Grandpa Otter

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 26, 2010130 views5 comments

Hi all,
I was going through some of my old photos, and thought I'd share this one with you. It is from a trip to Alaska two years ago. We were staying at a lodge along the coast, and got a nature tour by boat that was really neat. We were able to see otters, bald eagles, and countless other birds. For me the highlight was this otter, who our guide told us was the oldest in the area. He was very friendly, and still active, despite his age. With the combination of moving boat and moving otter, it was tough to get any shots.
Unfortunately, I was new to my Rebel, and somehow I switched it to jpeg instead of RAW, so I have to be really careful about moving and compressing this photo.
Hope you like it! Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.
-Cam

Tech:
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 @ 300mm f/6.3
1/500 sec
ISO 400

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Jeff Loomis on January 26, 2010 at 5:19 PM

Sounds like a great trip. And I like this image. IMO, the otter looks a just tad soft, but that's pretty good given the conditions. The water has such rich colors it makes a nice setting for this lovable creature. You definitely captured the feeling that he is kind of old and haggard - but with a lot of character.

Registered on January 26, 2010, 68 Posts, 719 Comments

Comment posted by Clinton Bauder on January 26, 2010 at 7:41 PM

Echoing Jeff - it looks a bit soft to my eye but I do like the color of the water. Otter pictures often have a light grey-green or brown water background due to being shot in harbors, sloughs or other protected areas with bad water quality where photographers can get close.

I like the angle of the head and the sad but wise look on the otter's face.

BTW this animal is very likely a female based on the scars and wound on the nose. Otter mating is quite rough and usually involves the male biting the female on the nose.

Registered on December 8, 2009, 31 Posts, 231 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on January 27, 2010 at 9:08 AM

Hi Cam,

Nice "grab" given the conditions. Shame about the JPEG capture - my first thought about the image was that it was high on the contrast side, but there's less you can do about that on a JPEG than on a RAW. The flippers in the background are a bit of an enigma to me - at first glance (and second glance, come to think of it

) it's a little tough to tell if they're owned by the main subject (who must be twisting quite a bit if they're attached to the same body!) or a second otter in the background. To my eye if they're from a second otter they're a bit of a distraction, but if attached to the main subject they add some interest to the image - all depends on how you look at the image (and how one perceives the image "at a glance").

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

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

Comment posted by Sally King on January 27, 2010 at 7:03 PM

I thought it was all one animal until I read Brad's comments and then I began to wonder. I really like the rich blue water and the very cute face. She looks unhappy though.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Cam Held on January 27, 2010 at 7:53 PM

Thank you everyone for your comments!
Just wanted to clear things up-

Brad & Sally- It is just one otter. As I said, he was moving fast, and apparently his front half couldn't keep up with his rear!

Clinton- Our guide was a local naturalist, and he said it was a male, so I just went by what he said. Who knows if he was right though. Thanks for the input and info on the species.
-Cam

Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments