The Dive

This one is cool too!

Fantastic light! The amount of water splashing obscures the orca a bit much but not much else to complain about.

Brad - I prefer the first one as I'm not crazy about the negative space on the right, but that's a minor nit. You must have a pretty large collection of photos if you "lose" some in your Orca folder for 4 years...

I love the backlighting on the water mist in this. It helps to light the orca against the dark water. I think you need to hire an assistant to go through your old files and find work that needs to be processed.

This too, is very cool. I can see where loosing "A+" images amongst the "A++" shots might pose some problems for you when going to post.
The limitations of a fixed focal length lens on composition, positioning a water-craft with a moving pod or individual and controlling exposure in such a manner are testament of a calm and deliberate manner. Can you expound a bit on the platform craft and its control and positioning. It would appear from the images posted, that keeping with the Orcas was tantamount to the execution of these wonderful images.
I'm frequently asked what the perfect histogram looks like and will now refer to your site and these images to forward the discussion.
Well done, as usual!
Neil

I love the backlighting and dark atmosphere...what makes this image so compelling in my opinion.

Yes Brad, you really do have me shaking my head and grinning at the same time. Of course you already realize you should not have lost this for four years!

I would like to point out to others that although the two images are similar they are NOT like a minor variation of a theme/scene that we usually get when we shoot a series of an animal. The other posting was all about the suspended water with an orca as the accent/foundation. (This commentary is all just MY opinion, of course...) This one is more graphic in design. Note how the water vapor is a nearly vertical edged column that becomes a 1/3 panel for the left edge of the image, which happens to be fortuitously braced by an orca's dorsal fin! The bottom of the frame is identifiable as an orca but the up-swell of water seems to be the real visual focus. What I like best about that is although the surface of the water is defined in the near foreground by the lines of ripples, the background horizon is entirely absent, keeping the viewer's attention on the motion of the water. The nicely balanced negative space of the upper right might make for room for text...as in using this for the cover of a coffee table book!

What else have you been forgetting Brad?

Hey folks,

Looks like a few responses are in order:

1. Luke...you said:

...I'm not crazy about the negative space on the right...

I was going to reply to this but Lon did it for me (much more eloquently than I would) - see his comments...

2. Neil you asked:

Can you expound a bit on the platform craft and its control and positioning?

I shot this while on a tour with a company called Ocean Light II Adventures. On this (and all their tours) they use a 71' sailboat (a ketch) with a diesel engine. The skipper for their whale tours has worked with whales for decades and is adept at keeping pace with the whales and not spooking them. This image was shot from the deck of the sailboat, which is firm enough to use long super-telephotos (think 500 or 600mm lenses) on tripods. My 2010 Orca tour (with Ocean Light II Adventures) is sold out, but the folks at Ocean Light II Adventures do have room available for photographers this August. The details (and links to info on their trips - and my 2011 tour - is available on my blog (see April 27 entry).

3. Lon: You seem to find a way to get inside my head and express what I was thinking in image capture and/or processing so well! You ask (mostly in jest);

What else have you been forgetting Brad?

.
You'll see...

Cheers...

Brad

If Lon ain't gonna kill you I will!!!!
Just kidding,feel more like kissing the screen

The spray against the dark bg (no doubt made possible by the -2.33 exp compensation), the dark choppy waters, the dorsal fin - what more can one ask for?

A terrific image !!! It is more difficult to 'see' this kind of image, forget about photographing it.
Jagdeep Rajput

Lon,

Thanks for the explination! I guess it's all about your application...

Lovely atmosphere Brad, glad you refound it!