Seattle Times reader Dale Johnson’s eye-popping photo of a leaping orca with a harbor porpoise in its jaws.
Photographer: Dale Johnson, Seattle
Photo taken: Sept. 14, San Juan Islands
Photographer’s description: “I was on a whale-watching tour out of Friday Harbor. We had just come across a pod of transient orcas when, all of a sudden, this orca came shooting out of the water with a harbor porpoise in its mouth. It all happened in just over a second and I was lucky to have my camera at the ready to be able to catch this once-in-a-lifetime shot. Taken with a Nikon D800E, 300mm lens, f6.3, 1/1600 second.”
Katie’s critique: “Wow! A fabulous moment captured. My immediate reaction is that I want to crop in and see that moment big in the frame but as I look at this photo longer I really appreciate having that Pacific Northwest landscape in the background. I think either option would work great. Very cool sight to see, and the photographer captured it perfectly.”
Share your recent photo from around the Northwest. Submit online at seattletimes.com/northwestphotos. We judge the best and award a prize every December. Below is a gallery including previous Reader’s Lens picks.