It is breeding season for Northern Elephant seals coming onshore along the Pacific coast. Elephant seals are an extreme example of sexual dimorphism in mammals as seen by the difference in size and shape which is what I wanted to illustrate. Huge bull males weighing up to 6,000 pounds and aggressively defend their position near females during this time of year. In the image, the bull is trumpeting. The female seal is flipping sand, a sign of agitation. For the most part, the seals just sleep on the beach and to see any action is a treat. There was a TV camera crew that told me they had been trying to film any seal that was awake for hours, as soon as they left, the bull made his move.
The natural light was not ideal, and strong shadows and highlights were a problem. I darkened the background and lightened the bull seal in LR. I cropped to simplify and feature the comparison of size between the male and female. I use Topaz denoise.
6 comments posted
Pamela Hoaglund
You caught a great moment of action between the bull and female. I like that your crop isolated the two seals. I can see how the light was difficult to work with. To me the sand the female is kicking up and the sand in the foreground is too bright and has lost detail. I would suggest darkening that a bit and maybe add some dynamic contrast to that area and to the seals. I think adding a vignette would also bring the focus more to the seals. Posted: 02/06/2025 01:31:48
Polly Krauter
Thank you, these are good suggestions. I will reworked the exposure and add contrast to the sand. The whole image here looks yellowish to me. I think that I should start from scratch. Posted: 02/12/2025 20:43:10
Mike Cohen
I again agree with Pamela's comments. I recognize the lighting challenges and think you did a great job with your approach. I am a bit distracted by how much you've brightened the side of the male and the sand in front of his head. To my eye, it looks processed. I might go another way with this image and darken most of it, leaving a bit more than a hint of the subjects and see if by darkening there would be a bit of rim light around the male. Not sure if that approach would work but it might be fun to experiment. Being a non-purist, I would also remove the piece of wood. Posted: 02/06/2025 10:55:19
Judith Lesnaw
Wonderful action. Your crop demonstrates the size difference well. I also love all the action in the original. I think you have two great images here. As Pamela and Like suggested, I would ease up on the brightening. Posted: 02/10/2025 21:36:59
Sharon Prislipsky
You have captured a decisive moment. It is easy for me to see the nature story you are telling. You had quite a challenge with the harshness of the light. I am thinking that you did not need such a high ISO in that situation. I understand that you had to open up the shadows on the bull seal, but it looks to me as though you did this with a global adjustment. You might consider going back to the original and doing some targeted dodging and burning in PS. I like the crop you made. The eyes of both seals appear to be sharp. Good job capturing this hand held. Posted: 02/12/2025 15:34:52
Tom Brott
I like the story this image tells. It is well cropped and highlights the male and female. My first viewing of this image noted the flying sand that appeared too bright and I wasn't sure what it was. I believe as suggested earlier that going back to the original and doing some dodging and burning with some minor global adjustments could enhance the overall appearance. Your original has a lot of great detail (especially the flying sand) that can be brought out. Posted: 02/15/2025 21:58:08
