Bison

[Andrew Merwin]

After a hellacious winter with record low temps, record snow & a very rapid snow melt over solidly frozen ground that flooded 3 sides of my house & forced me to sandbag those 3 sides, I finally have some time to post an image.


Here is a bison that I imaged @ -30˚F in Yellowstone. One can see that it is very cold because of the frost on the bison’s face & right shoulder. The sun has melted the frost on the cow’s left side. This is a mature cow. She probably weighs ~1100 pounds (~500Kg).


I was in my truck surrounded by bison when I made the image. I was stopped for ~20 minutes waiting for the herd to pass. It is great fun experiencing a herd of bison this way. In addition to being relatively safe & seeing them, I can also hear & smell them. Sometimes they are close enough to a vehicle to touch one (I do not). Experiencing bison with 3 senses truly impresses me with their awesome primitiveness & power.

1D/IV, ISO 800,f/4.5, 1/2000, +1 ev, 100-400@100mm, WB @ 5200K. Sharpened, cropped for composition, minor adjustment with curves & levels.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andrew - Nice to see you posting. Sorry to hear about your tough winter and I hope things improve quickly. Looks like it's been a tough winter for the bison too. He's got a weary look to him with the head down. Nice sharpness and detail. I do find the comp a little awkward but not sure of an alternative due to the dropped head. If it were mine I would tame the highlights with a luminosity mask, drop the blues and add a bit of depth to the midtones. Here's a rp giving you an idea of the direction I would go. I do realize that some blues in the shadows are natural but still would reduce them a fair amount.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andrew, great to see you getting out there.

I'm not sold really on the comp/framing, but I do really like the depth & detail you have captured. I agree with Rachel, you can get more depth & tone back into the subject very easily and it certainly transforms the subject, you can then feel you hands disappearing into that thick, dense coat. How far to take the blues may come down to personal preference, but in this situation I would not eliminate them, as the cooler blue conveys the cold nicely and snow is never pure white.

Just my take.

TFS
Steve

[Steve Canuel]

Like the amount of frost on the fur. I find the comp of the OP a little in-between. Would prefer either a wider, full body shot or a closer head and shoulder crop.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Andrew, glad to have you posting again and glad you've got the trouble at home sorted... :eek3:
I prefer Steve's tonal depth to your OP, but would attempt a square crop from the OP, just taking a bit more off the LHS?