Big, Frozen World

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 25, 2015190 views10 comments

Well, I thought I'd see how far one could push the limits on a "small in the frame" shot.

My wife and I spotted this river otter making its way across a frozen lake in Waterton Lakes National Park this winter, and after watching it for a bit I decided it was kind of a cool scene that needed to be recorded in pixels.

The otter is making its way across the frozen Lower Waterton Lake from outlet to inlet (the two places with open water. I still cannot believe the vast distance it traveled without breaking stride. The lake is approximately 1mi long, and we watched him lope across the entire surface. Pretty impressive!

So...does this work, or is it just a little TOO small in the frame? I was trying to give a sense of the vastness of the otter's frozen world, but I recognize it is awfully small as presented. I had to use live view to focus to be sure I had the otter as sharp as possible.

Thanks for your time and thoughts! You can actually make out the otter in the larger version.

Nikon D600
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/4D IF-ED
settings to come (sorry, stripped exif out of my low res files by mistake)
resting on truck window
cropped to app. 50% of original

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Ronald Murphy on March 25, 2015 at 8:37 AM

Even though there is very little breathing room at the bottom, this still works for me. Desperately wishing your logo wasn't obscuring.

Registered on March 13, 2012, 279 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on March 25, 2015 at 9:04 AM

Hey John,

I'm kinda chuckling right now - when I looked at the thumbnail of this shot I mistook your deer logo for the subject. When I looked at the standard version I saw the subject, but had a bit of a hard time discerning what it was (i.e., identifying the shape as a mustelid). I'm thinking (based on Ronald's comment) that others are making the same mistake. Which makes me wonder if you've crossed over the "subject too insignificant" line (either that or you should remove your logo!!).

On a more serious note - this is an interesting experiment and one I play with myself as well. I have a landscape shot that shows 3 tiny grizzlies at the bottom of the frame that looks great as a real big print, but I haven't posted it online owing to how they'd render at 720 pixels (they'd be about a pixel each!). I think this shot is one that may work well if seen larger, but might have limited success online by display size constraints (i.e., not suited to this display medium). I like the patterning of the snow/ice...wondering if the subject might be a TAD too high in the frame? Just a thought...

Thanks for staying outside the box!

Cheers...

Brad

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

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on March 25, 2015 at 12:51 PM

I thought it was a gnat on my screen.

Seriously, I like the river ice, but this is just too small for this venue. I am really curious as to how it wood look really large.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 25, 2015 at 3:09 PM

Pretty cool scene, John, and it must have been a treat to witness.

For me, it is a bit too small in the frame. The patterns created by the thawing ice are wonderful, but I think the otter simply gets lost in it all. And before looking at the larger version, I first thought the logo was the subject, and then spotted the otter but mistook it for a blurry bird in flight.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 25, 2015 at 10:52 PM

I'm a bit ambivalent about this, John. I actually don't think the otter is too small, though I wouldn't want it any smaller. I agree with Brad that I'd like it just a bit lower, but it looks like you were trapped between the shoreline on the bottom of the frame and a white sky at the top (which I'd be tempted to remove). The telling thing to me is that I looked at it far longer than most images.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on March 26, 2015 at 2:04 AM

Ha - thanks for indulging me!

The otter was a long way away but as it made its way across the lake it slowly sunk in that it was a pretty cool scene and worth a few tries behind the shutter.

Dennis and Brad, the top of the frame is the far shoreline and including any land added an unnecessary element so I didn't have a lot of choice here other than cropping differently from the bottom (like a pano perhaps).

Anyway, thanks for letting me slide this one in and "test the waters."

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on March 26, 2015 at 10:03 AM

As a big abstract fan, I think the pattern in the ice makes for a fine view. Given that, the hint of otter adds just a bit of spice. Yes, that hard dark shoreline is a bit of a distraction.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ingrid Vekemans on March 26, 2015 at 3:34 PM

If that had been a real deer, it would have been a prize winner

I love the idea, the lines, the colours, the composition…but I wish the otter were a bit bigger in the frame. But definitely very original

Grt, Ingrid.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 138 Posts, 780 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on March 26, 2015 at 11:49 PM

This has a "Where's Waldo?" kind of appeal. I think the posted impact would have been better if you had it without the competing elk logo on the bottom edge, which really detracted from the sense of vast ice and tiny subject. I would like to see this printed as a pano, (I think) of about the top half.

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

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on April 1, 2015 at 5:04 AM

I really like your composition here ........ Great work !

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments