Fox' n ' Frost for Andreas

[Stuart Philpott]

A bit of a grab shot and hopefully my last from flickr,little times guys,so I need to share this one quick but hopefully as all the help sinks in things will improve. Really I just wanted to thank Andreas for his help some of which I have tried to use here. I am in no way up too speed with all Andreas taught me via a little video,but it has been utterly emence for me listening to Andreas' dulcit tones:wave:. But I have tried to use little things like the eyedropper for the first time and also played with the black and white points . I need to study more yet but really wanted to share something for him by way of thanks:cheers:.

A dog fox taken hours ago,we have had a beautiful day here cold and bright. I got an unseen chance to get home early and so took off for a walk around home. This guy clocked me while I was focused on some redwings and took off. I backtracked got what wind there was right and headed off after him,which left me in deep shade from a railway line, the frost still there from this morn. I should have upped my iso but was so focused on quiet feet I forgot. When fortuitously I encountered him left me scrambling for exposure and a lower than desired shutterspeed,I don't think the image is sharp enough but am really chuffed with what little I have yet absorbed from Andreas did for the raw. Sadly he appeared with me in silouette so all the camo was without consequence and left me just tine to squeeze two frames. Cropped bottom and left side mainly for composition I guess this is maybe 70 to 80% of the full frame. A **** shame a few yards further and I might just of got a good bit more time,but i'm thrilled to have got anything really!! He is small but I like him in his habitat and the lead in from the path to the right.

In DPP4,I added plus one to contrast dropped 1 on shadows,and played just a bit with unsharp mask,probably not something i'll do later on in DPP once I have got to the stage of being more ready for photoshop..... just trying to work out things really.

Oh Steve sorry for my confused PM the other day if you even got it,you must think I am mad which is probably fair enough:2eyes2: life is mental for us but I'm now a proper member and once again i'd like to say how much I appreciate all the kindness shown from ya'll.


https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1523/24118340579_5fbb3e2aac_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/CKfNog)_70F1009 (https://flic.kr/p/CKfNog) by Stuart Philpott (https://www.flickr.com/photos/104924133@N07/), on Flickr

take care

Stu

PS Humble apologies for this omission:

Canon 300 f/2.8 plus ext1.4 (iii), 420mm,1Div
iso 1000
f/4
TV 1/800

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu i am glad you like the little tutorial i send you , take your time to become familiar with all the options .
Just one advice i can give you , i would stay away from the contrast slider , specially to the + side .
I would rather play with the gamma a bit more .

Regarding the fox encounter , i really like the overall moody look of the frame . Nice placement of the fox and i like the overall colors and tones . Good that you included some of its habitat .

Please do not forget too add the techs , always good to see what settings you have used and what kit .

Good luck with your PP work , just try to get your hand on DPP and even more important get PS for finer editing work , as DPP does not allow localized adjustments . They are handy and important at times , but all raw converters suffering of that . They do offer some brush stuff for localized adjustments , but for me there is no way around the usage of tonal masks ( luminosity masks ) for local adjustments and fine transitions at the same time . But this is just my view , i know others are happy with the local adjustments i.e. LR , Capture One ......

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - please do add the EXIF info because it does help in the critique process. You seem well on your way to improving the pp. Kudos to Andreas for the video help. I too like the habitat and wintery tones. First impression is that the fox could be a bit sharper. Having the EXIF might help with some suggestions for in the field too.

TFS,
Rachel

P.S. And great that you became a member too. Looking forward to many more posts.

[Stuart Philpott]

Sorry for the omission guys thanks both for mentioning it,tiredness I guess.I went sleep with an "oh ****" moment,but little time to reply this morn. Rachel thanks for the reply and encouragement bless you mate!!

Andreas my tutorial is fabulous,I haven't taken everything in yet obviously ...you mentioned the contrast,but it's given me such a start. As you know this digital world befuddles me,but I now have more of a concrete base to work off. With time I am absolutely set on getting PS,I can see the need of layers and being able to separate subject and BG,but I want to try and get that grounding to work up from. This will not be quick Andreas,sadly,but,as slow as I am I want to learn. With the help so graciously given i'll get there one day.

Andreas this picture isn't sharp,do you think in the heat of the moment shutter technique is at fault ,I feel I should have done better,I feel I could have got this at this shutter speed even though I could have upped the iso . Cheers again for the kindness,so refreshing in this world we live in

take care both

Stu

[haseeb badar]

Hi Stuart -- Habitat shots are always a pleasing view and this is no exception . I like the colours and placement of the subject . I too find it a bit soft and also i might crop out from the top , beacuse i find the brights in the BG a bit distracting . TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stu, can I assume you are shooting AV here?

On days like this perhaps try your ISO at 1600 and f/5.6, you want as much SS as possible and I think f/4 may not have given you the greatest DoF in this particular encounter. Keep checking that Histogram, and if you have to + that EV you start to loose SS, this is why it's a balancing act. I like the overall look & feel and the frosty grass is great. I too agree on cropping a bit off the top, but you really want to avoid cropping and re cropping as you throw away so much info, so if possible I may have attended to the top in PS, but it all depends. In DPP you can see where the Focus point (FP) was, was it on the fox's head or elsewhere, as the grass appears sharper than the subject???

This image has a lot going for it Stu, you just need to ensure it's sharp.

BTW you can upload direct from your hard drive, forget using Flicr now you are a member.

I just had a quick play.

Happy 'snapping' Stu.

Steve

[Stuart Philpott]

Hi Stu, can I assume you are shooting AV here?

On days like this perhaps try your ISO at 1600 and f/5.6, you want as much SS as possible and I think f/4 may not have given you the greatest DoF in this particular encounter. Keep checking that Histogram, and if you have to + that EV you start to loose SS, this is why it's a balancing act. I like the overall look & feel and the frosty grass is great. I too agree on cropping a bit off the top, but you really want to avoid cropping and re cropping as you throw away so much info, so if possible I may have attended to the top in PS, but it all depends. In DPP you can see where the Focus point (FP) was, was it on the fox's head or elsewhere, as the grass appears sharper than the subject???

This image has a lot going for it Stu, you just need to ensure it's sharp.

BTW you can upload direct from your hard drive, forget using Flicr now you are a member.

I just had a quick play.

Happy 'snapping' Stu.

Steve


Nope,it's in manual Steve:S3:....I'm always in manual.

As before I hope this will be my last post from flickr,I was desparate to say thanks to Andreas after utilizing some of what he had taught me, I was so thrilled at what it did I wanted to share immediately to say "thanks mate",but was falling asleep no time to work out how to post direct which I hope to accomplish this weekend,Diane has also been helping me with this.



Steve, it's late in the afternoon completely clear sky just going into the last hour before sunset,maybe a bit earlier ,I had to backtrack as charlie clocked me while I was stalking some redwings,heading him off left me in deep shade from a railway embankment. I was so focused on moving silently no feet crunching on frozen ground on all but a still day I forgot to up the iso.As I've just said to you i'm not really new to field craft just the serious side of using the camera.

The fox caught me out though and I had seconds to get something as I was silhouetted between two bushes,full camo is meaningless in this situation, so tried to get exposure right which left my shutter too dam low ,it was frantic Steve!! Haseeb you are I believe spot on the image is soft due to motion blur from me snatching the shot this was one of my primary questions I was trying to get over very poorly in my first post..conformation of my failing,oh and thanks so much for your reply Haseeb:cheers:

Steve,my field craft left me slightly wanting, caught dead in the water in silhouette,is less than desirable,but it got something ie this !! Focus point is left ear slightly missed the eye but seconds mate,just seconds to frame and execute. So do I have an MFA issue of did the fox move causing lack of sharpness at 1/800? Here iso is my utter failing and I reckon I snatched shutter release. Recently Daniel said to me shoot wide open so that's where I was buddy.

I would love to have had more time to execute but utterly had time to set exposure and ramp iso sadly I'd gone in to stealth mode again and not been duly diligent with my camera,this is a massive failing of mine Steve,it is costing me over and over one day I will tie them both together!!

Steve, as with what I started to apply from Andeas,i'm completely bewildered that what I saw on the back of my camera and opened in DPP can get to where you have taken this for me. It is completely gobsmacking !!!!!!!!!!! Buddy thanks so much for taking the time to show me this .



I don't really want to crop much just up the game a bit on all fronts

many thanks

Stu

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stu, it will all come together, it just takes a little time, but the more you shoot, the more things become instinctive and in fact you'll find you do thing without noticing, just have fun, but appreciate time is of a premium for you, so no rush.

I think Andreas will be please to hear that his help has created 'one giant leap' for you and I'm sure this is just the start of getting your more up to speed across the board from shooting to PP.

'Charlie' will be back, especially around this time of the year.

Stu, I can't remember if you PM your email, if not can you do it please, as there might be stuff I have 'archived' which may also help regarding the MKIV, just need to check if I still have it.

[keith mitchell]

Hey stu it's good working with wild animals? think you did well catching this one ,they can be a bit difficult just trying to get like this one coming towards you, wind direction and of course any bit of noise and there off, best when they have scent of a Vixen during the mating time then they ignore everything(wish I had a bottle full), or coming to food.

Keith.

[John Robinson]

keep up the good work Stu. It will all happen sooner or later. I find putting food down regularly works every time. (If you can keep the crows off it ) If you use rabbits etc stake them down else Charlie will take off with them. Good stuff- agree with minor nits.
John

[Glennie Passier]

Stu, this is a wonderful image of a fox in the wild. He would have to be the fattest looking fox I have ever seen. We have them here, but of course, feral. Steve's re-post has made it just a tad more wonderful. I love the scraggy sticks and frost on the ground. You are indeed lucky to have such support here! Well done!

[Stuart Philpott]

Hi Stu, it will all come together, it just takes a little time, but the more you shoot, the more things become instinctive and in fact you'll find you do thing without noticing, just have fun, but appreciate time is of a premium for you, so no rush.

I think Andreas will be please to hear that his help has created 'one giant leap' for you and I'm sure this is just the start of getting your more up to speed across the board from shooting to PP.

'Charlie' will be back, especially around this time of the year.

Stu, I can't remember if you PM your email, if not can you do it please, as there might be stuff I have 'archived' which may also help regarding the MKIV, just need to check if I still have it.

Hi Steve I've pinged you a PM thanks again for the repost aswell as everything else!!

take care

Stu

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stu, you are most welcome, and yes, I have your PM and have replied back with some stuff which may help and or, overlap with Andreas's stuff.

[Stuart Philpott]

John and Keith I hope it's ok to reply to you both together,as you have both mentioned food by way of advice. My real problem is this time aspect with something like food as even though this is very close to home most weeks i'm not here in daylight on the week days at the moment. I don't really encourage then to my garden,being a poultry keeper. On a more windy day I might consider calling though I'm unsure how the photographic community feels about this? Sometimes i've had a dog fox respond really well to my mad emulation of a vixen scream,or later in the year a squeak,mouse or rabbit occasionally works for me. I don't carry any calls or anything like that,it's just something I read about years ago and have tried when I get the chance to learn. It's amazing when it works,i've been able to share some lovely things with Shaz and friends not just foxes,but also the odd weasel and other animals . I guess disclosure is all.

Thanks for the comments both ,you both really inspire me and the encouragement is just so kind !!

take care

Stu

[Stuart Philpott]

Stu, this is a wonderful image of a fox in the wild. He would have to be the fattest looking fox I have ever seen. We have them here, but of course, feral. Steve's re-post has made it just a tad more wonderful. I love the scraggy sticks and frost on the ground. You are indeed lucky to have such support here! Well done!


Hey Glennie,

thankyou mate I do love this kind of image Glennie with a bit more of the habitat,not particularly referring to my wayward effort but in general. Glennie he is in absolutely stunning condition mate he was glowing in the sunshine when he first saw me !! But as I say I get so focused I sadly didn't manage that first chance.I think he read that though,to him I was just a walker and didn't feel me to be that much of a threat,hence me getting my second chance. Glennie they are mating now so plausibly in best condition one would see them especially with the winter coat on. I got some shots recently of another definitely a different fox(far more grey) but only a few hundred yards from this sighting. Sadly although I was nearer the mark with my specs the pictures weren't of great quality and the environment of newly planted trees in their plastic guards singularly unattractive.

He he i'm going to sound like a stuck record keep thanking the folks here,but I simply can't articulate how lucky I feel,

thanks as always for taking the time Glennie,hopefully speak soon playing catch up and already need to run off


take care
Stu