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Grey Seal
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Grey Seal

by Luke Ormand

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 12, 201067 views6 comments
On Saturday I went to a grey seal release held by the local marine mammal rescue outfit the Riverhead Foundation. Anytime a seal or sea turtle is found on Long Island and in need of medical attention, it is brought to their facility until it is healthy enough for a release into the wild. The foundation almost always holds public releases at a beach 5 minutes away which is convenient for me - however they usually hold these at noon which means awful lighting. This weekend it was held at four PM and I was certainly grateful for that. I was also grateful for the seal moving up and down the shoreline for a little bit before heading out to sea which allowed me to get some sweet closeups.

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC HH crouched
f/8
1/2000s
ISO 640

Full Frame, Sharpened Subject

- Luke

Comments

6 comments
Comment posted by Alessandra & Rocco on July 13, 2010 at 2:30 AM
Amazing portrait, Luke!

I like yhe splash that gives more dynamism :wavey:
Registered on March 3, 2007, 122 Posts, 778 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 13, 2010 at 11:26 AM
I like the water splashing up against him. I think I would prefer just a little more space for headroom. What a nice opportunity at only five minutes required!
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by kiran khanzode on July 13, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Beautiful eye level here. :toast:
Registered on February 21, 2009, 83 Posts, 428 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on July 13, 2010 at 1:50 PM
Sweeeet! Gorgeous portrait with excellent detail Luke. I do echo Lon's comment for more head room though. :toast: :toast:
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comment posted by Guy Runco on July 13, 2010 at 10:07 PM
Really neat seal shot - I agree with the others about the lack of headroom, those water splashes make up for it though! :smile:
Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments
Comment posted by Brad Hill on July 14, 2010 at 9:13 AM
Hi Luke,

Nice to have a repeating photo op only 5 minutes away! Nice portrait and I quite like those water droplets. I hate to sound like a broken record, but my first thought on seeing the image was the same "tight on top" view expressed by others. I'm also thinking the seal's head might be a little too far into the frame - I think I'd prefer to see a little more room on the left (in front of the seal) even at the expense of losing a little of the seal's back.

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

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