Grizzly at Hallo Bay

[Mike Landwehr]

This image is from Hallo Bay, in Katmai National Park. It was taken about 5:30 in the afternoon, in July of last year. Processing consisted of Color Efex Detail Enhancement at 33%, removal of a few blades of grass, and a highlight/shadows adjustment (adj highlights with tonal width and amount both equal to 20). Full frame--no crop. Would you keep the white daisies, or lose them? All C & C appreciated.

1D Mark IV
500 mm f/4 + 1.4x
1/1000 @ f/6.3
ISO 2000
Tripod

[Marc Mol]

Most definitely keep the daisies Mike, as they add a nice context and one could almost imagine this big guy was heading over to smell them!
Nice detail with very pleasing and complimentary BG, :5 would have liked a touch more room below, with just a slight CWR (but you may loose even more lower room)
TFS

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Mike, great image and the best part of it is those daisies! They really add a great touch that I don't think you would want to lose. Very nice work!!!

[Markus Hanika]

Hi Mike,

nice shot. Nicely blurred BG, sharp main object. As said the flowers work as well.
A bit more room at the bottom would have been good.
Seeing the look of the bear i would have been perfect if the flowers would have been in front of him/her.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Mike,
nice simple bear image with pleasing bokeh in the BKG.The layers BGK is working great but i would reduce the blues a fraction.I would give the image a mid tone boost , but just slightly.
Agree about being a bit tight on the bottom, like the others guys already mentioned.
For me the shadow areas in the bear are looking too light, there are no shadows under throat and the breast , what looks unnatural or over processed , so i would try to avoid S/H of PS and go and use curves /blend modes with detailed and selective masks and target the areas.

Leave the flowers where they are …. a nice touch to the image.
TFS Andreas

[edwardselfe]

Agree with Andreas - either S/H or the shadows slider in LR has been boosted a bit far.135706 What do you think about this with the shadows dropped and the bg darkened slightly and the colours desaturated a little. If you have some more, include a bit more space below?
Ed

[Morkel Erasmus]

I love the pose, the setting and the daisies... :5
I would have loved a tad more room below, though - assuming it's bottom of the frame there though?
I agree it looks a tad light too, RP is better but perhaps midway between them is the way to go, Mike?

[Grant Yang]

Nice and sharp with nice even light. I like the little flowers in the foreground.

[Loi Nguyen]

Lovely portrait in good light and beautiful BG. I'm OK with the shadow in the OP, but I would tone down the highlights on the bear as they are attracting my attention. Edward's RP on the bear is good, but I think the BG on the RP a little dank. I'd prefer the brighter BG of the OP. Definitely keeping the daisies. Loi

[Mike Landwehr]

Some well-considered comments. Thanks so much! And thanks for the repost as well. I'm planning to fine-tune the image before my final print.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mike, great detail in the bear, and I love the walking pose with the raised paw. Daisies to stay, and I like what Ed did.