Knife's Edge

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 6, 20151,123 views4 comments

I was lucky enough to watch a pod (J-pod for those keeping score at home) of resident Orcas swim past off the coast of San Juan Island Washington on my vacation. A mere hour before we had been kayaking this very spot - now that we were safely on shore, I was happy to view these giants. While many were a decent ways offshore, a handful swan pretty close - it was incredible to hear them breath and listen to the slap of their flukes. The processing of this image was inspired by some older images in Brad Hill's portfolio of Orca Whales and I hope it translates well here. Thanks

Nikon D7100 80-400mm VR HH @ 400mm

f/8

1/1250s

ISO 320

Full Frame, converted to B&W in LR, minor adjustments in PS and Perfect Effects 8. Cloned out a bad stretch of blown highlights on the whale and a few very tiny spots in the water.

- Luke

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Steve Kennedy on May 6, 2015 at 11:14 PM

Very nice Luke! Congratulations on the siting. These are increbible animals.

I like the B&W conversion. It is rather dark giving it more of a menacing feel to it. devil

Registered on March 9, 2009, 79 Posts, 676 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on May 7, 2015 at 11:25 AM

I think you made a wise decision with going for B+W, it makes this look more absrtact and emphasizes the orca cleaving through the uniform water surface.

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 8, 2015 at 12:21 PM

Luke, I like how the contrasty dark BW processing showcases the texture of the foreground water. If this were mine I would consider a crop from top to further emphasize that effect by removing some of the oof background water and to move the subject slightly off exact center. Still, looks nice as posted.

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

Comment posted by Brad Hill on May 12, 2015 at 8:35 AM

Hey Luke,

This is one of those shots where the thumbnail doesn't do the image justice - the very appealing contrast in the larger versions kind of fades in the thumbnail. These guys are tough to photograph effectively (hey...how much can you do with just a fin?), but I think the B&W conversion adds to the image.

I tend to agree with Lon's comments about the positioning of the subject in the frame, but I do think the centred composition here works better than most.

Cheers...

Brad

PS: I've photographed this very pod a number of times (and likely the female shown here)...they do tend to get around!

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments