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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighty-three: Impressions of the Galapagos – an extended photo-essay > Nursing Sea Lion pup, Gardner Bay, Espanola Island, The Galapagos, Ecuador, 2012
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22-JUN-2012

Nursing Sea Lion pup, Gardner Bay, Espanola Island, The Galapagos, Ecuador, 2012

Espanola Island hosts one of the largest Sea Lion colonies in the Galapagos. On its beach in Gardner Bay, I found dozens of them dozing in the sun, and more than a few pups nursing at the sides of their mothers. I moved in on this pup just as it turned away from its dinner to check me out. The sun was coming from behind, abstracting the mother and much of the head of the pup, yet still defining the whiskers that give the animal much of its identity.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
1/800s f/5.6 at 200.0mm iso160 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time22-Jun-2012 07:28:31
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-GH2
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length200 mm
Exposure Time1/833 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent160
Exposure Bias-0.66
White Balance
Metering Mode
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis18-Sep-2012 20:36
You say it much better than I did, Iris. This image is indeed as much about contentment, security, and tenderness as it is about the identity of the species. What you are responding to here are essentially human values. We see things in animals that remind us of ourselves.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)18-Sep-2012 18:27
Although the mother is abstracted, the expressiveness of the pup speaks of contentment and a sense of security that is derived from this "mother-child" relationship. The golden light on the turned up head of the fulfilled pup expresses, for me, a very tender moment.
Phil Douglis26-Jul-2012 20:31
I saw this sea lion pup turn the bottom of its head towards the light, and wanted to isolate that soft play of golden light on its muzzle along with only a suggestion of the mothers body within my frame. Because I was not allowed to intrude on the mother's space while nursing her pup, I used a 400mm telephoto lens and later cropped the image even more tightly. And yes, it is a good match for that shot of the curving sea lion resting on the curving blocks of lava.
Tim May26-Jul-2012 17:28
How wonderful is your crop and coming in close. This is a partner image, for me, with the sea lion nestled into the rocks.
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