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This is excellent and I'm not sure there's anything that you did that could be improved very much. I'm not a big fan of the central crop but, as you can see from Paul saying the exact opposite, that's just a matter of personal taste. (I can see a good argument for the central crop, in that the pup is rolling over to the right and looking to our left, so your crop gives it space to move into and space to look into.)
I guess the one thing that could make the image stand out more would be the light coming from the left so that the side of the pup that we're looking at was lit, rather than in shadow. But, let's face it, that's just a matter of luck and the only way to be so lucky as to have a seal pup roll over and wave to you while facing in the `right' direction is to keep going back day after day after day. Most of us don't have time for that.
I've posted a mod with a crop that I prefer. I've also lightened the eyes a little, but I'm not sure that makes much of a difference. You could try painting in little catchlights but I've not done that because it always looks awful when I try!
I guess the one thing that could make the image stand out more would be the light coming from the left so that the side of the pup that we're looking at was lit, rather than in shadow. But, let's face it, that's just a matter of luck and the only way to be so lucky as to have a seal pup roll over and wave to you while facing in the `right' direction is to keep going back day after day after day. Most of us don't have time for that.
I've posted a mod with a crop that I prefer. I've also lightened the eyes a little, but I'm not sure that makes much of a difference. You could try painting in little catchlights but I've not done that because it always looks awful when I try!


Hi Magnus,
Love the shot of the pup and I agree with Dave about not being a fan of the central crop, I don't think it works for me. I much prefer the right hand side of the pup in the right hand corner.
Looking at the image I think I would have liked to have seen more light in the pup's stomach as it seems a little dark to me. Also as you say, the light and angles don't really call for catch light in the eyes and I think adding it would have looked wrong. There is however, some redness in the edges of the eyes which looks great.
I had a mess around with your shot and adjusted levels, saturation and sharpening as well as a crop. Just more appealing to me and probably not to everyone's taste but I like it better.
Hope this helps
DaVeS
Love the shot of the pup and I agree with Dave about not being a fan of the central crop, I don't think it works for me. I much prefer the right hand side of the pup in the right hand corner.
Looking at the image I think I would have liked to have seen more light in the pup's stomach as it seems a little dark to me. Also as you say, the light and angles don't really call for catch light in the eyes and I think adding it would have looked wrong. There is however, some redness in the edges of the eyes which looks great.
I had a mess around with your shot and adjusted levels, saturation and sharpening as well as a crop. Just more appealing to me and probably not to everyone's taste but I like it better.
Hope this helps
DaVeS

Hello, Magnus. I like this a lot, you have a rolling action and eye contact too. My only niggle is the blue present in the shaded areas of the seal's fur and particularly in its shadow. I tried using Colour Balance but it spoilt the overall look, so I selected the shadow and adjusted just that, but left the fur because I didn't want to touch the seal's body. My modification hopefully shows you the difference, anyway. I also cropped the right and bottom, and adjusted level slightly.
Pamela.
Pamela.