Polly Krauter  


Drakes Bay Beach Master by Polly Krauter

February 2025 - Drakes Bay Beach Master

February 2025 - Polly Krauter

Original

About the Image(s)

Handheld canon R5, 100-500 zoom

400mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 sec, ISO 1000

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.


2 comments posted




Pamela Hoaglund   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



Mike Cohen   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



 

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