In the Field

Hauling Out at the Haul-out! Gwaii Haanas National Park, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 27, 2010.

Animal behaviour never ceases to amaze me. This is an image of a female Steller's Sea-Lion not-so-gently grabbing and hauling one of her offspring out of the ocean and onto a slippery rock after a large male had unceremoniously knocked the little tyke into the sea. At the time there was a lot of commotion around the area, with gulls, cormorants, and many tons of sea-lions adding to the confusion. Despite all the craziness, ma kept an eye on her pups (there were 3 that appeared to be hers) and made sure they were all safely placed on the rock. Talk about a powerful maternal instinct!

I shot this image with Nikon's popular 200-400mm f4 zoom VR lens. Like the 70-200 f2.8 VR, the 200-400 offers two VR modes: Active and Normal. I've talked to many photographers about this lens and there seems to be some confusion as to when they should select each mode. My experience with both the 70-200 and the 200-400 confirms what the manuals say if you read them carefully - if you're shooting from an unstable surface (i..e, you're not on firm ground) you should choose the "Active" mode. This is because the Active mode senses and tries to cancel movement in all planes, which is what happens when you're shooting from a moving car or, in this case, from an inflatable Zodiac boat that was bobbing in the ocean.

You'll find some photographers/authors who claim that there is no advantage to using your lens's VR mode at shutter speeds of 1/500s or faster. This may be the case in some situations, but it overlooks the fact that the VR may help you keep your subject within your frame, especially if you're using the "Active" mode. In this case we were bobbing so much that the only way I could keep the two subjects in the frame and focus on them was to switch to Active VR mode. While theoretically the image may have been sharp without the VR (it was shot at 1/1250s), I doubt I would have been able to focus on the critical head region without the VR.

Just another little "real world" tip to slot into your gray matter ;-)

By the way - about the title: The rocks that sea-lions (and seals) climb onto to rest are technically known as "haul-outs", thus the play on words in the title.

Behind the Camera

Hauling Out at the Haul-out! Gwaii Haanas National Park, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 27, 2010.

Digital Capture; RAW 14-bit format; ISO 320.

Nikon D3s with Nikkor 200-400mm f4 VR lens @ 210mm - handheld. VR on and set to "Active" mode.

1/1250s @ f6.3; -0.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting of camera.

At the Computer

Hauling Out at the Haul-out! Gwaii Haanas National Park, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 27, 2010.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening using Phase One's Capture One Pro 5. Two RAW conversions at different exposure settings. Exposure settings at -0.5 stops compensation (to retrieve highlight detail in splashing water and reflections on rocks) and 0 stops.

Further digital corrections on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS5 and Light Craft's LightZone. Photoshop adjustments included compositing and masking of 2 exposure versions, selective saturation of colours and selective sharpening for web output. Final tonemapping and tweaking performed with LightZone use the (tonemapper/re-light tool).

Conservation

Hauling Out at the Haul-out! Gwaii Haanas National Park, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, Canada. July 27, 2010.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Pacific Wild

Species Status in Canada*: Special Concern (November 2003) - protected in Canada since 1970.

The Steller's Sea-Lion (Eumetopias jubatus) is the largest of the sea-lions, and males can weigh up to a ton (females are considerably smaller and rarely weigh over 600 lb). Males compete among themselves for females, and successful males end up breeding with several females within their harem.

From the early 1900's through to the 1970's huge numbers of Steller's Sea-Lions were culled for their fur and to remove a competitor (for humans) for salmon. During that time approximately 55,000 sea lions were killed and the breeding population of BC was lowered to about 4,000 animals. Since the Steller Sea Lion first received protection in 1970 the population in the coastal waters of BC has grown to between 18,000 to 19,700 animals (7,600 or so of these are of breeding age).

Pacific Wild is a non-profit conservation organization that is committed to:

1. Defending wildlife and their habitat on CanadaÕs Pacific coast by developing and implementing solution-based conservation strategies. Pacific Wild supports innovative research, public education, community outreach and awareness to achieve the goal of lasting environmental protection in the lands and waters of the Great Bear Rainforest.

2. Working with a diverse array of communities, First Nations, groups and individuals to ensure that biodiversity protection is at the forefront of land and marine use decisions.

3. Mobilizing a concerned global citizenry to achieve large-scale wildlife protection.

Natural Art Images supports the efforts of Pacific Wild and encourages you to do the same.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada