Look what I caught yesterday....

GadgetRick

So, was staying with a friend in Merritt Island, FL. He likes to take his sons fishing. I hate fishing but my boys seem to like it so we all went. They fished and I brought my camera.

We went to one of the bridges over the Banana River. There are usually manatees and sometimes dolphins in the area. Sure enough saw LOTS of manatees. Was shooting them when the first pod of dolphins came through.

Now, I've always tried shooting them but they're difficult to shoot (certainly from shore) and you usually don't get much of them above water. I missed the first pod but spotted a second coming my direction. I went to the other side under the bridge and waited.

They were feeding and popping up every so often. I don't have a long lens so I had my 70-200mm f2.8 L on the body. I was zoomed fully at 200mm and the pod was feeding 50ish yards offshore. A little far to be sure.

I was scanning where I saw them last (through the camera) and caught this shot:



I was very pleased and glad it's in focus. Unfortunately, I had to crop heavily so I've lost some sharpness. I also want to do a better job with the dolphin itself as I'm not terribly happy with my processing on this one.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded story. I was just so excited I caught this. I see dolphins all of the time off the shore here in Jacksonville but I never see them jumping like this in open water. I see them slapping their tails but that's about it. I was fortunate with my timing and looking at the right place at the right time.

Artlife

wow neat! What are you not happy with? too much contrast in the details? maybe a little over saturated in the dolphin? not sure since I do not see your original. Regardless, it's a great action shot I think.


DL http://www.artlife.us

GadgetRick

Thanks. Got a little thing happening with colors in the dolphin's body. Maybe I'm being too picky.

Artlife

GadgetRick wrote: »

Thanks. Got a little thing happening with colors in the dolphin's body. Maybe I'm being too picky.

yeah a little color noise. It's one of those things that "regular" people don't usually notice (that's been my experience). Artists and other photographers might. Still a great shot.

GadgetRick

Artlife wrote: »

yeah a little color noise. It's one of those things that "regular" people don't usually notice (that's been my experience). Artists and other photographers might. Still a great shot.

Yup. Unfortunately, I'm not one of the regular people. I just don't shoot this type of stuff for money but I do other things.

Not sure there's much I can do about the noise as I tried to work with it in LR but no luck. Might just have to deal with it.

kdog

Oh jeez, people get so carried away. It's a great shot anyway you slice it. Enjoy it.

bfjr

Kill for a wild shot like that.

If you didn't mention process would not bother me, the shots just sooooooooooooo

GadgetRick

Thanks. I am my own worst critic. Both a good and bad thing being a photog.

I am still excited for catching this shot. The stars aligned for me at the moment in time.

Wossa

lovely capture.....very difficult to capture but this is wonderful.....congrats.

Harryb

That is a wonderful image.

Like you I'm my worst critic. My wife closed the door on my office when I'm culling my images because she doesn't want to hear the language I use as I berate myself. At normal viewing distances any imperfections in this image will be barely visible and probably wouldn't be noticed as most viewers weyes will be on the motion and the pose you so effectively captured.

I woudl kill for a capture like this.

GadgetRick

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on printing this one for sure.

fool4thecity

Nice catch. If it was "SeaWorld" I wouldn't be impressed, but to catch that moment in nature is very cool. Enjoy your image; I did! Thanks for sharing.

Gale

That is an excellent capture...
Really tough to catch

MikeAldrich

Excellent capture! I live in SW Florida and see dolphins all the time and I can tell you shots like these don't come very often.

dbaker1221

sweet shot!!

GadgetRick

Thanks. I really am quite happy with the capture. Just want to figure out some better post processing on it as I'm planning to print this one.

I see dolphins when I'm at the beach all of the time in Jacksonville. I've seen them slapping their tails but I don't see them jumping like this often and certainly not when I've got my camera! This was the ONLY one which jumped and it was the ONLY time he jumped (while I was shooting). Talk about lucky!!

If I only could have caught him totally out of the water....

I'm my own worst critic...