Cruisin' the Kelp

Gallery: WildlifePosted September 3, 2014218 views6 comments

Cruisin' the Kelp

One of the most fascinating aspects of sea otter behavior is how the females interact with their kits. Sea otters are fully aquatic mammals that rarely go on land. Their kits are born without the ability to swim and initially rest on their mother's chest while she swims or floats on her back. Kits are usually weaned at about 6 months of age, and can swim very well long before that. This shot captures a kit that is approaching the age of weaning, but still seems to like hitch-hiking along atop mom's chest! We caught this mother-kit pair as they were motoring through a kelp forest, and we trolled beside them in our small Zodiac. When I look at this shot I'm left wondering who was the more curious of the other - the photographers or the subjects?

I find sea otters so cute and photogenic that I often try to move in tight for close-up shots (for portraits that emphasize their high "cute factor"). But what struck me about this "scene" - besides the dark and deep rich tones - was just how well the colour of the otters matched the colour of their surroundings. Given that this is the absolute definition of sea otter habitat, I guess that's no surprise. So rather than trying to move in for a tighter shot (and my 600mm lens was mounted on a camera right beside me), I intentionally chose to shoot a "looser" shot and capture the animals plus the environment in which they were found (a good ol' "enviroscape").

Subject: Female Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) with kit
Location: Northern tip of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D4s
Lens: Nikkor 400mm f2.8G VR - handheld from Zodiac. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/2000s @ f7.1; ISO 2200. -0.67 stop compensation from "recommended" matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: Moderate - this is about 80% of full frame - cropped proportionally off each side.

More info about this shot - including post-processing info - available here on my website:

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

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!

Cheers...

Brad

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on September 3, 2014 at 8:03 PM

Really nice portrait of these 2 sea otters. They do blend in with their aquatic environment, but your photo shows them well. Would not change anything. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on September 3, 2014 at 8:10 PM

One of your best otter shots. Love the environment. It adds so much.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on September 4, 2014 at 9:35 AM

This is really, really dark....and it works really, really well! The effect is to totally draw attention to the brighter faces of the main subjects, then to let the eye/brain marvel at how similar they are in shape and coloration to their surroundings. Artistically, I think this is a strong work.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on September 4, 2014 at 11:58 AM

Great behavior n very interesting frame !
Animal in this kind of environment, requires lot of experience n expertise, as well to pull off a picture like this. No wonder you did so well here.

Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Ashleigh Scully on September 4, 2014 at 2:18 PM

Wow this looks like a print in a gallery. The otters blend in so well with the kelp I didn't see them the first time on the smaller photo. Great environment, too.

Registered on November 4, 2013, 36 Posts, 210 Comments

Comment posted by David Bogener on September 5, 2014 at 2:53 PM

Very interesting and dramatic image. Sooo dark, but it works . Consider cropping to pano excluding the portion on the top above the kelp?

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments