Spinner Dolphin

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 29, 2012438 views5 comments

Spinner Dolphins are probably my favorite dolphins to photograph because they travel in huge pods (some numbering in the thousands) and they love to jump! This one was with a pod of about 50 or so off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica this past January. Unfortunately, we found them in the mid-afternoon so the light is a bit harsh. C&C are always appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon 100-400L IS @ 120mm
ISO 400
F9 @ 1/1,000 sec

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on March 29, 2012 at 10:10 PM

You caught this perfectly. Great timing. Beautiful, graceful pose. Love the water off the rear end. Harsh light that you kept well under control. Fun shot to look at.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on March 30, 2012 at 12:18 AM

Hi James, awesome that you managed to get one mid-air! The large water trail adds a lot to this. The may not have been ideal, but with action shots like these that comes second. Besides that you handled it well. If your file allows, I would only suggest to brighten up the area around the eye a bit more. Ideally a lower angle would have given this a more powerful look, but I assume the boat you were on did not allow that.

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

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 30, 2012 at 3:28 AM

Great mid-air capture! The flying water drops are perfect. Beautiful pose and water - and you handled the "harsh light" well -
I'd also like to see more detail in the eye. I bet a selective levels adjustment would help.
Really nice image!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on April 1, 2012 at 8:52 AM

Maybe a little lighter on the underside of the dophin, including the eye, but other than that, a great shot! Must have been fun. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on April 2, 2012 at 9:33 PM

Thanks folks! Appreciate the comments and I sure wish I could have gotten a better "eye shot" but the high sun angle and location of the eyes on these spinner dolphins makes that hard. Their eyes are set in a bit of a groove of sorts so if you don't have a real low sun angle the eyes are hidden in shadow. Here's a version with the shadow area lightened as much as I could and still no eyes. Spotted dolphins are much easier to get good detail on their eyes than spinners but the spinners jump more.

Thanks again, hope you all enjoy the repost.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments