Watching You -Grey Seal+Pano

Crawling forward to a small group of male bull Grey seals is a slow and painstaking task,but for me its the only way to get close to these beautiful mammals and try to capture their normal behaviour and expressions before they become to alarmed and move. This image was taken about 30 feet away and this bull seal was sunning himself in the afternoon light.I have tryed to capture a different look by concentrating the composition purely on his face and managed to capture this 'Seen You' look at which point my advances stopped.A beautiful experience for me to have seen and photographed this very large and majestic male Grey seal.

All Comments And Advice Welcome

Nikon D300
Nikon F4VR600
F8,1/500
iso 400,+0.3ev
Matrix
Skimmer Ground Pod II
PP-CS3,Full Frame,No Crop

Thanks For Looking

Very commendable stalking skills Craig and a good image for your efforts.

Great shot Craig yes they are very big and powerful you did well to get this shot
Bronia

A wonderful and dramatic shot. The POV is stunning, You get the impression that you are almost nose to nose Craig!!

Lovely image Craig, could you get any lower!!!

The comp and pose work really well together.


liam

What a great looking bull. That expression and posture - very content and relaxed. I'm not entirely sure about the composition. I wonder what it would have looked like shot from further back with the arch of his back showing. I expect you've got loads of shots to compare. Fantastic POV on this.

Tim

Craig,

Yes, it's a wonderful perspctive I've not really seen before. It's always good to see something like this in a different way...

I'm wondering what would have happened if you'd gotten too close and upset him

I'm also wondering if you've tried cropping the bottom half inch away to see what happens to the composition?

-David

Thank you for your comments,David no danger of getting any closer as the look told me 'hold on there'. The look tell's the tale for me and the reason for the image and compositon

Excellent composition and refreshing view at these often photographed beauties.
like it a lot!

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Works well for me. I really like the composition and the point of view.

The low view point and angle give a real feel for the size of the animal.
I agree with david that losing a bit from the bottom may help by putting the OOF foreground closer to a third.
A really well seen and taken image.

Tony

Nits covered and I like the chose POV. I have been nose to nose with these guys enough to get something from a simple 18-55mm whilst working alongside and it gets the heart pumping a bit. They are so interested in the females that they tend not to hardly raise an eyebrow but as you've said, always best to keep a respectful distance. Lose a little from the bottom and it works really well for me.

Brett

Lovely powerful image Craig and particularly like the composition.

Hello Craig.

I agree the compostion on this one as work really well and one I probably would not have thought of. I think a crop of the bottom would make this even stronger.

Good work Craig and well seen.

Love the comp buddy nice to see something different!!!


Craig
www.craigchurchill.co.uk

Hi Craig, very nice indeed.

Great shot Craig. Very nice to see something different. Those eyes have the look of someone who has seen it all and done it.

Thanks very much for the kind comments,and gone down better than I thought Here is a pano crop,thanks again