Shot 2 weeks ago in a small lake near Carabelle, Fl. Nikon F3, nik 300mm 4.5. There were 2 gators in this pond but some kids thought it would be neat to snag one and kill it. Parental guidance anyone?

-- Mike Green (mgprod@mindspring.com), October 28, 1998

Answers

Great shot but looks a bit under exposed on my monitor. If you could have gotten a bit lower perspective i think it would draw the viewer into the image more (with a croc i can see why you wouldn't try it though).

As for the kids let them try :-)

-- al (nissar@idt.net), October 29, 1998.

I like the second "eye" that appears (equally sharp)in the reflection in the water. A little more DOF to get the entire head in focus would've been nice, but perhaps not possible in the shooting conditions. Overall, a great shot...I hope you at least took the opportunity to give the kids a good lecture. With so many parents abdicating their responsibility, sometimes we have to act "in loco parentis..." even when out shooting!

-- Sandy Quandt (sandyquandt@centuryinter.net), October 29, 1998.

As far as alligator eyes go, really really nice. Light and exposure are perfect (at least on my monitor). Is there some more on your original slide/negative at the right side? I wish the snout wouldn't touch the frame, but that's a very minor point. I probably would crop of most of the bottom water but that's a matter of taste. The way it is, the head appears "floating", if you crop of the bottom water it gives it a more "grounded" look.

-- (andreas@physio.unr.edu), November 01, 1998.

Nice shot. Couldn't you have moved him out of the dark reflection? Just kidding. I recently ran into a similar situation, except the kids were trying to kill a mother and her young. I simply explained to them that they were in direct violation of the ESA and informed them that they could go to jail. They stopped.

-- Jason Stiner (jstiner@ene.com), May 08, 2000.