Nature Photographers Network
This is the preserved archive of the original Nature Photographers Network. The community continues at naturephotographers.network.
American Beaver
‹ PreviousWildlife GalleryNext ›

American Beaver

by Max Waugh

Gallery: WildlifePosted November 17, 2014204 views3 comments
We had a nice session with a couple of beavers during one of my spring Yellowstone tours. This is an animal that's normally difficult to get full body shots of, since it spends so much time partially submerged. This individual was kind enough to crawl up and out over parts of the bank as it headed upstream.

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm f/4 IS + 1.4x TC
ISO 800
1/320th
f/5.6

Max

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by William Bickle on November 17, 2014 at 4:33 PM
Hello Max

Good to see the Full Monty ! The toplines are great from Tip of Nose to tip of Tail!

I find the Reflective wet fur on the face area Very Bright and a distraction to the Overall Beautiful Capture.
Some small adjustment here would Really make this Image , Stand-Out !

Thanks for sharing

Bill
Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on November 19, 2014 at 10:57 AM
It is truly tough to get a full pose from a beaver like this! Cool. Wet fur makes for tricky processing and it would take a larger edition to fully see quality of said details. That said, at this size presentation it "feels" slightly odd, and I wonder if a very modest decrease in exposure on just the fur would be an enhancement?
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 22, 2014 at 10:47 AM
I appreciate the feedback, guys.

When processing, I actually attempted to reduce the highlights specifically for the reasons mentioned. It's shiny wet, fur, and on this sunny day it was pretty difficult to eliminate all glare. This is a problem I've found with otters as well. You get a lot of reflection off that slick fur in bright sunlight, and it often appears "soft."

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