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Archive 2019 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

SeanHew
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Hi Everyone,

I photographed a wild otter at sunset. Would appreciate any and all critiques but mostly concerned with crop and post-processing. Thanks!

May 13, 2019 at 07:35 PM

Bobg657
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

I love the shot, well done!
Bob

May 13, 2019 at 07:51 PM

birdied
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Very nice shot ! It is cropped a bit too tight for me . I would like to see a bit more room to the viewers left.

Birdie

May 13, 2019 at 07:55 PM

morris
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Looks fine to me Sean. A good one

Morris

May 13, 2019 at 08:06 PM

runakid
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Good one

May 13, 2019 at 09:42 PM

surfnron
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

I like it too Sean ~ Ron

May 13, 2019 at 10:04 PM

louie champan
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Very well done, I think the crop you have really accentuates the head of the Otter.

May 13, 2019 at 10:34 PM

KCollett
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Nice image, Sean.

May 14, 2019 at 06:57 AM

Karl Witt
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Hello Shawn and welcome

Wet and fury makes for often a difficult image to bring out detail, looks like you did well on this side lit image.
First thought, head on shots are important to nail at least one but preferably both eye in solid focus, this one might be sharper at the nose than the eyes?
Crop, we all have what we like. I think you have a portrait image here but IMO if you had more of the body to the right in a rectangular or pano-like crop it would give us a lead from right to left to the head perhaps? Always worth a look..................

Take care
Karl

May 15, 2019 at 08:12 AM

xterra07
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Focus on the eye, the one in the sun. Ideally both would be in the focus. Use a tripod to improve focus issues.
The bigger the subject in the image, the more important right focus is. The closer you can be (by using a blind for example) the better the results will be.
When you get under the minimum focusing distance, Canon has an "extender" or "spacer" which allows nearly half the focusing distance, so instead of 11ft it's down to 7ft or so (you lose infinity and far focusing ability then). Sony may have a similar spacer.

May 15, 2019 at 11:10 AM

inthewild
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

If possible, I would try to leave more room at the top and shift the otter down with less space at the bottom. Also like others said, if you had room on the left maybe a bit more there also. Of course if there is no space in those directions, Its pretty nice as is.

May 15, 2019 at 02:10 PM

tshore
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Agree with previous comments regarding eye focus, albeit this can be a challenge to achieve in practice unless the subject is exceptionally cooperative. The tight crop works for me. Some other thoughts: Go low. Ideally you want your vantage point at eye level, or even lower...that increases the effective connection the viewer makes with the subject. Again, this can be a challenge, but no one said taking great pics was easy. Second, related to this, there is a bit more busy-ness in the reflections in the water than would be ideal IMO. Likely at least some of this is due to the actions of the subject itself. This is inevitably exacerbated by shooting from a higher angle. In general the stiller, the better. It's hard to make water be still upon command, but look for opportunities to shoot in still conditions or in undisturbed water. You might consider de-contrasting or de-highlighting the water in post. Hope this helps.

May 15, 2019 at 03:48 PM

jdc562
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · A Wild Sea Otter - Please C&C

Looks very good to me. The cocked head pose creates interest; it's not just a mugshot. It has a nice composition of classic diagonals and close-to-classic 1/3-2/3 positioning of the otter. The natural lighting worked well--it's like classic portrait lighting. "Classic" aspects get that way because they are attractive to many people.

Please don't be discouraged by the trollish remarks in some of the other comments. Many are way off base. The sea otter is partially submerged in the sea. Regarding the recommendation to use your 7RIII with the 100-400mm + 1.4X tc mounted on a tripod to shoot at the otter's eye level or lower than eye level... is, well, something that can't be addressed in civilized language. As for the eye focus issue, you will have to evaluate this on your original image. At the resolution posted on FM, I see no focus problem: details in front of and behind the plane of the eye appear to be in focus. Therefore, the eye is in focus, too. Perhaps the commenters are confused by the matte surface of the sea otter's eye, which is a biological feature unrelated to camera focus. I cannot see why the the ripples in the water are regarded as a negative feature of your image. To the contrary, the ripples are not intrusive and do a nice job of characterizing the habitat.

Regarding crops, you imply that you have the image space to adjust the crops. It's always constructive to try various crops, then back off for a few days before returning to compare the results. Maybe you have already gone through all this. In any case, I like the crop in this image for the same reasons that other commenters do, too. But, then, again, I haven't seen any other crop versions. In my personal experience, I've found that after divorcing dogma and preconceptions, my first crops were not as esthetically pleasing as later versions, so keep an open mind.

So, the bottom line is ignore the unreasonable comments. Benefit from reasonable comments. And take heart from the many positive comments you received.

May 17, 2019 at 04:01 PM


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