Brown sow in the grass

[Stan Cunningham]

I really like the background in the image, I think I was able to selectively sharpen her without increasing noise or ruining the wind blown grass effect.
Canon 5D Mark II, 500 F4, ISO 500, 4.0 at 1/3200, wish it was a little more closed now but I wanted the background fuzzy and it was a very dark day.
Gitzo tripod, acratech ball head
Used curves, brightness and contrast, sh and H, selective color with blacks, and used curves in the Lab A and B channel with a QM to bring out the brown color and reduce haze in the air.
All Sharpening done with a QM.
May post a comparison without lab after the 24 hours, as I'd like some feedback on that if possible.
Thanks guys.

[Brendan Dozier]

This is a wonderful habitat composition, Stan, the soft tonal variation of the grasses in BG compliment the bear well. I like the softness of the image, but also would be curious to see a bit more sharpening on the bear as well. Very nicely done.

[Ken Watkins]

Stan,

This is a superb pose, with a potentially great BG etc.

There is still a little noise in the upper BG but not significant.

To my eye the Bear just does not pop enough from the BG, I agree with Brendon on perhaps a tad more sharpening on the bear and a little darker overall using curves?

[Grant Atkinson]

Stan, you have nailed this one for me, composition wise it is absolutely dreamy, and an excellent animal in habitat shot. I love the way the banks of background grass kind of overlap one another, creating depth and interest. I do agree with the others that this might benefit even more from a little more carefully applied contrast. Not sure how much of a crop this is, or if you have added Clarity or Contrast or Sharpening globally anywhere along the processing pipeline, but there is a touch more noise than I would expect to see from a 5Dmk2 at this iso setting.
Excellent work in getting this shot, just the easy bits now to really finish it off in processing.
TFS
Grant

[Grant Atkinson]

Stan, me again, just wondering if there is a typo in your shot info, as a shutter speed of 1/3200 does not seem to fit your description of a dark day? May lead to some confusion...
cheers
Grant

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Stan, love the setting on this one.

Firstly I was just about to ask the same question as Grant re 1/3200, but think it is a typo, perhaps another extra 0?

The 'rolling' grasses give an excellent setting as they cascade into one another like a patchwork quilt, and the choice of DOF is spot on, isolating the bear and a touch of the FG grasses. Placement in the frame also works well, with enough space for the bear to look into. The soft, pastel greens also help to separate the subject from the BKG too.

I would suggest some selective sharpening just on the head and neck area due to the DOF, but try Smart Sharpen as it just tightens things up a bit more than USM, as it tends to be used for subjects that are not quite spot on, (not suggesting this is), but you need to make sure the settings within the sharpening programme are right, don't just open it and apply, as it can be very aggressive.

BTW How did you get on with the Coati?

TFS
Steve

[gail bisson]

This is a beautiful, dreamy image. I love how the grasses criss cross each other giving it a wonderful depth. I like where the bear is in the frame. A keeper for sure,
Gail

[Rachel Hollander]

Stan - I too love the comp and the rolling bg. Some good suggestions above for improving this already very fine image.

TFS,
Rachel

[Kiran Khanzode]

A very different image, Stan. Agree with others on the sharpening and contrast.

In this scene, there was a possibility of doing something different. Looking at the exif, given that you were at 1/3200, stopping down to f/8 or possibly, even f/11, would have added more depth of field to the image. The beautiful leading zig-zag lines of grasses would have come in focus, leading my eye to the Bear and then out of the image with much more clarity.
Having said that, I still like this unique image showing a peaceful scene from nature.:cheers:

Kiran

[Steve Canuel]

Really nice shot Stan. The bear gave you a nice pose and is perfectly placed in the dip between the alternating hills of grasses. I also like the soft look of the light and grasses and I wouldn't change a thing on this.

[Marc Mol]

Very nice indeed Stan, love the comp, pose and fantastic habitat here.:cheers:
TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely scene and soft light here.
Some good suggestions made already, here is a repost with some of them incorporated. Slightly sharpened the head, added a hint of contrast all around being careful not to lose detail in the nose of the bear, then toned down overall brightness very slightly and added 10 points of saturation to the red channel to "pop" the bear some more...what do you think, Stan? :e3

[Stan Cunningham]

Ok, great suggestions as always.
I got rid of the lab mask as given the comments and my own review I liked the original chocolate color of the bear. I'm sorry I only saw her one day, as the color is nice and unique compared to the others.
I used curves again to give it some depth, and then resharpened the head area only.
To me, this is oversharpened, but given what I've read here and in a couple good books I've got I should. I used UM, smart sharpen, and a high pass filter with a soft light blend.
So I'm posting this to see what you pros think.
And thanks for all the compliments, but it's the bear and area that are beautiful, I just push the shutter button enough to get lucky.
Stan

[Stan Cunningham]

Ok Morkel we posted at the same time. As usual you did well.
To "pop" the original browns now, what would you use?

[John Ippolito]

Beautiful composition and setting for this brown bear, particularly with the rolling, layered gasses in the topography. Morkel's looks a bit red - though some brownies can be quite reddish in color - but the bear pops from the BG in his version. This will be lovely when you sort this all out.

[Steve Canuel]

Stan,
Still like your OP over your repost but here's a darkened version that seems to bring out more depth of color of those beautiful grasses. May or may not be accurate as I've never been there. Also reduced a little red in your bear. (Couldn't resist giving it a go since I have only one bear pic of my own.)

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve I think your repost has given another option to the image, offering more depth to the overall look and feel. Personally I like the OP as your eyes go directly to the subject, with nothing to distract you.

Looking at all three and for what it's worth:
- I like the colours, tones of the BKG in the original
- Morkels sharpening/clarity of the bear
- Steve's colouring of the bear

:w3

[christopher galeski]

very nice image Stan,like the BG,pose,and I think Morkel post of your image is the one.well done.

[Robert Amoruso]

The environment is over-the-top perfect. This is a contest winner IMO.

Let me try a repost as follows:

Highlight selection:

1) Channels palette.
2) Ctrl key and click the RGB channel. Photoshop will now create a feathered selection around highlight pixels in the image. Photoshop has selected pixels based on how bright they are. Pure white pixels are selected 100%. Pure black pixels are not selected and pixels falling in-between those two extremes are selected based on a percentage of how close they are to white.

Blending Mode Adjustment:

1) Go back to layer palette - you will see selection.
2) Create BG copy.
3) Create mask on the BG copy from the selection.
4) Selection is grayscale shaded.
5) Change blending mode to Multiply.
6) Adjust opacity. I used 70% for report

Sharpening:

I did my normal JPG sharpening. USM and three mild rounds.

[Ken Watkins]

Robert,

Your repost is absolutely splendid, a "contest winner" for sure.

[Harshad Barve]

Great image & settings Stan , Robert simply took this over the top
TFS

[Stan Cunningham]

Thank you Robert, coming from you that means quite a bit given your skill. And the fact you used to lead workshops there.
I used that technique (learned it from Morkel) just before you posted.
But ended up doing it again along with some resharpening and adding a little more red after your post and it looks good for my inexperienced eye.
I also had not sharpened the grass around her enough, and I think that adds some depth that I saw in your post.
I also use your techniques that Morkel posted at the top and really like the results.
You will appreciate this having shot bears so much, but there were 3 spring cubs right beneath her in that high grass. I was walking down the road towards the ranger's cabin and heard them nursing back in the trees.
I just sat down and fed the mosquitoes for an hour or so and they came out. It was the first day she was seen with her new cubs so they ran out away from me fairly quickly even though I was just sitting on the ground.
Luckily she turned to look what was going on.

[Stan Cunningham]

He does that alot doesn't he Harshad, helps me alot to have such experienced people willing to spend time just to help.
Hope I can do the same in a few years.

[Robert Amoruso]

Stan,

Glad you had a good experience with the bears there. You certainly came away with an excellent image.

I also appreciate your kind words - thank you.