Greeting the Morning

Image Critiques Wildlife Critiques
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I’ve both loved and been fascinated by alligators since I was a child. There are just the neatest creatures and absolute masters of efficiency. They get a bad rap because of occasional unfortunate encounters with humans but that’s not their fault. We humans have encroached upon their territory time and time again and every now and then a gator is going to make a mistake and grab someone or someone’s pet. The gator’s brain is only about the size of a walnut so there’s no real reasoning power there, they act out of instinct. Just like snakes, if you leave them alone, don’t feed them or aggravate them, they will be more than happy to leave you alone. Observe them from a distance, enjoy them as a wonderful part of nature, and respect their right to live and all will be good.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING - I had to add a little bit of canvas on the left because in my rush to turn around in the boat and capture the image I cut it a little close to it’s tail. I hope it’s not too obvious.

Any and all feedback welcomed.

Nikon D810 w/ Nikkor 80-400 @ 400 mm
1/350 @ f/5.6
560 ISO
Handheld w/ VR on.

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ig - @simplynatureart

_1FX4257%20-%20Greeting%20the%20Morning%20-%20NIK%20-%201200
_1FX4257%20-%20Greeting%20the%20Morning%20-%20NIK%20-%2012001250×734 345 KB

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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Bill, I wouldn’t know about the canvas extension if you hadn’t told us. This is a cool minimalist take on the subject. I do find my eyes bouncing back and forth between the head and the tail, though. With the way elements are arranged, I think the tail is a much stronger element here (perhaps because it’s closer to us). Had the gator been facing us, the tail would probably play a secondary role. I think the color is quite exquisite!

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Very interesting frame, making the viewer guess, how the rest of the body is connecting the head with tail ! Love the delicate hues of the water, may dodge the dark shadow in the water (top half of the frame), a touch.