Going Against the Flow
I nabbed this shot of a Harbor Seal apparently sleeping while floating at the end of a narrow inlet in the Great Bear Rainforest. I shot this image just after the slack of high tide - and the water was now beginning to recede (rapidly!). The seal was actually perched on top of a barely submerged log, and was able to hold its position against the water flow with no effort. The ripples extending downstream from the seal (to the right of the seal as you look at the image) are tell-tale indicators of the flow of the tide (and definitely made me think "hey, how's he doing that?" - until I figured out he was atop a submerged log).
I loved the simplicity and peacefulness of this scene, thanks largely to the heavy mist in the background. For me the mist made the shot work, and how the scene looks now mirrors what I believe I saw in the field. But...it's a long way from how the raw image (or, the final product if you were shooting JPEG's) appeared straight out of the camera. Simply put, shooting in misty conditions with modern digital cameras often results in totally flat images that are pretty much washed out - from foreground to background. In the untouched raw file the seal was visible, but almost totally lacking in detail and colour (and contrast). And the background was close to detail-less (the distant forest could NOT be made out). But I'm getting ahead of myself...first the capture techs:
Subject: Harbor Seal (
Phoca vitulina) peacefully fighting against the flow of the tide
Location: Great Bear Rainforest, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR - hand-held from floating Zodiac. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/400s @ f7.1; ISO 450. -1.0 stop compensation compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Very minimal- this is about 95% of full frame
As usual, more contextual info about this image - including processing details - available on my website, right here. In this case I discuss a few post-processing techniques that are helpful in making flat, washed-out scenes shot in mist and fog come back to life...
http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/.
Comments and critiques welcomed - definitely best to view the larger version prior to doing so!
Cheers...
Brad
Comments
10 commentsThanks. You say:
In my opinion: No. A tighter crop would negate much of the scene, which is what this image is about - the entire scene. But...I do understand your point - there's a 2400 pixel version of the image on my website (link above) - and at that resolution you can see the expression just fine!
Cheers...
Brad
Thanks for the feedback on this image...it's the kind of shot that I personally prefer over most "frame-fillers" (that I shoot).
A few specific responses:
1. Bill F: You said "I love the proportion of subject to frame and the overall comp."
I shoot most of my wildlife shots with a prime lens (often the 400mm f2.8 VR) but have to say I was really wishing I had a zoom on this occasion (I had to wait a LONG time for us to drift back and into the right position to get this, and was quite fearful the seal was going to vamoose before "it came together". Fortunately it was a very lazy seal who wanted to get his quota (and more) of sleep.
2. Kurt you say: "it's images like this which make me wish we could post full size shots"
I agree! As our cameras get higher and higher in resolution the web is becoming a less and less satisfying place to post our images. I'm using a retina display (on my laptop) now, and while I don't like it for image-editing, it does make hi-res shots absolutely pop!
Cheers...
Brad
Just love the rising mist here.
Jagdeep Rajput