Mountain goat kids, Mount Evans

[Tin Man Lee]

This photo was taken just a few minutes after sunrise at the summit of Mount Evans.
I was sitting on the ground in front of a big rock, with two photographer new friends. There were at least 20 mountain goats walking around us within a few feet. Knowing that there was a mountain goat attack recently somewhere else, I was a bit nervous.

After a bit of wait, the sunlight finally shined on this rock in front of us, and with great luck (prayers works!), the mountain goat kids started to climb up the rock, cuddle and jump around there.

Getting the goat kids on a rock in morning golden light with the rocky mountain backdrop was a dream come true. Special thanks to Weldon Lee who taught me a lot about Mount Evans and especially telling me where to find the goats.

1D Mark IV, 70-200 2.8 II, f10, 1/2500s, ISO 500, handheld.

[Nancy Bell]

This is totally awesome! The perfect capture of the kid in mid-leap and that great expression on the kid with his head leaning on the back of the third makes this fantastic! Beautiful light and beautiful background. Very, very well done.

I'm headed up to Mt. Evans on Wednesday. I've never been there before. Any tips for finding the goats? I hope to have an experience similiar to yours. :S3:

[Tin Man Lee]

Hi Nancy, thanks very much for your comments. Now is the prime time for mountain goats kids. The locals said the mountain goat kids look even smaller than those at the same time last year and they are super cute. And some adults still haven't shredded yet so it looks good. Search between the summit lake and the summit, they tend to wander from place to place in a big group, so once you found them, you are in for a real treat following them. Make sure you wear sunglasses as there are a few turns near the summit where you turn and the bright sun shines right onto you if you drive in the morning, which can be really dangerous. The first day i didn't see any goats in the summit, but the next two days I saw them there just after sunrise. And saw even more when i drove down from the summit. They just walk on the road. So really no need to climb/hike the slopes. I did that the first day cuz I got too excited seeing one in the distant, ended up with shaking legs and really fast heartbeat in the high altitude. Let me know if you have more questions. Good luck!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Tin, good capture and nicely timed. The location is excellent, really setting the scene and the expression of the playful kids is perfect, but the one caught in mid leap is the real bonus, overall it has a nice feel about this for me, well composed.

It looks to me Tin and I wonder if you know the answer, did you use a polariser for this one, as the colours I think/feel look a little muted? I am not saying this is right and can only base it on another Forum members posting by Tom Reed of Mountain goats, but a slight tweak and I think it would add a nice punch to it, happy to post my thought if you wish?

TFS
Steve

[Tin Man Lee]

Hi Steve, thanks for your suggestion. I didn't use a polarizer. Let me maybe brighten it and add saturation and see how it looks and I will repost it. Thanks!

[Brendan Dozier]

Tin, this is just fantastic! Great interaction capture, love their expressions, nice light, and what a great BG to set the whole scene and give you a sense of the high altitude. Well done!

[Tom Redd]

Tin, great capture. I like the fact that you were able to capture good eye contact with all three at one time, I know that isn't easy. I like the BG of the valley and mountain range. I hope you have some more images that you can share from Mt. Evans and your puffin tour -I look forward to seeing them. It was great to meet you.

[Tin Man Lee]

Thanks all!
Hey Tom, it was really great meeting you too. I still remember how I struggled to walk up the slope with you in that 14,000 feet altitude but it was fun! I am going thru my images now and will post more later. Look forward to seeing more of yours too!

[Morkel Erasmus]

This is one heck of an image Tin!! :eek:
Love the interaction, the setting with the backdrop, the light, your timing...wonderful image, wish it was mine.

Agree with Steve on a "muted" look, a light boost in levels should sort it out and lift an already special image up another notch...:t3:5:cheers:

[Tin Man Lee]

Hello my friends, I tried my best to brighten the sky. Somehow the color of the sky still doesn't look as good as Tom's photo, I wonder if my photo was taken in early morning. But anyway, here you go. If you have any suggestion how to improve, please let me know. I used nik software to add brightness, saturation and blue.

[Ofer Levy]

Repost looks great IMO!!

[Tom Graham]

To me the OP seems to lack contrast/brightness as I would expect on a sunny scene.
Taking OP into PS Levels shows nothing above about 201. Simply moving the right Levels slider to 201 snaps it to more what I would expect. Nothing else done to image.
Looking to play so made it into a before and after gif :S3:
http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/aeb0df550c606d597f737c3cada19d8c3aaa782fc2769b674b 97fbf70bf93c896g.jpg

Tom
ps - did like Morkel said

[Tom Redd]

Tin, I think your repost looks better than the OP, but I feel Tom's repost is sill best. Also, Steve Kaluski was kind enough to do a repost of my image and help me with improving it overall. Still, what a great capture! A few tweaks and this one is really sweet.

[Rachel Hollander]

Great behavior captured and huge cuteness factor. Repost looks much better. I really like the way this image shows the heights at which the goats live and the perilous edges that they traverse.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Here you go Tin, simple tweak that was applied to Toms post. I think it adds a bit more punch and cleaness, but as you were there you only you can tell.

Steve

[Tin Man Lee]

Thank you so much Tom and Steve. Thanks for putting it in GIF which really helps me see the difference, and the new blue really adds life. I am really really happy with the new look. Love it! Now looking back at the original pose, what a big difference I can see!

Originally, knowing that there were snow in the background and that the goat kids were white in color, I was very careful making sure not blowing any highlights, so I exposed very conservatively.

In response to Tom R, it was great running into you at Mount Evans last week. I think we got some sweet photos that day. Then the second day I saw the group of goats at the summit and took tons of photos, only to realize at night reviewing the photos that the road was on the background that ruined them all, and I was pointing my camera towards the west (hoping to have the sweetest direct light) which didn't have these snowy rocky mountains background, so the 3rd day I was on a mission, to make sure I had a low angle so the road was not visible, while not too low to have other blurred out rocks that affects the foreground. And while everything were ready, the rock, the background, the light, I almost lost hope as the goat kids never came close to that rock (which happens to me a lot, such as when I have the best full frame shot of a bird flying to me with green background, the photo was completely out of focus) !

Luckily after a wait of 15 mins or so, they knew exactly where to go! I almost cried when the first goat kid popped his head up from behind that rock.

[Tom Redd]

Steve's repost looks very nice. Tin, l am so glad you got some nice shots. It was great to meet you, come visit again.

[Tin Man Lee]

Thanks Tom, I may come visit again for the Fall color, the elk rut, or Dec for the big horned sheeps.
Last week was good, first time in life to see the mountain goats, and I think the mountain goat kid is one of the cutest creatures in the world, especially when they call and walk pass you within a few feet.

[Marina Scarr]

Going to Mt Evans next week and hope I can do more than DREAM about getting a capture as good as this one. Congratulations!

[Tin Man Lee]

Thank you very much for your words! Good luck! I am sure you will have lots of fun photographing them. I think the goat kids look the cutest these few weeks as they keep jumping around.

[Roger Clark]

Hi Tin,

This is a great image. Regarding the reposts, note the differences in the sky between original, Tom Graham's levels, and the other two reposts. The levels adjustment kept the sky color the same, but the other two reposts turned it cyan--too cyan. And it appears that Tom's levels clipped some highlights, if I'm seeing the histogram correctly in his example. I suggest converting to LAB and using levels on the luminance channel but not saturate anything, then use the curves tool on the luminance channel to increase the contrast. This way there are no color shifts.

Roger

[Tom Graham]

I do see difference in sky color and saturation. Guess it depends on preference.
I used Levels before because it clearly shows with its graph/histogram "compressed contrast". (Is that what it is called?). In general, for sunny images I expect to see it more expanded/stretched.
Of course the problem (can be) with changing Levels is that any piece(s) of the image over on the right, like snow caps on the mountains, will get blown out by moving the right slider. So, how about trying to accomplish same by raising gamma (using Curves)? Raising the midpoint but leaving both ends where they are? Like this -
http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/eefae251f48ab219703ee4bf470b0b18109b9d2daa3550390f 6657d7b680d9616g.jpg

And perhaps another advantage of using Curves is that it will lift the almost black shadows a bit ?
Tom

[Steve Kaluski]

Tom, be great to see you post some images coupled with your advice at some point soon. :S3:

[Tin Man Lee]

Thanks for the expert advice, I will play with the luminance in LAB, and also look more into the levels. Would love to see more of your illustrations. Thanks!

[Tom Graham]

thanks Steve
But it's more fun to "pick on" others images!!! (kidding :S3:)
I do a have a few from last safari in Tanzania Feb 2011 that I wonder about, especially how to crop.
Will put up a couple soon for suggestions.
Tom