Nice shots. You could but probably should not as this was how you found him. You could however try reducing some of the blue cast.
I wonder why this happens? Had a couple of shots with exactly the same thing a few days ago.
That bite mark, to my mind, is part of that gator's character. You might spoil the image by shopping the bite mark out. We are up near Clermont at the moment and, so far, not seen anything so impressive. I assume you were using one of you longer lens on this impressive fellow.
Thanks for your comment and advise Bobo. I had not noticed the blue cast until you pointed it out. I think the image below corrects it. Maybe the cast was because the alligator was the other side of a canal in the shadows, other than that I do not know. It has to be the quality and amount of light it was reflecting.
Thanks for your advise and comment Keith. The image was shot at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida, on a trail called Alligator Alley. The reserve is a little ways from Clermont where you are. Right now the alligators are mating and nesting, one of the trails is closed to protect people and alligators. I shot the image with a Nikon 55-300mm at the long end. My D7000 has a crop factor of 1.5 so that gets this lens out to 450mm, which the image was shot at. Thanks again for your comment.
Much improved. Yes, must be the water reflections. Mine were near water as well.
We have seen plenty of alligators during our stay as my grandson and his father are keen fishermen so we have spent some time on Dixie and Hammond Lakes in the Lake Louisa State Park. I really do get the impression that we have been stared at by several who were eyeing us up much as we would chickens in the butchers window. I do have one close up shot of a female guarding her nest on Tohopekaliga taken from an airboat - it is a perfect example of camouflage in action. I feel these are creatures deserving the utmost respect and admire your courage getting even as close as focusing distance with a 300mm 1.5 crop lens. You have such wonderful light here that even budget lens work extremely well. I would really love to see some of the fields of water lillies in full flower but that isn't going to happen before we go back to wet old England on Friday. Please forgive me for waffling on though as it is my first visit to USA and I have been most impressed with the rural areas of Florida I have wandered around. There really is so much to take in. Later today we are off to Clearwater and perhaps Tarpon Springs so I will have many more 'snaps' to take home as a reminder.