Seal on Beach

by Syd
(New Zealand)

Seal

Seal

The seal might look a little sleepy but boy oh boy I can assure you it was not.

I was walking around the foreshore and was taken totally by surprise when out of nowhere I was charged by the seal.

I never new I could move so fast.

Taken with a Panasonic FZ28. On Auto. No thought of the rule of thirds or any of that.

I was on alert in case it charged again. Which fortunately it didn't as I had left my money at home!




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Photographing wildlife certainly comes with its dangers!

Important things that Syd did here was firstly to have a camera with him whilst out and about (can't take any photos at all without one); and secondly, kept his eyes open for a photo.

Not being too startled by a charging seal probably helped too!

The thing to do in these situations is do exactly what Syd did – don't panic about adhering to photographic rules (although, if you can, do); but try instead to just get some shots.

With luck, when you get back home you will have something to work with. And here's where the post processing comes into it.

Although Syd clearly states that he wasn't concerned about the rule of thirds, this could have been introduced by cropping the photo afterwards.

Another thing to try in post processing would be to improve the contrast a little.

At the moment the photo is a little 'wishy-washy'. Boosting the contrast would bring the photo more to life.

Thanks for the submission Syd (and by the way, just how much does a seal charge these days?!!)

Ed.
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