Otter + Highlands [C+C appreciated]

greeneyedspirit

Spent a few days in Scotland last week, here's two shots out of a whole bunch that I really like - I'd love your thoughts on these?

Otter (not a wild one, he was in the sea life sanctuary in Oban...)


Shot with: Nikon D300, Nikon 300 mm f/4 lens (handheld)
I love the little fella's pose, and the structure of the fur... his nose seems to be a bit soft, though, or is that just me?

View over Rannoch Moor, towards Buchaille Etive Mor -



Shot with: Nikon D300, Sigma 10-200 mm, Cokin P121 ND grad filter

any thoughts...?

hbr

greeneyedspirit wrote: »

any thoughts...?

I like them. Some other nice shots in the set too. Was it a very overcast day? Some of them look a little bit dark.

SinisterDexter

sorry, that Otter is out of focus in most parts (probably better to say soft). I know they are tricky little buggers, but looking at the nose - not in focus - then the 'fur' - soft. I clicked into Flickr and didn't get a bigger image to confirm.

Yes he/she is cute, I agree, but havin taken plenty of photos of captive otters myself I tend to be critical.

greeneyedspirit

hbr wrote: »

I like them. Some other nice shots in the set too. Was it a very overcast day? Some of them look a little bit dark.

Thanks! It was an overcast week, really, the weather wasn't great. But then, it's Scotland, you don't go there for the weather :P

greeneyedspirit

SinisterDexter wrote: »

sorry, that Otter is out of focus in most parts (probably better to say soft). I know they are tricky little buggers, but looking at the nose - not in focus - then the 'fur' - soft. I clicked into Flickr and didn't get a bigger image to confirm.

Yes he/she is cute, I agree, but havin taken plenty of photos of captive otters myself I tend to be critical.

I just had a look at the full size image, at 100 %, and have to say, you're right, the little bugger is soft like a fluffy pillow Oh well. Still learning the ropes of shooting with such a big lens - handheld probably isn't the best of ideas in such a situation.

LeoB

You might not go to Scotland for the weather but shot #2 is a good reason to go.

It is a little dark in the top left but I think you captured a nice flavour of the highlands. A little more sunshine or a bit more of the stream in the shot. Why not put up a few more if you have some.

agentreid

nice photos

wersal gummage

nice shots.

just out of curiosity, have you the exif data hidden on flickr ? and if so, why ??

i was trying to see your shutter speed and ISO for the otter shot, which might have explained the sharpness (i'm guessing it was shot at about 1 250th or so and an ISO of about 100 ?? - an ISO of say 400 or even 800 on a decent camera would be fine and a shutter speed of about 1 500th - sacrificing the f4 a bit) also did you try using the centre point to focus?

still though - nice shots!

greeneyedspirit

wersal gummage wrote: »

nice shots.

just out of curiosity, have you the exif data hidden on flickr ? and if so, why ??

i was trying to see your shutter speed and ISO for the otter shot, which might have explained the sharpness (i'm guessing it was shot at about 1 250th or so and an ISO of about 100 ?? - an ISO of say 400 or even 800 on a decent camera would be fine and a shutter speed of about 1 500th - sacrificing the f4 a bit) also did you try using the centre point to focus?

still though - nice shots!

Glad you like these...

I must've saved them without the exif before I uploaded them to flickr for some reason...
The EXIF for the otter are: ISO 500, f 4, 1/200 sec.
... yup, shutter speed not fast enough, and I should have upped the ISO by another notch, I think!

greeneyedspirit

Thanks for the feedback so far guys!
Here's two more (and some further shots in the flickr set...)

Glencoe -


A waterfall in Glen Nevis -