Gallery: WildlifePosted May 9, 2013264 views4 comments
Elephant Seal male
Morro Bay, California
March,2013
D800
500mm
1/60 sec, f/13
Mode: Av
Metering: Spot
Exp comp: -1/3
ISO: 250
AF mode: AF-C
White balance: AUTO1
Flash: Off
Close to full-frame, hand-held
Comments
4 comments
Comment posted by Martin Dunn on May 9, 2013 at 2:23 PM
Not a pretty boy.
Cool image Sandy but I think the photo could do with a bit of darkening/exposure adjustment, particularly to reduce the shine on the top of the seal's head.
Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments
Comment posted by John Clulow on May 9, 2013 at 4:10 PM
I really like this image and decided to see what might be possible to address what Martin alludes to.
It is not blown out, and I tried some luminosity masks without much improvement. However, saving it as a jpg and then loading it into Adobe Camera Raw, I think the following settings make it a lot more appealing with the existing exposure; Recovery and Fill both at 50, Black at around 20, and Clarity 27, and Vibrance 13.
With these settings, you can now see the dark and whites of his eyes, and the rest of the highlight detail seems much better to me.
Without regard to all that, the more important thing, I think is the impression one has of a creature that has seen its share of hard knocks in life. It's skin reminds me of the surface of the moon in that regard; S/he definitely has character.
And so if you care to experiment, it would appear possible to make the dynamic range in the eyes stand out more and with that it seems the rest is also improved, and the eyes are then riviting.
Registered on November 1, 2012, 155 Posts, 1079 Comments
Comment posted by Don Westbrook on May 10, 2013 at 11:09 AM
What an interesting face and those scars on the back really tell a story.
Registered on January 4, 2013, 11 Posts, 332 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on May 11, 2013 at 5:13 AM
Well, that sure is a face only a mother can love! I like the good eye contact here Sandy as well as your frame filling composition. In fact I would crop it a little tighter to lose those triangles of BG in the upper section. Further I agree on the suggestions made regarding darkening the brightest areas.
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comments
4 commentsCool image Sandy but I think the photo could do with a bit of darkening/exposure adjustment, particularly to reduce the shine on the top of the seal's head.
It is not blown out, and I tried some luminosity masks without much improvement. However, saving it as a jpg and then loading it into Adobe Camera Raw, I think the following settings make it a lot more appealing with the existing exposure; Recovery and Fill both at 50, Black at around 20, and Clarity 27, and Vibrance 13.
With these settings, you can now see the dark and whites of his eyes, and the rest of the highlight detail seems much better to me.
Without regard to all that, the more important thing, I think is the impression one has of a creature that has seen its share of hard knocks in life. It's skin reminds me of the surface of the moon in that regard; S/he definitely has character.
And so if you care to experiment, it would appear possible to make the dynamic range in the eyes stand out more and with that it seems the rest is also improved, and the eyes are then riviting.