The Rest of the Story, Marine Mammals

[NorthernFocus]

After returning from Lake Clark NP, I took my photographer friend out on Prince William Sound. We had originally planned four days but due to our delay and a storm blowing in the last day, we ended up with two days of useful time.

Being from "middle America", my friend had no experience with any marine mammals. So within the first hour of the trip we stopped by an isolated rock formation where Stellar's sea lions haul out. To us here they are commonplace and we typically just blow by this spot. I think my friend would have been happy to have spent all day there. He came away with a couple of really nice shots. I was busy operating the boat so mine weren't so special...

As always, best viewed in the light box.

D810, 500mm VR

1. Just an idea of the spot.



2. There is always bickering among the sea lions.



We then moved on to my favorite spot for sea otters. They were not very cooperative. I think because my buddy couldn't get comfortable staying low in the boat and kept standing up displaying a human profile which the otters moved away from. I came away with a couple shots.

3. This one isn't bad. f/4 @ 500 mm, 1/1600, ISO 800



4. f/4 @ 500 mm, 1/1600, ISO 800



We then proceeded on to a glacier that I'd never been all the way up to before. We picked our way through the ice field up to within safe distance of the face. There were quite a few harbor seals hauled out on ice.

5. Here's a shot of the glacier. Not taken in great light but that's what we had to work with. D810, Sigma 35mm 1.8 Art, f/8 @ 35 mm, 1/800, ISO 200



6. To help set the scene. D4, 70-200mm f4, f/11 @ 200 mm, 1/640, ISO 400



D810, 500mm VR

7. Peeking through a whole in the ice. f/5.6 @ 500 mm, 1/1600, ISO 200



8. This youngster had a beautiful coat. Hopefully none of the local natives make a hat out of it. f/8 @ 700 mm(500 plus 1.4x TC), 1/1600, ISO 400



The next day we went looking for black bears feeding on salmon. We saw plenty of bears but none in shooting range. That evening it began to rain and a storm blew in overnight. End of the story...

[ST1]

Excellent set Dan, well done

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[JR1]

No comments other than spot on.

How do you find the 810 in cold climates

[csa mt]

Dan, those images are wonderful! I especially love #7!!

[Mike Buckley]

All of them are just terrific. My favorites are #3, #7 and #8. Well done!

[Manfred M]

Great shots, Dan. To bad you can't capture the smell in an image.

I remember being on a boat on the Hecate Strait a few years ago, downwind from a large Stellar Sea Lion colony; not the nicest smell, as I recall.

[Brownbear]

Hi Dan,

As always, gorgeous images! My favourite is #8, so special! And also 3 (love your otters) and 7(adorable). #5 is beautiful!

[Kodiak]

Dan, those images are wonderful!

+1 I especially love #3 & 4!!

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you folks enjoyed the images. They were certainly fun to shoot.

Jeremy, not sure what you're asking about the D810. I've only had it since July and love it so far. If you inquiring as to how it behaves in the cold, I can't speak to that and likely won't. I rarely shoot in the cold(i.e. less than zero C), never in extreme cold(i.e. less than -20C).

Manfred, your memory is accurate. Shooting from downwind is near impossible due to eyes watering from the horrific smell

Otters continue to be one of my favorite subjects. I'm always seeking that perfect otter shot. Though I have to say now that I've spent some time in the ice with the seals, they are pretty interesting in that environment.

[bnnrcn]

Excellent shots Dan, thanks for sharing

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, Binnur. Glad you liked them.

By the way, Mike, if you read this, no.3 has a vignette applied. I finally remembered for once. Whatya think? Too much?

[Mike Buckley]

The fact that I can easily see the vignette is the indication that it's too much to my taste. It's not my photo so my taste doesn't matter.

[NorthernFocus]

It looks a bit heavy to me too. I find when I spend too much time processing photos they look a lot different in the light of the next day Lately I've been playing around a good bit with PP software trying unused features etc. I really need to settle on a typical workflow at least in as much as doing the same things in the same order MOST of the time.

[Nicks Pics]

Marine animals are fun to see. Great shots.

[Teton Chuck]

Very nice shots. Thanks for sharing. I liked number 7.

[IzzieK]

I like all of them though my fav is #7 and 8...they both got nice expressions on their faces, especially #8.

[FootLoose]

Beaut set, Dan. Those otters looks so relaxed just floating along on their backs. My favourite is #7 for the subtle colour in the ice and the expression on the seal's face: "what do you want?"

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the additional comments, folks.

Mike, here is the otter shot reworked with vignette completely removed. The water color was already darker on the two sides which probably accounts for the added vignette being too much.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for posting that, Dan. I agree that the sides of the image are already naturally dark enough. As an example of my approach to vignettes, if the sides were no darker than the rest of the image, any vignette I would add would not be as dark as appears here without adding a vignette.

For me, the use of a vignette is to control the light so the viewer's eye is directed toward the subject. That happens in this scene without adding a vignette, so there is no reason to add one.