This one has been in my port for a while now, and I decided to see how it will do in a challenge.
My brother-in-law is a Marine mammal scientist and his research involves estimating number of whales,dolphins and other marine mammals in a given area. He used to photo ID whales and pods on the West Coast of Canada. Once he went digital I inherited his old Pentax K1000 film camera. After hundreds of bad shots and a lot of wasted money on developing I switched to digital.
I had the pleasure of joining him on several expeditions for research. We performed line transects surveys for dolphins in the Amazon and whales,dolphins and porpoises on the Pacific coast. This particular shot was taken in the Queen Charlotte Islands(BC Canada). Humpback whale surfacing for air. For those who have not had the pleasure of seeing these creatures, I would recommend seeking a reputable whale watching tour and enjoy.
This trip we saw plenty of Humpbacks and only 1 pod of Killer Whales. That was at 9pm and not enough light to shoot at 1/1000 to capture the action. I have some pics of Orcas but a little too dark.
Here is one I managed to salvage in PS
I don't expect much in this challenge. I am sure there will be some outstanding pieces submitted.
Thx for comments and votes
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Such a breathtakingly emotive capture. I can almost feel the cool mist from the whale's breath. Amazing capture and beautifully represented. Bumping up...
OOOOOOOOOOH,, having just watched the NGC special on whales this one really spoke to me. Toning really works, light is perfect, mystery, drama, "that" moment in time. bravo
I have returned to this image several times to comment and keep ending up leaving without that comment. I gave this a 10, and every time I look at it, still think it's a 10. It's beautiful. But, I can't for the life of me, figure out what I'm actually looking at.
WOW. This is an excellent photo. A true, hidden Gem... I wonder if you spent time wondering if this could be shoehorned in to meet a previous challenge.. :-)
Glad it could be submitted now... good luck. fav so far... (50% through!)
majestic, I remember seeing this on DPC before but can't remember whose it it. I think there is too much NI. But I love how the light picks up the mist.
I can actually see the mist moving. Well, okay, I can't, but it seems like it. I saw many of this scene this past summer, and photographed a couple. But this looks like it is happening, right now, in front of me. The tones, the focus, the sharpness, all work together to make this seem here and now... great work! 10
Very nice capture, but I'd really like to see some of the darkness cropped out. I think this one would be better served in a portrait orientation as opposed to the square that you have provided us here. Great, cool tones.
Leo... this is such an incredible shot. I remember you telling me that you had family or friends in BC that did whaling research. Good luck in the challenge, I think you will do well.
Oh My!!! This will be the third 10 I gave in this challenge. Outstanding subtlety yet so powerful. Perfect tonal range, and I'm crazy for all of the dark tones. WOW - what an incredible image. I can see this winning a World Wildlife contest or something. Good luck.
Wow! The blue tones work really well here. Was this photo put through neatimage or smoothing of some sort? I think that it probably lost a bit too much texture this was.
OK, the problem here is that its hard to understand what one is looking at without the title to guide us. This also seems to of been subjected to quite a lot of noise reduction.
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