Another Polarscape

[Rachel Hollander]

I thought I would post one a bit wider of a bear in the pack ice. I purposely did not boost contrast in the bear to give you an idea of how difficult it can be to spot these massive bears in the polar ice. On this one we were already getting close (my guess is about 200-300 meters away) but people would spot these bears when we were miles/km away just by seeing the slight variation in the color of the bear against the ice through binoculars. This one is standing up as we approach. She later came close to investigate us but when first spotted they were usually hunkered down in the ice too.

Canon 5D3
300 II plus 2x III
1/2000
f5.6
ISO 800
Monopod from moving boat, cropped to straighten, levels, curves, LCE on sky, selective color adjustments, NR, sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Andrew Merwin]

Nice one Rachel. You captured the vastness of this environment very well. The polar bear inclusion shows perspective & conveys a feeling of cold, isolation & solitude. I also like the diminutive feeling I get from the image because of the PB's relative size in the frame. The image tells me how hard it is to survive in the environment. (I the PB's hunting success is around 20%—tough life.) The bear's raised foot is a nice touch. TFS.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel,
like the overall look and feel of the image, nicely processed colors and details in the whites,first i thought about a different crop by losing some of the FG, but there is this snow bump in the way in LRC, so not working what i thought could look good.
Agree with Andrew about the conditions there, he found some nice words ….:cheers:.

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, like the vastness of the image and it illustrates as you say, how difficult it is to find & locate these animals in this environment. From the image it's seems as if it's towards mid to late afternoon, but one of those days that is also raw and not to be outside for, for too long. Personally I might add another Luminosity in, just needs bumping up IMHO, and then ramp up the yellow in the sky to give it more of that 'winter' look & feel. There is also another option and that is to change the whole sky to that real late evening one you get out there.

Rather than RP I'll fire it off to you, the you can decide if it worth posting or not.

Overall, it works for me with just a couple of tweaks. :S3:

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew, Andreas and Steve. This was taken just after 7 am but in August when the sun never sets. It was a very cold and overcast morning. Steve always happy to have you do a rp.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Ah, but which version? OK, perhaps something between the two, WDYT?

[D. Robert Franz]

I like this image alot! Great perspective of the arctic environment...

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Steve, nice moves in improving the overall tonality …….but i do not like the grayish looking ice and snow.Would go for RP in the sky and darker tones and go for lighter and highlight tones from OP.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, this shows the bleak conditions encountered by the PB's, and the vastness. Good eye contact from the PB, and she still seems to stand out against the pack ice. I like the different layers of pack ice across the frame.

The more I see your images, I realise how fortunate you were to see these wonderful sightings, and experience those conditions, even though you probably froze your b*tt off. :w3

[Steve Canuel]

Nice shot Rachel. A great example of how a small in the frame animal can work. I like the layers and mood of this, Steve's looks a touch "crisper"

[Martin Dunn]

good portrayal of a bleak environment Rachel. Not my kind of place at all.
Steve's re-post has made the PB stand out a bit better against the BG but at the expense of makeing the ice look bluer/greyer. It is more contrasty but I prefer the colours of the OP.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks guys. As always your comments and suggestions are much appreciated. The more I keep looking and toggling between the OP and Steve's rp, the more I think that the op depicted what I wanted to which is how difficult it can be to spot the PB and is more realistic to the conditions of the day. Although Steve's tweaks are good, it just wasn't that dark or blue at the time.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Carl Walker]

Hi Rachel - I like your original post of a polarscape and understand what your thoughts were in putting this one up. TFS

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Rachel, I really like being able to see the PB's environment and do agree with you on the OP as it shows how well they can blend in to there surroundings. Very nice work!

[Markus Hanika]

Hi Rachel,

whites nicely adjusted. PB sticks out well.
i'd try to crop it a bit different and remove more of the sky but still keep enough space to the left to show the vastness.
However i'm not decided yet if i would remove all sky or keep an sky area just slightly above the lowest bright spots.

[edwardselfe]

Prefer the OP, but wonder if some very careful burning of the PB's head might just make divide it from the BG.....
Ed

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely scene, classic framing, and great sense of space and how hard it can be to spot them.
I don't find the bear really gets lost here, and I prefer your OP colours/look, especially in the whites.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel,

very late I am, indeed :bg3:

Great image and Steve's RP looks fine as well to me :bg3:

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Uffman]

Rachal, have not visited the site in awhile as I have been traveling....I love the environment with the bear....I think he really communicates not just how hard they are to spot but how solitary they are in the vastness...August? Way, way , way up north, huh? Looks like Churchill in November

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. Steve U - welcome back. It was August in the pack ice above Svalbard so 81.5 or so north.

Thanks again,
Rachel