Shooting Seals

I was fortunate enough to spend a day taking photo ID's of wild seals for the hampshire wildlife trust as part of an international project to form a database of pictures to aid researchers in tracking the seals movements. It is a completely non invasive method of tracking the seals and it is possible to get software to aid in the identification of the individual animals from its markings.


There are a few issues with shooting seals from a boat,

1. The sea is moving
2. The boat is moving
3. The seal is moving
4. If you do it in feb it is likely that you will be shivering!

All of the above add up to a requirement for a fast shutter speed, Image stabilisation, and a lens you can hand-hold, and as we were out on the water pretty early to catch the tide, a high ISO.

Ok so I admit that the first pic doesn't really aid in the ID of the seal, but I liked it, and you can't be outdoors and not notice your surroundings. 5 brownie points if you can tell me what type of seal it is in the picture....

If you want a closer look, try this....