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California Harbor Seals
California Harbor Seals
Ann


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Wildlife III (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED
Location: San Diego
Date: Jan 20, 2007
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/750
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Jan 21, 2007

 Post challenge: Wow, a 6.5 and still only 34th! Some absolutely stunning images in this challenge, and I feel good to be anywhere in the top 50. Thanks for all the votes and comments, everyone!

Oh, and since one person asked about the light, this was taken in late afternoon. The late afternoon winter light has been nice lately.

Taken at the Children's Pool, La Jolla, California. Winter is pupping time for the harbor seals. The seals come up onto the beach and hang out for a couple of months to have pups. The Children's Pool in La Jolla is a small chunk of beach where a surf break was built in 1931 to provide a swimming area for kids. It also provides an excellent place for the seals to nest, and since the early 1990's, the seals have taken over the beach, especially during the winter pupping season. Nobody knows why they suddenly started using the Childrens Pool. Because of the ummm...seal poop, the pool has been closed to humans for a number of years. The seals are protected by federal law, but a small, committed group of people have taken it upon themselves to chase the seals off the beach at regular intervals, in order to reclaim the beach for people. Another small, equally committed group of people has taken it upon themselves to protect the seals by chasing the people off the beach. This has led to numerous fights, arrests, lawsuits, and general mayhem.

When I was there, there were about 100 seals on the beach, and another 200 people watching the seals from safe (to the seals) places.

Taken with a 80-200mm lens at 200mm with a 1.4x teleconverter from about 50 yards. Other than the usual raw conversion, crop, resizing, and sharpening, I darkened the sand with a multiply layer at 50%, and used curves to bring the color back up in the sRGB version.

Statistics
Place: 34 out of 218
Avg (all users): 6.5136
Avg (commenters): 7.7391
Avg (participants): 6.4906
Avg (non-participants): 6.5298
Views since voting: 1840
Views during voting: 365
Votes: 257
Comments: 24
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/28/2007 11:46:24 PM
awwwwwwww, love them eyes!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/28/2007 07:49:17 PM
Colour and light really make this shot special!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R5
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 01/28/2007 06:22:33 PM
Very cute, and nice warm cast. You did a good job with composition and DOF. 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/27/2007 01:27:15 PM
Incredibly cute! I like the color in this - warm and rich.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7100
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 01/27/2007 08:04:33 AM
Great composition and isolation of subject. Very nice shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
PhaseOne P45
Hasselblad HC 35mm f/3.5
 01/25/2007 03:36:37 AM
great DOF and detail. love the expression and the well captured moment
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z8
Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8
 01/24/2007 11:19:04 AM
What a ridiculously adorable face :-) Very nice timing on this one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-300D Rebel
Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
 01/24/2007 08:40:18 AM
Beautiful Image!!! Love the look back GQ type pose.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon
 01/23/2007 06:46:07 PM
Great lighting and your focus is right on. Nice DOF too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony Alpha a7R III
Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
 01/23/2007 03:21:03 PM
Gorgeous pose and expression, wonderful background bokeh.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
 01/23/2007 01:28:05 PM
very cute! like the fokus and the color. - 8 -
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 USM
 01/23/2007 01:11:46 PM
What a beautiful photo!! I would love to have access to wildlife like this! I just LOVE this!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-50D
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
 01/23/2007 06:56:51 AM
Excellent shot. Nice control of the exposure. Looks like this might have been a difficult shot to not blow out the highlights with the direct sun. I like the warm golden tones this shot has. Probably taken in the early morning? Very cute and I like how it is looking back over it's shoulder at you. Good luck with the challenge!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 6
 01/23/2007 03:24:26 AM
i think a tighter crop would work better here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Leica M10
Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black
 01/22/2007 03:24:07 PM
cute. nice light too
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/22/2007 02:21:02 PM
What a cute subject. Nicely edited.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/22/2007 11:55:31 AM
what a silly seal expression...it cracks me up!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon PowerShot S3 IS
 01/22/2007 11:43:51 AM
What a cutie!! Excellent capture and the lighting couldn't be more perfect. Good job!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS II USM Lens
 01/22/2007 11:31:22 AM
Very cute! And, shows the animal's environment. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 01/22/2007 09:10:56 AM
Beautiful lighting. Nice shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D5100
Tamron AF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical for Nikon
 01/22/2007 07:38:49 AM
This is a great shot, feeling, colors are right on, and subject is wonderful. Van
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
 01/22/2007 07:01:35 AM
Very nice capture. I think what makes this image for me is not the guy in focus up front but the one in the background. 7 for now
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS
 01/22/2007 03:30:28 AM
very nice! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony Alpha a7R
Samyang 135mm f/2 ED UMC
 01/22/2007 03:22:25 AM
Aaaaaaw.... i like this alot lol faved..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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