On a recent trip to Yellowstone, I had the opportunity to photograph a river otter as it swam in a wide stretch of a pond while never getting too close to me. In this photo it has just popped up in a bed of algae which presented a nice contrast. Speaking of contrast, the otter is completely slick when wet and affords little to no contrast if focusing on the body. I’m not sure if my focus was on the otter’s whiskers or the nearby sticks or the algae.
Richard, a very different take on one of these ever popular fresh & salt water characters. I really like his profile take here, seems to be scoping things out beyond the FG snags.
I might try toning down the bright areas in the snags, but a small change there should do it…
Very nice image of this otter, Richard. It looks like the heavier lines in the fur at the lower neck might have provided enough contrast for focus. I agree with Paul about toning down the parts of those foreground branches in front of the otter-they’re something of an eye magnet. The setting is very appropriate and the otter pops from it nicely.
Paul and Dennis: thanks for your comments and suggestion to burn the branches. I have burned the branches even more which is a nice improvement. Richard
