Bear in the Woods

[Jay Sheinfield]

These Cades Cove bears are always a challenge to shoot. Besides the obvious fear that you might appear as a dinner treat (not very likely), low light and constant movement usually results in more misses than hits, at least for me. He was about 3 years old and somewhere around 175 lbs. He would later bluff charge a point-n-shooter for getting a bit too close. The acorns and walnuts were a bumper crop this year, and he was eagerly digging through the fall leaves for food. He looked up for an instant for the shot.

I used PS Oil Paint, removed a distracting tree, and cropped. Hope you like him...............

[Cheryl Slechta]

Jay, I love him!! What a great shot. And I love the oil paint effect, although I think it looks a little too "chrome" looking in the background. Maybe you could blur the bg a little? Or a slight desaturation?

[Jay Sheinfield]

Jay, I love him!! What a great shot. And I love the oil paint effect, although I think it looks a little too "chrome" looking in the background. Maybe you could blur the bg a little? Or a slight desaturation?

Thanks! Yes.........wasn't sure what to do with BG. I did a blur on it as suggested. There a couple of twigs/lines back there I might clean up later.

[Christopher Miller]

Excellent image, Jay! The eye contact and raised paw of the bear really makes the shot for me. I like the painterly effect, and it does look better with the BG blurred.

[Dennis Bishop]

Great shot. With the background blurred, the processing is nice, too. In addition to toning down the Oil Paint effect, the blurring seems to have given the image a greater feeling of depth. I'm not sure I have a lens long enough to have made me feel comfortable photographing a menacing looking bear with its eyes fixed on me like that.

[Paul Lagasi]

Repost rocks...well capture with bear looking right at the lens, nice effects...well done

[denise ippolito]

Nice repost Jay! Great job with the Oil Paint Filter. A great looking subject!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Jay, the repost is perfect

[Judy Howle]

Ditto the above comments! The original capture is superb and the repost is spot-on!

[Jay Sheinfield]

Thanks everyone..........Good feedback on the background, Cheryl.

[Indranil Sircar]

This is outstanding! I love the look and the pose with lifted paw! The fallen leaves and touch of green adds a lot to the image. Excellent processing!

[Anita Bower]

I like him a lot and am glad I wasn't there when he "bluff" charged. I think the repost has more depth to it. Your processing is fantastic. Love what it did to the leaves and ferns. Excellent shot with the bear looking at you!