Relax!

[Tom Redd]

A sow and two of her cubs enjoy a break at the beach, Katmai. After seeing all the wonderful Katmai shots, I thought I might throw one in. This was a shot in a very small window of a little sun while at Katmai for a day and a half of rain. I am still learning to get sharper images, a tripod would have helped, I would guess.

Image stabilization was on, I read conflicting statements as to whether to turn on OS/IS with high shutter speeds or not. If I turn it off, I think I am too shaky, but would love to hear opinions on that as well. Thanks in advance.

D3s
Sigma 150-500
500mm
f/8
1/2000
ISO 900 - chosen by camera - auto setting
0 ev
no flash
handheld

80% crop - but after reading some of the discussion here, I am not sure how to measure this exactly - lets just say it was significant, but not 100% as defined or shown in Aperture which was used to PP

C & C appreciated and needed, still new here and lots to learn from all the pros here. Everyday, I see these postings and am amazed at all the talent here.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Tom You captured a sweet moment !!! A tripod would be great for an image like this since you want to stop down for dof and still make a sharp image !!! Low angles are good but wouldn't mind a bit higher for this one !!!

Tried increasing contrast to bring out more texture and also sharpened ..

[Tom Redd]

Alfred, that looks much better. You are right, I was too low on this, the sow and cubs actually posed for quite a while and this is one of the few that I was that low for the photo. If you look close, and I am sure you already saw it, but there is cub number 3 of 4 whose head is in the shot barely and now is a distraction. I have other shots of them from a higher perspective and that include the entire family, I may post one of those for comparison, the pose will be different but same setting. Thanks for the feedback.

[Harshad Barve]

What a mood here , I am loving it , Alfred took this excellent image over the top
TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

I think Al has 'recovered' the image very well, bringing out a lot of lost detail in the OP. The overall image is a very endearing one and the crop/comp is spot on for me.

Tom I think you need to look at avoiding heavy crops where you can (safety first), ensure you try to get the crispest (sharp) image, and take your time when processing. Have a browse around the Forum, there are some excellent threads to help achieve your goals. ;)

TFS
Steve

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree with Steve regarding cropping. Better to try and get the composition that you desire. The repost by Alfred with the increased sharpening looks better. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Ken Watkins]

Tom,

It seems that you had a similar foreground problem to my recent posts from Hwange. Unless you could get higher then there is no real resolution to this. Not to sure what you mean by 80% crop does this mean this is 20% of original image?

Als repost has added lots.

[Rachel Hollander]

Tom - cute image. I agree with the comments above. Btw what is that in the fg across the bottom of the photo?

TFS,
Rachel

[Tom Redd]

Thank you all. Ken - yes, after cropping, it is about 20 - 30% of the original image. To me that is significant. I would like to get closer but I was as close as the park rangers would allow. :) Rachel, the FG is the rocky beach, they were near the water and I was up a slight hill, I got low to take the photo and this is the path/beach from a low perspective. Alfred is right, it is too low. I only snapped about 3 shots from there, I just liked the pose so I used it. Again, most of my shots were when I was standing and so I may share some of those in the future. Those shots also are not cropped near as heavily. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it, I am learning.

[John Ippolito]

Tom, this is a very nice moment and comp as mentioned above, and Ak's repost has brought detail and depth. Iam always taken by how gentle mom brown bears are with spring cubs. TFS and look forward to more.