Groundhog

Hi all,

Here is a groundhog frame taken today in NJ around 11 am. I originally went out in the morning looking for some ducks (no luck sadly), and as I was leaving the park I saw this guy and I was able to snap some frames. The light wasn't ideal here and I was unfortunately fighting some pretty aggressive heat shimmer, but I wanted to try my hand at the April theme. In post, I cropped a bit, brought down the highlights, did some level adjustments, sharpened and some minor NR on the background in PS. I don't have much experience sharpening fur versus feathers so hopefully I didn't over or under do it too badly.

Camera: Nikon D500
Lens: 200-500mm f/5.6 at 500mm
Specs: 1/1600 ISO 500 f/6.3

Thanks for looking!
Alex

Hi Alex - Thanks for participating in this month's Theme and you are always welcome in Wildlife. Nice to see a groundhog. Good low pov and I like the angled pose. The image looks a little bright overall but you did say it was taken around 11 am. If it were mine I would do a simple curves adjustment to give the midtones a bit of a boost and to tame the hl a bit more. Sharpening looks ok at this size but on the cusp of being a bit strong in the fur on the side of the body. I would prefer a sliver more room to the left. I hope to see more wildlife images from you.

By the way, it would be great to have your thoughts on other wildlife images. We recommend commenting on 3-5 other wildlife images each time you post one of your own. It helps everyone to learn from each other.

TFS,
Rachel

Hi Alex -- What a nice close up and you done well in handling the harsh light. Rachel's RP has improved this by reducing the bright feel in the image. A nice low angle makes it look huge. The mound intersecting its head is not ideal IMO but it was there.

Would love to see more images from you and your comments on our posts as well .

TFS !

Hi Alex, looks very similar to the Marmots Andreas and I had photographed last year, albeit in different counties. Quite 'cool' characters and a bit of fun too.

Good perspective, but if you have it, then certainly at tad more to the LHS and at the foot, it's a bit cramped, try to remember to add if it's a crop or FF in the intro. Exposure I think you did well, as you kept the blacks from clipping and white blowing, retained the data to the left, so it appears a bit light and it was, but this is where you then need to apply your PP skills. For me, the OP is pretty good, but what I feel you need to have is more separation between the subject and the environment i.e. more tonal depth in the coat. The mound is an integral part and as it almost follows the line of the Groundhog it's all part of the capture and there is enough standout between the two. Techs fine with the SS, but perhaps a tad more DoF, doubt the mound would come more into play, looks far enough away. nice to see the teeth, not lost in the shadows, eye looks good, is that natural or slightly lightened? Sharpening, it's hard to say on this, lets see some more postings.

Don't go by colour, just try to illustrate my thoughts too, as per Rachel.

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By the way, it would be great to have your thoughts on other wildlife images. We recommend commenting on 3-5 other wildlife images each time you post one of your own. It helps everyone to learn from each other.

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Would echo this.

Just a side note, what is the vertical line about an inch up from the intersection of the head and mound???



TFS
Steve

Hello Alex,

What an awesome creature, looks like a Brant's Whistling rat on steroids to me!

Really great to see you posting a Theme image in Wildlife - this is well seen and captured and I love the "arrogant" pose and teeth showing.

Lovely RP's from Rachel and Steve as well as great feedback. Not much for me to add, I just want to say I really look forward to more from you:w3

PS Thank you so much for comments on my previous image, much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Thank you Rachel, Haseeb, Steve, and Gabriela for your kind words, excellent suggestions and edits, and for the very warm welcome! I'm hoping to capture more wildlife this spring and summer so hopefully I'll be posting more, and will certainly comment on all the great images here.

I'm attaching a repost where I tried to combine different aspects of the edits from Steve and Rachel (thank you both for them). I had a bit more room to the left and below so I added that back in and then did some curves and levels adjustments to the groundhog as well as the mound to try to tame those highlights. Hopefully I didn't overdo it on the RP.

Rachel, I did end up reducing the sharpening a bit here as I also feel it was getting a tad crunchy on the side fur.

Steve, good point about more DOF -- the mound was a bit back so would have been okay I think. I'm not sure what that line is either, maybe a very stout piece of grass (?) -- I cloned it out in the RP. The eye was slightly lightened (shadows boosted a couple points), should have mentioned that in the original post. I tried to keep the eye visible here, hopefully it doesn't look unnatural.

Gabriela, thank you so much for the kind words -- I've really enjoyed looking at your recent photos, some really great captures.

Thanks all,
Alex

Hi Alex, great to see you embracing the suggestions as your RP is far better now and overall things are moving definitely in the right direction. Just watch that things don't go too flat here tonally, what you are looking for is a good range from Black to white so to speak so the image has 'tonal depth'. Remember you are taking a 2D image and making it 3D, so light often plays a big part with lights & shadows creating the form.

Cheers
Steve

Hi Alex for sure a cool character this marmot !!!!
Love the low POV and the " clean BG " if the mound was not there , but it is separated enough so no big deal for me .
Op was too light and missing tonal depth i think , and i agree regarding the sharpening .... i agree with Steve and his thoughts that your RP has gone into the right direction .
So try and get the most out of the frame ... well at first for your liking .... !

Keep them coming , TFS Andreas

Hi Steve and Andreas,

Glad to here the RP is heading in the right direction. I think I'm seeing more what you're talking to about tonal depth and keeping a sort of 'spectrum' of tones. I think I'll try to go back in better light and try again with this guy since he seemed approachable and calm. I'll keep plugging away with the PP as well.

Thanks again for the kind words and help!

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Hi Steve and Andreas,

Glad to here the RP is heading in the right direction. I think I'm seeing more what you're talking to about tonal depth and keeping a sort of 'spectrum' of tones. I think I'll try to go back in better light and try again with this guy since he seemed approachable and calm. I'll keep plugging away with the PP as well.

Thanks again for the kind words and help!

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Great attitude Alex.

Yes it getting Tonal range in stuff like this which really helps, otherwise colour will play a roll, but in this image it's less so. Just take your time and advance in small amounts, but always give them their comfort zone, that way you are not stressing them and they may - come to you. Think about where the sun is coming from and check the Histogram to get as much data as you can without clipping the Blacks & Whites, DoF & ultimately your SS and the screen for comp and for any glaring issues in the scene. If the light is constant fine, if it's changeable then you need to check your Histogram on a regular basis, but again remember the checks.

Good luck and look forward to seeing more.
cheers
Steve