On the otter hand...

[Snarkbyte]

If anything, otters are even more difficult than birds, lol. I finally caught this critter going over the limb, instead of swimming under it, as usual. Comments, please.

Canon 7D 105mm@f/5.6 1/80sec ISO100

[Skitalez]

In my opinion once again a picture is very busy... usual on a new layer I clean intensity of primary colour (in your case - reflections on water), I add dark and sharpnesses on object (animal), than connect layers with transparent - 60-70 %

[Skitalez]

It has not so successfully turned out, it is necessary to you to try with the original! So it ONLY as an example. One of versions. And my opinion as the picture is not bad (yours)

[Geoff F]

That is good, Al. Maybe a tiny bit of selective sharpening on the otter, not the background, would make it stand out from the water a bit better; and there is a slight 'hotspot' by the otter's ear. But removing it or reducing the intensity may look worse so I wouldn't worry too much about such a small problem.

[djg05478]

I say kudos on your patience. Its not like its a cow in a field and your waiting for it to turn its head...its wiley little unpredictable wet swimmy thing with reflective fir, some crazy direct sunshine and some shade and some water reflections, nothing easy about this at all. Good job sticking with it. He definitely gave you a good pose.

I think this shot is a great opportunity to push your PP skills, there's some sort of blue reflection in the water ripples and running down the otter's back; if you could subtract that, it would help. Anyway that you could slightly tone down the water background would definitely help. But the focus looks pretty good to me...I think his face is pretty clear and whiskers are defined. Good whisker definition is a must in otter photography

...ok I just made that last bit up, but I like the photo.

Debbie

[Snarkbyte]

Thanks, Geoff. I spent some time cleaning up a lot of small mimosa leaflets floating around on the water, and burned some of the brighter areas, like the bright patch of water to the right of the otter's nose and the small branch behind it's head. I guess I got so busy removing or darkening everything around the otter, I didn't pay much attention to that hot spot; I probably could burn it a bit, but it doesn't look too bad as is, imo. Yegor's comments about the blue reflections in the water are also on target... trying to find a good way to diminish that, but my PS skills are still somewhat elementary. The good news is, shots like this give me good opportunities to practice and improve. Thanks again, I appreciate your feedback.

[Geoff F]

To remove the slight blue cast, you could try to alter the White Balance slightly towards the red (higher number). Alternatively use Curves (or possibly Levels) to tweak the blue back a bit; or a third option would be to use the Hue/Saturation control and either tweak the Blue Hue a bit or reduce the Blue Saturation slightly.

Maybe a bit of multiple adjustments, but I would definitely start by trying the WB.

All in all though, I'm not too bothered about it being slightly on the blue side.

[Snarkbyte]

Thanks, Debbie.

For what it's worth, I agree that all otters and cats (including lions and tigers and such) absolutely MUST have whiskers. Not to mention walruses (walrusii??? whatever...). You're right about the other thing, too: these critters are either asleep (boring) or zipping around like furry torpedoes. Capturing an otter is largely a matter of picking a spot that they return to frequently, then keeping your finger on the trigger waiting for "the moment". The local zoo has an otter pool with an aquarium-type glass plate, to allow observation underwater, but it's not a good photo spot for a number of reasons.

[Snarkbyte]

Updated version, after considerable blurring, desaturating, healing, burning, and basically de-emphasizing everything un-otterly-ish. This is certainly an improvement, as there is significantly less distraction, but unfortunately there's not much to be done for the patterns in the water that will still retain some natural appearance.

[Skitalez]

very good!!!

[Snarkbyte]

Thanks, Yegor. Your comments really did lead to a much improved image.