Coyote from New Mexico

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi all, He was walking along the trail just below my house about 75 feet away, He heard the shutter clicks and stopped and looked up long enough for me to get a few shots off then moved on at quicker pace. For once shutter clicks didn't scare the wildlife away!

All comments and critiques are welcome, TY for looking.


165313


Nikon D600,
Nikon 200-500mm F/5.6,
500mm @ f / 5.6, 1/320
Iso 400
Cropped in about 20-30%
Handheld

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Brian - Welcome to the Wildlife Forum! It's great that you could photograph this guy basically in your backyard. It's an unusual pov looking down on the coyote but I think it works because of the eye contact. Please also include your ISO in the EXIF that you post. In this case it was 400. In the field I would want a faster ss when shooting especially with a moving coyote at 500mm. For me, the image looks a bit too red based on coyotes I've seen (also there's a red cast evident on the branch in the bg) so if it were mine I would reduce the reds. It helps if you tell us some of your pp steps or at least the program that you use because then people can give more specific advice.

It's great that you jumped right in and posted comments because interaction with other members is the best way to get the most out of BPN.

TFS and looking forward to more of your wildlife images,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Brian, from our PM exchange I think I have a better understanding about what you are looking for in terms of feedback, however, if there are any SPECIFIC questions to the image you are looking for then please add that into the intro mix for a more 'tailored' replies. In addition, if you can expand on the sighting background more, that will also help, i.e. time of day, on foot/in a car, what obstacles did you face in creating your image, etc etc.

I will take a stab in trying to reply Brian, but like a lot/majority of replies we have to make assumptions as background to the image is a little sparse at times. Below is just my take and is certainly not comments that are cast in stone, as others hopefully will chime in, then it's for YOU to distill from the feedback. I am aware you are looking for more comments about 'photography', but you must realise Post production (PP) is just as key, they work hand in glove. You may take the best image in terms of a technical PoV, but only to let the image down by limited PP skills (you really only need the basics), that is the rub of Digital.

So, 75ft is a distance, therefore you either have the kit to reach and frame the subject, or go for small in frame and present it as an 'animalscape' image to avoid heavy cropping, as IQ will drop and the image will look crap if you try to print at a larger size. You need to think about cropping/framing 'in camera' allowing some space around for final cropping for presentation, cropping hard will just pixel bash. In addition think about format, landscape or portrait. Most subjects dictate format, however some may provide various options, so get the shot YOU want in the bag first, then look at other options, tight/wide, landscape/portrait, detail feature etc...

For me the angle is not ideal, looking down, but understand why, however having the face to camera does help. I can't comment on the camera body (I'll let other do that if required) but I assume this was hand held (HH)? If so, then with a moving target you need to keep your shutter speed high say 1/1600, that means upping your ISO. Most cameras these days are build for high(ish) ISO, IMHO it's better to have a sharp RAW with a little noise, rather than a soft image with no noise, as you can deal with this in PP very easily. I guess you have more image content below as this is a crop, to me the subject is 'slipping down' in frame, you need more below and so in turn by moving the crop down, it would loose a bit more of that dead log which is less than ideal and to a degree distracting, however nothing you could have dome apart from limiting it's presence via cropping.

The image looks a little light (based on the Histogram, which might be misleading after your PP), so I might pull back the Exposure to slightly darken the overall image. I think you are working on ETTR which is good as you can easily darken an image, juxtapose to lighten which will bring more issues to the file.

In terms of PP I would just drop the Exposure by around a third, then look at addressing whites & blacks if requited. There is more 'form' you can bring out from the actual subject itself, creating more depth within the image. What you need to think about is moving from a 2D image and converting to a 3D looking image, this is where you PP skills come into play. The overall colour looks off, going more warm/red, addressing the WB will help. I also just added a slight blur (crudely done, needs a better blend) to reduce FG/BKG to 'sandwich' the subject (just a thought) which perhaps add to drawing in the focus???

I hope others will add to this as there is more I'm sure that can be brought to the table in helping you.

Here is a quick RP, albeit on the laptop so it again, may be a little off as I'm currently away.

cheers
Steve

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi Rachel, sorry it took me a few to get back a response, I did take the time to add the Iso, 1st time I've forgotten it in a post thank you for reminding me, Ty for the comments and tips, I don't remember why the SS was so low I might have been shooting something else just before I saw him but I should have checked my setting before taking the shot , was surprised that he was there and just started taking shots. So for the colors, I never touch the colors since i'm slightly color blind to the point I don't even see the red cast your talking about in the BG. Most of the time I ask the wife to take a look before posting something I think needs color adjustment, I did ask her and went through a few changes but she thought that the one I was posting was good, not her fault her eyes are not as well trained for this kind of detail. I did show her the comment about it and did see what you were talking about and will try to see these kind of errors in the future for me. Again TY a lot for the tips and info greatly appreciated.


Brian

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi Steve, 1st thank you again for our ongoing PMs, I will have 1-2 more quick questions that ill send later tonight if you don't mind. As you stated I can't help much on the angle of the shot from where i'm shooting I would need climbing gear to get any closer :), you are right about the crop there is a bit more head room but not much for the lower part there's a lot of bushes rocks and a branch that just stuck out, cropping removed that issue, it's mainly to the right there's a lot of "dead space". You are correct that it was HH, normally I am set to a higher SS like I mentioned to Rachel in my post below I must have been shooting something stable and when I saw him I just started shooting instead of looking at my settings 1st, ill watch out for that and not make that kind of mistake too often in the future.
You are correct again that I am more and more focused on shooting ETTR never really had to deal with this when I shoot macro since I use a manual flash and if I went off the histogram it would be off anyway. As you know since our PMs with the color blindness I can't really touch the colors by myself, if I did people would think there's a rave going on in the image :). I see what you did in the OP and understand more what you are talking about with the blur and colors I do see the difference between both images, I can see the difference as long as I can flip between them but if I just look at the one I posted it looks fine to my eye. The color blindness is a real disadvantage when it comes to PP when colors and shades of colors are involved wish there was a fix but nothing atm can help.

I really do appreciate all the info and the time you took explaining what is wrong and what I can work on in future posts, I did get another coyote shot this afternoon from almost the same spot though this time I scared him as I was moving to a better vantage point to shoot a hawk flying around, I did shoot at a higher SS this time and a few different settings, I might post it here (have not seen what its like on the pc yet) and you both can tell me if its an improvement compared to this one.

Again Ty for your comment and tips/info it is really appreciated.

Brian

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Brian, firstly I'm please that you have highlighted the issue of Colour Blindness, as the more people are aware of it, hopefully they can understand why the colours maybe off at times.

Many years back we also had another gentleman who also suffered from Colour Blindness and I know Rachel found some web links. Perhaps when she has a minute she might be able to find again and PM them to you, as this may again help you. However, because colour is so important, you will find, dependent on the image, the same reply being given - 'the colour is off', so lets see if those links can help. BTW can you see tones of Grey in an image, I'm not being funny or trying to be rude, as this could be a starting point, or I might be able to offer a suggestion, albeit a tad long winded to at least have a starting point.

Cheers
Steve

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi Steve, I can see almost every color if its very strong, it's the shading that I don't see to give you an idea, a paint color chart from a paint store if it is all gray but just slight shades I see it all the same shade/color, but if there's a large difference between each color I can see them all. I don't know if that helps you with your question. I take no offence or find it rude at all, dealt with this issue for over 45 + years something you get used too :). Any help would be appreciated but I know from talking to doctors (optometrists) there's nothing that they can do physically or correctively. I'm wondering if Rachel has something like they use in PC games for color blind people to help see the colors better, if so for my issue it does not help (come from a PC gaming background). But I am willing to try different things to help improve my PP, even if it means bugging the wife :).

Thanks again Steve.


Brian

[Steve Kaluski]

Brian, I will have a search for you, plus some other ideas which I will PM you about, no need to clutter the thread with. BTW what do you use for processing Nikon Software or PS?

Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Brian - I have no insight or tools for dealing with color blindness. Steve is remembering a gentleman who was a complete novice at pp and I found a couple of blogs or articles about dealing with color blindness as a photographer. I am sure you have already seen and read them.

Regards,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Brian, I have just sent you a PM with a great link - I hope!!!! However it rely's on you ensuring ALL your files from Camera to Working space on your computer are kept to RGB for the best results, then you can swop to sRGB for posting. If you follow the correct step in converting your file from RGB to sRGB then you will be in a good place I think.

Hope this is the 'silver' bullet. :S3:

Steve

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi Steve, thank you for the link and info, from what I see and reading it's mainly how to make your images better viewing for different color blindness but it has given me an idea and try to reverse the process and see if it helps with color PP.
Again thank you for all your help.


Brian

[Steve Kaluski]

You are welcome, drop me a PM on how you get on, as it's pointless clogging up the thread.

[keith mitchell]

Hi Brian,most of the technical points have been well covered and I do like a lot about your post,must add I myself had a bit of a problem with colour issues on which I got lots of help and encouragement , in the end sorted my problem so now I can post with confidence at least on the colour issue.

Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Keith, I think yours was an easy fix, Brian's may take a tad more time, but lets see, 'Confidence' is high. :w3

[Brian Desjardins]

Hi Keith, Ty for your comments, I think it's just going to take a bit of getting used too, just started shooting wildlife, over time my eyes will get used to the color issue. I have had no color comments when it comes to my macro shots but ive been shooting macro for a while now. Wish I had more wildlife photos to post but atm mainly just birds but as soon as I get some I will post them. Thanks again.



Brian