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Gator in the Moonlight
Gator in the Moonlight
Ja-9


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Wildlife VI (Advanced Editing VII)
Collection: 2014 - Challenges
Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR
Location: Myakka River State Park - Sarasota, FL
Date: Apr 12, 2014
Aperture: f/5.3
ISO: 100
Shutter: 3 sec.
Date Uploaded: Apr 15, 2014

 DSC_3917-Edit2 2014 04 12

I really hope this does well. I'm guessing that I'll get questions about the "blue" on the gator. It was past dark and the blue is from the full moon. This bad boy was just floating in the Myakka River. I was on the river bank about 10-15' away. He is approximately 10-12' long. Oh and BTW...I donated a pint of blood to the local mosquito blood bank just to get this shot.

Converted from RAW
Curves/Levels/Brightness
Cropped
Moved to PsCC
Viveza
Cloning/Healing Tool
Brighten/Darken (both)
Color Efex
DeFine (x3)
High Pass Filter
Shake Reduction
USM
Resized
Saved for WEB

[Apr. 20th, 2014 08:38:58 PM]

A couple have asked about the red eyes. It's from my flash...here is another picture from the same area that I was at...by someone else...but it will give you an idea of just "how many gators" were around.

[Apr. 20th, 2014 08:39:39 PM]

Go to the bottom of that link to see the gator in the lake/river.

Statistics
Place: 6 out of 96
Avg (all users): 6.8699
Avg (commenters): 8.8182
Avg (participants): 6.7083
Avg (non-participants): 6.9733
Views since voting: 1200
Views during voting: 252
Votes: 123
Comments: 20
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/24/2014 09:27:17 PM
I really felt this was the best shot of the whole challenge.

Magnificent colors and well composed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 03:51:20 PM
One of my high scorers (9). Congrats on the TT, although it was never really in doubt.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 11:12:47 AM
As Wendy pointed out, lucky it was only blood you had to donate to the cause :)

Congrats on the tt, for capturing such a "primordial" creature under such testing conditions.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 10:54:58 AM
Awesome!! I'm so glad it did well! I can definitely vouch for the fact that it was in the wild. I can also vouch for the fact that you were sitting on the bank right in front of it, and I was composing the letter to your husband about how you were eaten by a gator. (I was too chicken to tell him in person).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 10:38:40 AM
Primordial! That's the word I'm looking for!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 01:03:01 AM
I was hoping that this one had placed higher. I have it a 10 and although I am not a gator fan, I couldn't help but like it. And the shots of all the eyes in the dark! That's incredible and awesome all at once. You'd never get me out there, but I love looking at what you captured.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 12:14:29 AM
I love this ominous beast. Great shot, Janine.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/23/2014 12:09:46 AM
I knew this would do well!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/22/2014 01:49:01 PM
Janine, this has grown on me over the course of the week - I do wish the nose (snout?) was in focus, but given that this was taken in the dead of night, it is pretty impressive. Not voting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/21/2014 07:12:10 AM
Such amazing deep mood.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/20/2014 04:09:33 PM
This will (I hope) garner good votes. It's eerie and really portrays the wild and dangerous nature of the animal. Great reflection too. There are no visible signs of the hand of man (man made objects) so whether it's in a zoo or in the true wild is undetermined but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Quite a "heavy" post process and what appears to be Topaz Labs Simplify? The characteristic of which gives a smooth and wavelike effect on croc/gator skin. The eye colour has thrown me; it's normally very yellow. The dark background is well processed; smooth and black probably aided by either a considerable underexposure -2.0 EV or it's a late afternoon/early evening shot. A good all round solid believable wildlife entry that ticks all the boxes of WILD-life including the obligatory "eye look" has been captured. 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/19/2014 06:40:30 PM
OMG!!!! so cool and so brave of you!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/18/2014 01:52:58 PM
WOW that's one creepy shot. Well done, thanks for the nightmares. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/17/2014 06:26:03 PM
Oooooooooooooooo. Creepy, but I like it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/17/2014 01:35:37 PM
I bet this was a hard shot to capture. Nicely done - very unique and interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/17/2014 01:08:49 PM
I love reps.. one of my favorites for this contest! Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/17/2014 03:21:35 AM
The demon of my dreams.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/17/2014 12:24:39 AM
An excellent shot of what is a Gator in the wild. Either you have a long lens
or you are braver than I am.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/16/2014 08:42:26 PM
Top 3
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/16/2014 08:27:43 AM
My pick to win!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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