really shows the incredible detail

Beauty Marsel! Nothing to critique here, but as I look at it I wonder if you used some negative auto compensation? I'm trying to imagine myself taking a shot of the same scene and I can easily see me blowing out the hightlights of water, the bear's lighter fur and the salmon. Can you give some insight as to how you exposed for this shot?

Julie

Your images really make me yell "Whoa!", all to myself in my little office. My wife thinks there's something wrong with me, lol.
Freaking AMAZING shot!

Like Julie, I too would love some insight on how you exposed this... It does seem like a tricky exposure.

Hi Marsel,

Excellent shot. If there's one single thing that "really does it for me" with this shot, it's the bear's right paw - love how the claws are visible just above the water...

Cheers...thanks for sharing this great shot...

Brad

The drama very well freezed in time. Excellent image Marsel

Just out of curiosity, how does the 'normal' public view this image (meaning non-photographers), and by that I mean the squirting blood? I've heard a lot of complaints about 'graphic' images in the past, I get the impression a lot of people only want to see the good side of nature and not the reality of kill of be killed.

So many people, so many opinions - there are those that only want to see nature as being a big happy place, and there are those that like to see nature as it really is: wild. I'm always a little surprised when I hear people complain about nature images being too graphic; most movies, videogames and newspapers feature way more graphic images, and it doesn't seem to bother the vast majority of people one bit. Violence, death and destruction is part of life on earth, whether you like it or not. If you don't, you can just look the other way and pretend it's not there. However, it also depends on your audience - when I show wildlife images to children, I'd leave out the graphic ones.

Beauty Marsel! Nothing to critique here, but as I look at it I wonder if you used some negative auto compensation?

In this case I just used Matrix metering - the whole scene is evenly lit and the bear is not large enough in the frame to trick the meter into overexposure. Had the bear been closer, I would have switched to manual exposure, locking the exposure for the background. It's ok for shadow areas to get really dark, but you should always prevent highlights from blowing out.

AMAZING..probably a once in a lifetime shot. Wonderful lighting/detail/action!

Marsel, your photos are always beyond top notch, and this one is no exception. Outstanding work.

Incredible, Marsel. Congratulations on the EP!

Great shot! I love the light and the water coming off the bear.

Wonderful capture. Congratulations.

Although there have been a number of good and interesting posts this week in the Fauna gallery, this image clearly stood out and rightfully attracted a lot of attention. This is truly a jaw-dropping action photo that depicts the cruelty of nature, yet it does so in an artistic manner. Composition, lighting, animal poses, background, angle of view, and details such as splashing blood and water, all is in perfect harmony in this image. Like I said previously in my comment above Marsel, you have outperformed yourself once again! Therewith setting the bar very high for all wildlife photographers out there, including you.

Wow, sweet shot...the drops of blood are definitely the highlite here, that's just pure art!

This is about as perfect as it gets. Great shot Marsel!! Perfect light, splashing water, that front paw showing the claws on these massive animals...great focus. Nice job!!

Rods and reels are for sissies. Catch it in your mouth. Congrats on the WP.

OMG! This is serious Nat Geo stuff! Thanks for the larger image; it's got much greater detail in the bear's body that is missing on the smaller one.

Can't believe I didn't see this before! Just fantastic!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI