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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2015-10 (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1
Lens: Olympus 150mm f/2.0 Zuiko Digital
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
Date: Oct 24, 2015
Aperture: 4.0
ISO: 2500
Shutter: 1/500
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Oct 25, 2015

 An American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) bellows at me, informing me that this is his territory at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.

My one worry about this photo is that people will think it was taken at some kind of zoo or something and not realize it is an actual wild gator.

Alligators are my favorite subject to photograph and I have been around and photographing them for many years now. This one was highly aggressive and displayed behavior I have never seen before. Gators typically bellow to attract a female and to let other males know that this is their territory. I have never had a gator swim up to me and start bellowing at me, which this one did two different times. It was like he was showing me that this is his territory and was challenging me to fight. He also chased me up the bank and down the trail the 2nd time I came by him. Very aggressive behavior for a gator when it is not mating season or a female guarding nest/young. Probably the only time I have ever been afraid for my safety. This was worse then the time I was laying at the edge of a lake photographing frogs (I wear full camo when doing wildlife photography) and had a big 12 foot gator cross from the water behind me to the lake and stop about 4 feet from me for a few minutes before going into the lake.

[Nov. 2nd, 2015 05:22:40 PM]

If anyone is interested I was using ZD 150mm ƒ2.0 lens with a 1.4x TC. This gives me an effective 420mm ƒ2.8 lens. There is no crop on this photo and I was standing 20 feet away.

Statistics
Place: 80 out of 126
Avg (all users): 5.5970
Avg (commenters): 7.0000
Avg (participants): 5.4706
Avg (non-participants): 6.0000
Views since voting: 409
Views during voting: 97
Votes: 67
Comments: 10
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 11/10/2015 10:33:47 AM
[user]ciaegle[/user] Thanks for the comments. I would have liked a different angle but a lot of times in wildlife photography you take what you can get and hope for a better angle/lighting/behavior the next time around.
 11/10/2015 10:32:01 AM
ArnaMarie Thank you for your comments. I wanted more of the nose in focus but it would have required a much smaller aperture and would have pushed my ISO into the area where I would not use the photo due to noise. On a brighter day it would not be an issue but on a cloudy rainy day it was just not going to happen.
 11/08/2015 06:10:49 PM
Personally I like the color version you posted better. It somehow lessens the impact of the blurry snout for me. Maybe the blur would have worked if the angle to the eye had been a bit different (i.e. the snout pointed more to the right edge than center.) He definitely has that "I would love to eat you" glare going on. I probably would've added a point or two if I had seen the comments about how close you were ... Yikes! Stay safe out there. :+)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2015 05:51:16 PM
Not sure you will see this...........

Ja-9 Thank you for your comments. I am shooting ยต4/3 so I get double the DoF of a full frame camera. So I had the DoF in this shot like shooting a full frame camera at ƒ8.0, so also the crop factor for ยต4/3 is 2x and in full frame this would have been 420mm of reach (150mm lens + 1.4x TC = 210mm).I also did not want to go higher because I was already pushing my limit on ISO. Oh, it is also the angle that causes the DoF to look narrower then it is. This shot was taken at ƒ4.0 also but was almost strait on so you can really see it better.



[thumb]giantmike[/thumb] Thanks for your comments. I thought about cropping some but ended up going with the full frame. To also get the nose in focus (with the eyes) I would have had to shot at a minimum of ƒ13.5 (would give 13 inches of DoF) which would have taken my ISO entirely to high for me. I actually wanted to get at least the first set of side teeth in focus also but could not so I backed down to really draw attention to the eyes.
 11/08/2015 05:48:30 PM
I saw your comment request. Not sure if you also want feedback from someone who is hardly dry behind the ears, but here is my two cent :)

I agree with Snaffles that the isolation of the eyes is great. I hope I never have to look at a similar expression in real life, unless I am looking through binoculars standing more than 2000 feet away :) I too would have liked to see the nose more in focus.

I am by no means an expert on b&w, and I might be completely wrong here, but I think I would have preferred a tiny bit more contrast in this images. To be honest, I think I actually prefer the color version. Sorry! The warm yellow on the bottom jaw gives the images vibrance and the weed on the top jaw makes the animal look more wild, in my eyes. To be honest I did assume this was a zoo shot when I saw it during voting. Had a look at your gator gallery. I particularly liked the first one, because there was more of the environment included in the images. There where several images in your gallery that I really liked.

It was interesting to read your comments. Will watch the video when I'm not about to go to bed :) I might get nightmares!



Message edited by author 2015-11-08 17:50:33.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2015 05:36:53 PM
The focus on the eyes is great. But it would be even better if the nose was in focus.
I like the black and white, it works well with the detail.
Seems like if you crop the bottom closer to the gator, that would put even more attention on the beast.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2015 05:30:45 PM
Ok Ronnie here's my comment....

you shot this with an f/4??? To SDOF IMO you need at least an 7.1/8 - I should talk because my entries (3) have all been 5.3/5.6....rolling my eyes...



I think that the voters expect to see at least the snout and all the way to the eyes clearly...that was my first thought about your entry. I don't mind beyond the eyes but the foreground and mid-section needs to be clear (and yes, I'm going to take my own advice...grin) We are going back to this river in Apr so fingers crossed I'll get an even better shot!!!

FWIW ~ I've sharpened the pants off mine and yes, I was on the river bank about 15' away. It was past dark and I was using my flash to get the reflection in the eye...grin...it worked!!!

ETA:

I also think some dodge & burn would really improve the tones...to me they are a bit flat, not nice and rich...

Message edited by author 2015-11-08 17:31:46.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2015 04:56:57 PM
snaffles Thank you for the critique. I am careful around my gators, not suggesting anyone do what I do without lots of experience being around them (they are wild and dangerous after all). Unprovoked gator attacks are highly unusual as they tend to leave people alone. 90% of the attacks are from gators that have come to associate people with food because people think it's cute to feed the gators. Unfortunately this always results in the gator having to be taken care of, yes this means killed. This is also one of the reasons you should not clean your fish at the lake and throw the remains in the water, gators don't take long to find places that people do this and this also leads to their association of people and food.

In this photo he was bellowing at me. Here is a video I took of a different gator bellowing. They don't always open and close their mouth but the up and down action is part of the bellow and that is what this gator was doing when I took the photograph. I also have the color version and it may show better that he was a wild gator, not sure. I went black and white because I had not done a B&W edit of a gator shot in awhile and I like how it shows the texture of these wonderful and amazing animals.



Here is a link to my gallery of gator shots

11/08/2015 08:53:33 AM
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Holy liftin, you don't hold back when you shoot wildlife...I think I speak for many of us when I warn you to PLEASE be careful when shooting beasties from the dinosaur age! There's a reason why they're still around millions of years later.

Ok lecture done. Now, sadly without seeing more of the bg as proof, there is just no way to look at this pic and see that the alligator is actually in the wild and not a zoo critter. After all zoo enclosures are always kept pretty clean and just never look real enough to pass as the wild. True we can see some mud and shoots, but imnsho you have to show more to drive the point home.

Very cool pic, like the bokeh well-used to isolate the eyes. The b/w is an interesting choice, I wouldn't mind seeing the colour version for comparison. The fact that you seem to be at eyelevel with this guy is scary, and may add to the impression that this is a zoo shot, cause surely nobody would try to get this shot in the wild...right? I wish there had been some way to catch him bellowing and menacing you, sure sounds like he really meant to chase you off, if not make you dinner.

Hope this has been helpful

Susan
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/02/2015 04:47:20 PM
wow!!! I hope you have a very long lens. This guy looks ferocious. I am glad that you lived to post this photo!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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