Another shot from my recent trip to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands)
This is the last shot in a sequence of images of a female Steller's Sea-Lion dragging one of its pups out of the ocean and onto a haul-out rock. In this shot the pup is loudly protesting what it apparently perceives as unduly harsh treatment and it's easy to imagine that Ma is holding on a little longer or tighter than it really needs to in order to teach junior a lesson about carelessly slipping into the sea!
Two comments about this image. First...to me this is one of those frustrating shots where ALMOST everything came together - kind of a "just missed" situation. Even though I shot this during a situation that could only be described as near bedlam (with gulls and cormorants flying in all directions and sea lions all around us) I noticed some compositional elements in this scene that worked really well for me. I'm referring to the combination converging leading lines formed by the foreground and background rocks that all end at the point of action. Seconds before I shot the image the scene was almost "clean" and without distracting elements, but at the last moment the 2nd cub to the right scampered into position and totally changed the scene to what you're seeing now. Bummer! I guess when photographing social, colonial species one has to accept the constraints! Oh, and by the way - YES, I know that between the clone tool and the "Content Aware Fill" feature of Photoshop CS5 I could easily rid the scene of the distracting 2nd pup, but that simply doesn't work for me philosophically.
My second comment pertains to leveling images. Some viewers will likely notice that the head angle of the adult female sea-lion is slightly off-vertical, which visually implies I had the camera tilted a little when I shot the image (which wouldn't be surprising, given I shot this image while hand-holding a largish lens while bobbing in the ocean in an inflatable boat). However, VERY careful observers will notice that the faint cloud line in the distance IS level - implying that that shot is, in fact, level. This is a crop, and if I showed the full-frame image it would be even clearer that the image is level. But, this brings up an interesting conundrum: What's more important in an image - being perceived as level or actually BEING level (regardless of perception)? Normally, I try to make my captures as level as possible and am always comparing viewfinder reference points/lines to lines in the scene (horizons, vertical trees or poles, etc.), but - like everyone - occasionally I screw up. When I do, I normally opt for adjusting to a state of perceived level, as opposed to true level (unless, of course, they're the same). In this case, I experimented with making the female sea-lion's face absolutely vertical, and to my eye the tilted clouds looked WAY more unnatural than the slight tilt to the head (which really had no inherent reason for being absolutely vertical anyway).
One more little thing to lodge in your brain when shooting or processing your images!
Subject: Steller's Sea-Lion (
Eumetopias jubatus) - female with pup
Location: Gwaii Haanas National Park, Haida Gwaii, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikkor 200-400 mm f/4 VR zoom lens at 210mm - handheld from floating Zodiac boat. VR on and in "Active" mode.
Exposure: 1/1320s at f6.3. ISO 400. -0.67 stop compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Crop: Significant - this is only about 75% of the original capture
All the contextual information surrounding this shot (field notes, all camera settings and processing details, conservation, etc.) can be found at:
http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/mammals/other/detail_4.html.
Comments and feedback greatly appreciated...probably better to view larger version prior to doing so...
Cheers...
Brad
Comments
11 commentsGreat work as always and thanks for sharing.
I am waiting for some under water shots from you Brad!
Congrats
D&L
Another wonderfully crisp image showing a wonderful interaction between mother and child. I agree that this is an "almost" everything shot. While the 2nd sea lion pup is a distraction, I'm more bothered by the diagonal rock on the right side of the image that slants down into the body. For me if it were shifted over so that it completely encompassed the sea lion it would be much more pleasing to the eye. I also feel that the comp is too centered.
- Luke
I do agree the photo would be stronger sans second pup but....
Peter
Great.. really a wonderful capture! thanks for sharing..
Dethan Punalur,
Coonoor, India.
The picture doesn't give any serious clues to leveling.
Many times I get carried by the scene, so I have to make a conscious effort to remember leveling.
Jagdeep Rajput
The triangular diagonals are perfect, to my eye, as is the centered choice for mother and child. I, too, would have been gnashing my teeth over the second youngster jumping into the scene! Still it works very well.
To my eye, the tilt of the mother's head does not translate as a level issue and is in fact an enhancement, adding a sense of attitude. I think the line of distant clouds in this case offers adequate level balance.
Level versus perceived is a huge issue for me, however. In my local area most horizons are high plains plateaus sloping into the foothills of the Black Hills. They are markedly sloped which gives the eye a sense of the terrain's undulation, but framed through the lens they make a scene seem tilted. If there are not competing cloud lines or such to counter, I often choose to make the final image based on perception of level versus actual level!