Orca Power!

Hey all...

There's almost nothing that compares to the feeling that's "in the air" when Orcas (or Killer Whales) swim closely by a boat of any size - it's a mix of raw power, awe, amazement, and even a little fear. I suppose it's partly because of their colour, partly because of their size, and - to a larger degree - partly due to the way they just keep relentlessly moving through the water with an ease that belies their bulk and size. This image is one in a series of shots of this pod but is among my favourites. I had to wait until the whales passed a heavily shaded background to get the dark, moody look. I did have to underexpose the image significantly to "get it right" and retain the highlights in the water - this image was under-exposed by -1.67 stops compared to what the built-in light meter suggested.

This image is one of the first I processed after switching from my long-favourite raw converter (Phase One's Capture One Pro) to Adobe Lightroom. I announced my switch on my blog recently and in the days that followed I received a lot of email asking me what parts of my workflow I had "handed over" to Lightroom. It's probably not the place to discuss this here, but if anyone is interested in reading how I integrated Lightroom into my workflow (and what tasks I'm using it for), just read the info under the "In the Field" tab on this image on my website:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/.

Back to this image:

Subject: Orca (Orcinus orca) pod surfacing
Location: Off the northern tip of Vancouver Island), BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikkor 600mm f/4 VRII lens supported on tripod with Wimberley head. VR on and set to "Normal" mode
Exposure: 1/1000s at f5. ISO 1000. -1.67 stop compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Crop: This is about 80% of full frame

Processing details also available at the end of the link above...

Cheers...

Brad

PS: Some parts I have had on order for awhile have arrived - so I'll be undergoing a system hardware upgrade next week (all warranty work - nice to be Canuck in situations like this!!). This will force me offline for awhile - it's possible that you may not "see me" around this gallery until December 10 or even later. In the interim...good luck to everyone on their shooting - and may Photeus (the ancient pagan Greek goddess of digital photography) smile upon you.