It's Ok Mom
NIKON D800
Aperture f/5.6 ISO 500 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 2800/10 
La Jolla, California, US
Mar, 2019Views
270
Likes
Awards
Legendary Award
Elite
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
Top Choice
Superb Composition
All Star
Absolute Masterpiece
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 30 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in La Jolla, California. There's a protected area for seals to be on and, if you walk a little throughout the coastline you will find groups of seals and also some sea lions that you can get close to, but please remember to stay far enough to not disturb them. If the animal moves at all because of you, then you are too close.Time
I often travel to San Diego, California, and love visiting a coffee shop called The Livingroom, where I had my first serious conversation with my wife, more than 17 tears ago. After sipping on coffee, early, my wife and I walked down to see the seals and later the sea lions. Because it was still early enough, we saw many babies feeding, including seagulls, squirrels and plenty of sea lions. If you start your cup of coffee around 8 am and then walk to the coastline, you can be done by 11 am and have a memory card full of gorgeous images of fauna and landscape.Lighting
The lighting on this photo is as natural as the situation captured. The morning hours in California, and the cloud cover makes for a perfect lighting situation for wildlife and even portraits on the beach.Equipment
This photo was taken with my old and loyal Nikon D800 in combination with a lens I rented at my local camera store (shout out to Photo Forum in Arizona), the Tamron 150-600 mm, first generation lens. I was testing the quality of the glass on this Tamron lens before deciding to but their upgraded G2 version. This photo speaks for itself, and yes, I bought the lens.Inspiration
As I walked through the beach, looking for nature and good photo subjects, I noticed these two sea lions, the mom, and the hungry baby. I also noticed they were on the edge of the rocks and the day, light, weather, etc seemed perfect. I positioned myself to frame this photo with the sea in view and they did the rest, they posed for me in this dramatic way that makes it look like an over stressed mom, yearning to get back to the sea, and a pup being supportive and telling her that it's going to be okay. This photo is nature as pure as it gets, but with a feel of human emotion, which makes it feel almost personal.Editing
Once I got back home, in Phoenix, Arizona, I downloaded all my photos and began the preview and delete process. As most photographers probably know, while going through my photos, and already having an idea of which ones I was looking for, I found this one and had to stop and immediately edit this photo the way I normally do, with Photoshop Lightroom, very light changes. I like to bring up the vibrance, as nature is more alive than what our cameras can capture still, I drop the shadows and highlights and then tweak the contrast and clarity until it reminds me of what I saw when I took the photo.In my camera bag
I consider myself an all around photographer, and I can photograph people as well as nature, concerts or water drops crashing. It really depends on what I'm going to go shoot. For my concert photography I carry 2 cameras, my Nikon Z6 with the amazing 24-70 kit lens, and my Nikon D500 with the 70-200 VRII lens for closeup shots. Ideally I would add a third camera, and I would add the Tamron 15-30mm G2 lens. For nature, that's different, I carry my Nikon Z6 with the Nikon 70-200 VRII lens, and my Nikon D500 with my Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. For macro shots, I use my Nikon D500 and Tamron 90mm Macro lens. It really depends on what your subject/location will be. I have about 10 different lenses at home, as there are infinite possibilities and subjects to photograph.Feedback
The best advice for any nature photographer is to carry a lot of water, a long lens and a lot of patience. Nature cannot be forced, and you have to wait for it. La Jolla beach and cove in California are excellent places to go see the beauty and raw power of these fantastic sea creatures, but please remember to keep your distance as they are wild and territorial. I have seen many close calls with people that were too close to them and didn't see the one coming up behind them. Bring a long lens, a tripod or monopod and a friend that can be your spotter, to see what's behind you as well as what's happening in areas you may not be looking at directly. My wife knows me well enough and knows what I'm looking for, so she tells me what I may be missing as I'm focusing on the subject in front of me. Try, fail, adjust and try again.
