Leave my sushi alone!

Gallery: WildlifePosted August 2, 2011175 views12 comments

As I popped into a local bird sanctuary I had no idea that birds would be the last thing to steal the show on this particular morning. In one of the hides I noticed a family of spotted-necked otters swimming about very close to the hide. They were very inquisitive and curious about my presence there. I was the only person around, and pretty soon they let go of their timidness and climbed out onto the rocks below my position to inspect my lens protruding from the hide opening.

The next moment, one of them dove down into the water and came back up with the head of a freshly caught catfish. It then proceeded to eat a large part of it right in front of me on the rocks. I had too much glass and only one camera/lens combo with me, so I took off my 1.4x TC and moved to the best possible vantage point. Unfortunately the little guy was sitting in the shade of the hide most of the time so the light was left wanting. The shots I got make up for that in terms of detail, behaviour and things like this stare I got. This was my first sighting of this rare otter and I will remember it for a long time.

All critique most welcome. This is full frame with a wee bit cropped off the RHS.

Techs:
Canon 7D with 300mm f2.8 L IS USM
f7.1 @ 1/250 SS @ ISO-1600
Exp +1

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on August 2, 2011 at 4:31 PM

Really fine detail. I do wonder how it would look as a vertical crop, emphasizing the face, paw and fish.

I love otters, and long to see them in Africa. Congratulations on the sighting!

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on August 2, 2011 at 9:22 PM

Stellar image Morkel ! It was an absolute pleasure staring at the large version

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on August 3, 2011 at 2:25 AM

Like this a lot Morkel and that sideways glance conveys a lot, good detail where it counts. With hindsight Morkel, a slight move to the right might have helped the comp and lessened the slightly brighter reddish rock behind?

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on August 3, 2011 at 3:33 AM

Great shot, excellent detail on the otter. Congrats on this rare capture!

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on August 3, 2011 at 10:15 AM

Terrific details n great capture here !
I may prefer to burn down the bright rock, slightly.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on August 3, 2011 at 10:59 AM

The effect is very dramatic and you handled the techs perfectly. I might tweak it with a minor crop...How about from the top, half way to the ears, which re-positions the key focal points and would make it even more "in your face" personal. Excellent work!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on August 3, 2011 at 1:22 PM

Wow, lots of (gruesome) detail here indeed Morkel! What a great sighting and a most impressive image. You did well, but a pity you did not have a shorter lens with you, the clipped head is a bit unfortunate. I am left wondering if you could have included it if you had shot this vertical.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on August 3, 2011 at 11:09 PM

Lovely, sharp image, Morkel, but Vincent is right; the oof bright rock in the bg is a bit distracting, and it is a pity about the head.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on August 4, 2011 at 12:39 AM

Thanks for the honest feedback folks.

Steve I was as far to the right of the hide as possible while still maintaining a good view of the subject

I also did not even try to shoot vertical as he was feeding with such a frenzy that I often lost him out of the viewfinder in landscape orientation. I tried my best to focus on the mouth and eyes and hoped some of the frames would come out half-decent.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on August 5, 2011 at 12:55 AM

Despite the challenges you had you've acquired a brilliant shot, congratulations Morkel! Hope to see some more :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Clinton Bauder on August 6, 2011 at 1:38 AM

Neat shot. Love all the gruesome detail on the catfish and the jealous look in the otter's eyes. The clipped head doesn't bother me much but I tend to like tight crops.

Clinton

Registered on December 8, 2009, 31 Posts, 231 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on August 9, 2011 at 10:20 PM

Thanks Clinton & Ashley

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments