In 1985 I got permission from several government agencies to charter a small plane and fly out to San Miguel Island, the westernmost island in the Channel Islands National Park, California, to photograph northern elephant seals. At one time these animals were thought to be extinct due to relentless hunting in the 1800's, but a small colony was discovered in Mexico and, with governmental protection, they now number around 190,000. During the mating season, males combat for harems of females. Although blood is often drawn, fatalities rarely occur because one of the combatants backs down. I was on the island for four days, and during that time my hand held meter malfunctioned. This was the first time I based my exposures solely on the 'Sunny f/16 Rule' (meaning I was shooting without a meter but only using my assessment of the ambient light), and much to my surprise when I got the film back from the lab, about 90% of the exposures were accurate. I used a Mamiya RB 67, a 250mm lens, and Ektachrome 64 transparency film. My settings were unrecorded, but if I were to make an intelligent guess based on how I used to shoot, they were probably 1/400 and f/5.6.
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