Close Encounters of the Best Kind Photo

Photographer’s Note

This young sea lion hopped out of the water at Ronner's feet and climbed up on the rock. Soon he was surrounded by photographers; and not just those from TE. Even when photographers arrived with dogs, he watched them with interest. When we left, he was still there. I think he was waiting for someone to pay him his modeling fees in fish.

I was going to name this, "The Model," but when I saw the expressions on Peter's and Joanne's faces, I had to change it. See the WS for 'Model' poses.

gunbud, Floydian, steliosk, danos, JCG, josepmarin, pboehringer, jwmunro, bakes888, feather, ktanska, portmanndominic, Benedict, Emile, jlbrthnn, stelli, robertosalguero, MarianneS, Didi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

tomescuc (2837) 2008-06-21 17:44

Looks like you guys had some fun outthere. This is an occasion that I believe does not happen often. Sorry I missed it, hopefully next time.
Cristian

gunbud (27851) 2008-06-21 19:29

Hi Pat,
Wonderful nature shot of the handsome young sea lion that appears to have a nasty scare across the top of his neck. Beautiful clarity and excellently sharp details the friendly pup.
Regards, Tom

Floydian (30970) 2008-06-21 19:50

Hi Pat,
Seems you had a great meeting, but also cold weather when i look at the clothings. See their faces, also not sure if sea lion would stay there, bite, or move away. TE members caught in the act, how nice.
Regards, Henk

mesutilgim (36803) 2008-06-21 22:42

Hi dear Pat,
Very nice and humouresque as well.
Perfect pov and nice compo. Slightly blurred background creates a nice effect of depth.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

pratiwi (67) 2008-06-21 23:15 [Comment]

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steliosk (4784) 2008-06-22 8:22

Tender shot!! brings emotion to screen!! simply adorable my friend :)

Regards
Stelios

danos (32432) 2008-06-22 8:35

Hello Pat,
really looks like a professional model with the poses in the WS and the links.Excellent shot with the tranquil young sea lion to be so friendly to the people.I like the light and the colors of the capture.A good documentary photo.

Regards,danos

JCG (25315) 2008-06-22 9:40

Hi Pat,

A very beautiful series on this young sea lion, I like much this fortuitous meeting between the man and the animal. Filled up of tenderness and quite interesting image. Thank you Pat.

With all my friendships and with soon,

Jean-Charles

josepmarin (33785) 2008-06-22 11:57

Hi Pat,
The Ws are magnificent, because we can see the professionalism of this young marine lion posing for the photographers.
I like the scene, is natural, authentic, spontaneous and very funny. And the "model" is absolutely adorable.
Good shot, my friend.
HLJ
Josep

xuaxo (5719) 2008-06-22 12:07

Olá Pat
This is a lovely photo of love!
I like very much the WS too, especially the Altered Image #1.
SAA,
F

pboehringer (770) 2008-06-22 14:43

Pat,
obviously the two shots with the seal and the photo freaks are a nice element to enrich the TE gallery and brings back nice memories of one of the highlights of our foggy and cold TE meeting. However, technically speaking the later on added WS is the best shot and I personally would have posted that one as the main shot. I see some light on the back of the seal and I wonder where on earth did you get that light? I didn't see the sun anywhere during the whole stay at Kehoe Beach.
Peter

[2] +

jwmunro (6575) 2008-06-22 17:40

Hello Pat -

My damn feet! I sure missed an opportunity for some good photos and portraits by heading back to the car. Well done to get the two TE members into the image. It looks like Peter and Joanne are have a great time regardless of the weather conditions. Bravo - well seen and accomplished.

Thank you for sharing and setting up the theme - I could never figure out how to do it.

John

Gerrit (35697) 2008-06-22 18:28

Hi Pat,
charming scene and an excellent picture. Great capture and well balanced composition.
Regards, Gerrit

John_F_Kennedy (31391) 2008-06-22 23:46

A lovely shot of this animal. Beautiful pose too. Well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

bakes888 (18189) 2008-06-23 1:04

Hi Pat. So which of you organised the “close encounter”, whoever it was did a great job ;-). Are you sure he hasn’t escaped from seaworld, he looks very tame. Well timed, you have caught the joy of the special encounter beautifully. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

feather (49860) 2008-06-23 2:55

What a cutie he is and so tame. Your composition works well with Joanne and Peter the adoring on-lookers. I also love the WS where you have got your model posing on his own. The DOF is perfect to isolate him from the background for an almost 3D effect. Well done
Kath

ktanska (16567) 2008-06-23 3:21

Hi Pat,
Wonderful encounter. I know sea lions are very playful having seen them on zoos and aquariums, but I didn't expect wild ones to be su trustful. Joyful moment indeed.
This is not as sharp as workshops, I think I see chromatic aberration. Did you use long end of the tele on this?
Kari

portmanndominic (2388) 2008-06-23 4:28

Hello Pat

a nice encounter , the picture is weel organized with two parts
nice colors and light also
TFS
Dominic

Benedict (7062) 2008-06-23 6:05

reminds me of the squirrel that gifted me with a punctured wound on my left pinky at the grand canyon natl park. those wild animals there aren't wild after all! i like the timely capture of this sea lion and yeah, it seems like he is modeling for you...
Benedict

albertz (2310) 2008-06-23 8:12

This is a nice close encounter shot with the sea lion -a wannabe TE member i guess!?, i saw your WS and its great too, i like it a lot. Great shot.

pablominto (40634) 2008-06-23 9:44

Hello Pat,

Indeed a lovely situation!
I like the interaction between man and beast, with curiosity on both sides...
Good point of view, attractive composition with fine details!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Emile (19973) 2008-06-23 14:24

Hola Pat.
He isn't a sea lion, nop, he is an artist, posing like and actor, I think you all enjoyed that special moment, me too looking at your pictures. Nice title.
Very well done.
Cheers.

Angshu (33641) 2008-06-24 1:18

Hi Pat
The WS is absolutely amazing! But this is a fun shot & seeing this I can see that you had a great fun time out there, thouugh it seems to be dreary day with rather dull light.
Best Regards
Angshu

jlbrthnn (37913) 2008-06-24 3:30

Hello Pat,
Superb! I like this friendly meeting and these exchanges of civilities between people and the animal. A very beautiful image which reconciles with the human ones. Very beautiful, good and useful work.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

ribeiroantonio (21913) 2008-06-24 4:31

It means they are really used to the human presence around that beach. Or is he tied to a rope?!!!!!!!
Anyway, this is a fantastic shot and we can see that you had lots of fun in spite of the cold weather. Well done..
Antonio

capthaddock (28640) 2008-06-24 18:42

Hi Pat - Sorry we couldn't meet last time, but there's always next time. This is adorable, they are truly the dogs of the sea, just imagine more furon the skin, and you have a household pet, I'm not surprised at this intimate interaction of seals with humans, watching documentaries, I found their behaviour is so similar to dogs.

stelli (2941) 2008-06-25 0:44

I adore them!!!! She must be very friendly to approach you like this. Excellent composition and framing! The light management is excellent under those conditions! Thank you for sharing! Regards Stella

robertosalguero (110) 2008-06-27 1:11

Hola Pat,

Must be an experience to play with beautiful little creatures. Unfortunately for me sea lions are not something I get to see often so is always nice to view pictures like this one. Nice ligh and excellent placement of the subjects. Nice image and have a nice weekend Pat :-)

Rob

Bluejeans (32269) 2008-07-04 2:12

Ola Pat ,
Esta foto está linda com os dois fotógrafos de sorriso na cara a mexerem no leão marinho , os detalhes ficaram excelentes, gostei do fundo desfocado , bom enquadramento da foto , a foto do WS também está 5 estrelas, parabéns!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

MarianneS (14264) 2008-07-07 9:25

Hello Pat,
I did not see this one.
A nice moment you captured.
This sea lion seems to be so friendly :-) and ready to pose for you and your friends.
Well done!
Regards,
Marianne

zmey (7250) 2008-07-22 9:16

hello pat

sea lions are amazing creatures. you caught the inter-species encounter well. we HAVE to touch, the sea lion HAS to sniff. good timing.

warm regards
kristaps

ps. i really like the workshop bonus photo. amazing! especially since it shows well the typical surroundings.

Didi (36084) 2008-08-15 8:38

Hi Pat
Very nice catch
The sea lions are more savage in french coasts.
It's a very original scene for us.
Cheers.