Curious Seal

[dreed]

As much as I've enjoyed some of Kevin's other pictures, this one just looks wrong. Why?

The seal looks photoshop'd against the ice, just as the ice looks photoshop'd against the sky.

Maybe it is the lack of contrast? Or that contrast is in the wrong place or...?

Does anyone else have the same reaction?

And the "less processed"(?) version of that photo in the story on Antartica is much more pleasing to my eye...

[alainbriot]

I did not notice this until reading this post.  I think it's caused by the color and contrast difference between the seal and the ice and water.  The seal is much darker than either and so stands out almost as if it was a decoupage.  It's a nice visual effect and quite striking too.

[dreed]

Interesting how different my reaction is ... the more I see it, the more I want to put my fist through the screen in response (kind of like how certain phone tones make me want to stamp on the phone.) I might add that I'm not saying it is bad on a technical level it is very well done ... but maybe my reaction is linked to why I can't stand most HDR photographs. They're just look wrong.

[Kevin Raber]

Interesting comments and they are always appreciated.  First, it is not HDR.  Second very little was done to the image. Using LR I did a gradated filter of the sky and just took down the exposure a tad.  I used the brush tool, masked the seal and opened the shadow side of the seal about a third of a stop.  I did think the belly of the seal needed to be seen more.  This was very unusual light to shoot in.  It was gorgeous light that is part of the Antarctica magic.  I think if you saw the seal and it was too dark then someone would have commented why not recover the shadow. Frankly, I like it.

Kevin Raber

[dreed]

To me the two pictures are nothing alike.

See attached.

Did you export one into a different colour space than the other?

[Michael West]

Im betting that it may be the seals posture that makes the image look as though it might be a montage. The posture struck me as rather unatural but what do I know about seal  posture...

[Fine_Art]

It is a strong image, I like it.

The only thing that may seem odd is the greenish cast to the seal. Its pretty clear that is from the golden light mixing with blue sky light reflecting off the ice.

[LKaven]

Frankly, I like it.

I /love/ it!  I have an Inuit carving of a seal in the exact same posture.  The very slight illustrational look is welcome in this case, as though it were a classic painted portrait of a distinguished seal.  Makes me think my carved seal, Gwendolyn, decided to take a summer in the Antarctic and decided to send back a postcard:  "Having a wonderful time.  The water's fine, and last one in is a rotten egg."

[jjj]

Never mind the seal, all I want to know is did you get to do this? 

[Telecaster]

I like the look in this case. Frankly this is part of what high-dynamic-range sensors (as distinguished from HDR processing) are capable of. It may look kinda odd at first, but that's 'cuz we're not used to seeing such tonality in photos. It's not Provia tonality...but then again the Provia era is over. We have a broader range of options now.

-Dave-

[dreed]

Having looked at this image on other screens (4 now in total - none of which are calibrated), it is only the first that I find it hard to digest.

So it is quite likely I'm not seeing the colours the way Kevin intends them to be seen - time to get some screen calibration happening at my end!

[nutcracker]

Yes, monitor calibration is probably the simplest, inexpensive and immediate solution;
But long term, go join Kevin et al in Antarctica to check the light in situ!!
How he represented the light is as it really was.