The Everglades

[Esoterra]

Took a vacation down to the Everglades and had a chance to take some snaps!

In this first snap I was heading out the Big Cypress Observation tower and came across this Wal Mart that was wiped out by Hurricane Ivan.


I saw the truck in front of me run over this poor aligator. I wish I had my camera out when it happened, and kept it strapped around my neck the rest of the day. Gator populations have exploded over the last 15 years, where once they were an endangered species. Run ins like this are common, and I saw many more smashed gators!


Here is a gator that came up near the road trying to bask in heat eminating off the cement. He didnt like that I was getting too close and started hissing at me!


I caught this guy trying to sneak up on some wild pigs stopping off for a potentially deadly drink of water.


Here is another guy lounging out just minding his own buisness. I constantly kept looking behind me afraid that one would sneak up from behind. An aligator in the bush is worth two sneaking up on you!


There are some fantastic hikes off the I-75 known as Alligator Alley. This was one of them. It sure made me feel safer knowing I was on a board walk walking through the swamps.


Dont know the name of these birds but they were all over the place...and they are very aggressive if they think you have food for them.

[toriaj]

Wow, Esoterra, neat shots. I've never been that close to an alligator!

[Norm in Fujino]

For "snaps" (er., "snappers"?) those are very nice I'd certainly be wary of paying too much attention to the viewfinder in places like that.

By way of critique, a couple appear to have a bit of washed out whites or low contrast (on my monitor) that might be compensated for with a bit of adjustment, but hey, in the heat of the moment, who's taking time to think about colors!? The bird is a great capture!

[Esoterra]

Thanks for the feedback Norm. Which ones did you think had low contrast...so I can fix them up!

Thanks

[Norm in Fujino]

Thanks for the feedback Norm. Which ones did you think had low contrast...so I can fix them up!

First off, trust your own eye and not necessarily what others see on their monitors!
But since you asked, of the 7 shots here, my favorite is the fifth; the third and fourth seem just a tad flat. I tried downloading them and adjusting the levels a bit and it seemed to bring out a bit more depth. (#2 is burned out on the gator's undersnout, but it's too far gone to save, and thematically, it's not in the same class as the others--IMHO). I'd probably also try hue/sat/lightness controls a bit to bring out a bit more color depth.
I hope you don't mind, but here's the sort of results I got (I also added just a bit of USM to perk it up):

[Esoterra]

thanks for the feedback Norm. I have to admit I have more to learn in the post processing phase of my RAW workflow and there is a lot I need to learn about Capture. Great pp with the picture. I does make a big difference.