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Thread: Coyote on Frozen Lake

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    Default Coyote on Frozen Lake

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    This coyoyte was looking for something to et beneath the snow and ice on a frozen lake in Yellowstone National Park. I like the pure white of the scene and the intense stare of the coyote as he saw me. I'm not sure if I got the white as pure white here. What would be the best way to process a scene like this for pure white? I underexposed the image by ~ 1/3 EV and had to boost it up in LR.

    Thank you!

    1DX
    500f4
    1/8000
    f4
    ISO800
    1 1/3 EV Evaluative Metering

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    Hi Loi,

    I really like this picture! love the posture of the wolf and the space you created around him. well done. Can't give you any tips for the snow, but I'm sure some others will!
    Regards,

    Carole

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, and welcome to the Wildlife part of the Forum.

    Regarding the image, I'm really surprised about the IQ of the image at ISO800 as the subject looks quite noisy in the face, why ISO 800 with a shutter speed of 8000 & an aperture of f/4? Although I do like the DOF and detail contained at f/4. I'm wondering based on the Coyote if in LR you have added too much Clarity, or did you lighten the subject, and is this a large crop, but unclear when you say you 'boosted' it up in LR? Snow is never pure white, so could you clarify again what you were trying to achieve, as I think if you go for 'pure white' the subject would look almost floating in the crop. I might suggest you steer more towards getting some simple tones back into the snow to give the image a bit of 'form', even just getting some of the diagonal lines that are there helps it. Suggest you double process, process for the snow, then process for the subject & combine. I like the slight show coming off the legs in the snow, but watch as there appears to be a slight sharpening halo on the inner left rear back leg.

    In these conditions metering off the snow close to the subject helps, as you want to expose for the subject. You can, providing there is detail, always 'retrieve' the snow in Post production providing you don't blow things.

    Overall Loi, this is a nice image with some more potential I feel to be extracted.

    Look forward to seeing more from you Loi, a great start IMHO.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Hi Steve

    thank you for your comments. The coyote was underexposed, hence the noise on its face. I could try to reduce the noise there. In LR I used the Punch preset when I imported the image.

    yes, I'd like to get more details out of the snow. When I had this picture printed out, it had a blue - grey cast which ruined it. I don't have a calibrated monitor, so hard to see with my own eye, but I just read on the forum an app that I could use to check for the colors numbers, which should help. In LR, I increased the exposure level by 1/3 EV to lighten up the whole image, but may be I should instead like you said double process the images which I have not learned how yet. I have Element 11 and will look it up to see how to do that.

    thank you!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, not sure what Element 11 can do compared to Photoshop, sorry. I agree that when I looked at it, upping to tweak the overall BKG I too got a grey/blue colouring which looked awful, but dropped the blue as an adjustment layer. If you can, budget allowing, I would try to upgrade to CS6 as it's far better and will offer more scope for the future, plus having a calibrated monitor is essential if you are processing your images to ensure they are best replicated for presentation.

    Be interesting to see the comparison without 'punch' applied. The 1DX is awesome and at ISO800 there is normally very little noise and the files are clean, with good colour balance.

    cheers
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Loi,
    welcome to the WF forum.Good image to start with, not that many Coyote images posted here.

    Steve brought up some good points , in which i agree.

    Though i am not that happy with the composition, i would either place the subject lower or higher in the frame , not much , but slightly out of the horizontal center.

    Like to see more.

    Cheers Andreas

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Welcome here, Loi! I see Steve "Captain Detail" has already given you a thorough critique. I agree with his points. I've never shot in snow but I understood that one needs to meter off the snow and overexpose...?
    I can see some detail in the snow in your presented image, thought the whites could be whiter. I'm fine with the canid's placement in the frame.
    Looking forward to more!!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Loi - Welcome to the wildlife forum and a very nice first post. I really like the posture of the coyote, the low pov and your comp. Unfortunately, the noise is quite noticeable but Steve has given you really good suggestions for both in the field and in pp.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Thank you all. PP is still a mystery to me and I will need to learn more to get the best out of my images. I realize that unless I nailed the exposure in the field, it is not going to be a high quality image. On this image, I didn't meter off the snow close to the subject. Steve, do you mean like spot metering? I estimated the amount of light to be added, took the hot, checked the histogram, realized I underexposed by at least 1 stop, but then the coyote walked off. The lake had just frozen and there was a thin layer of fresh snow on top with no feature. And yes, it was a fairly large crop, so I can see why this image is not going to work well now. Thanks for the feedback.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Steve, do you mean like spot metering?
    No I will take a reading and then manually adjust, generally anywhere between +1 to 2 depending on the conditions, as snow always fools the metering system. If when you post next Loi you can mention if this is Full Frame (FF) or cropped that would be great, it does help. Good luck, enjoy and have fun, that is what it's all about.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    No I will take a reading and then manually adjust, generally anywhere between +1 to 2 depending on the conditions, as snow always fools the metering system.


    Steve, it was a cloudy, overcat day with the sun in and out. when I took the shot, the sun was covered by a dark cloud, so iadded +1 1/3 EV on top of Evaluative Metering as a starting point. I took the shot and looked at the histogram and knew right awy that it was underexposed. I added more light, but then the coyote turned its head and walked away from me. Now I can see the snow is grey right out of the camera, so that explains why there is a grey/blueish cast on the snow. I will chck later on images that exposed with more light to see how the snow turned out as a lesson.

    If when you post next Loi you can mention if this is Full Frame (FF) or cropped that would be great, it does help.


    Yes, it is a significant crop may be by 1/2 each side. The original is here. Perhaps less crop is better since the image quality is poor to begin with.

    Good luck, enjoy and have fun, that is what it's all about.
    Yes, I enjoy this new found hobby tremendously and that makes life more enjoyable

  12. #12
    Roman Kurywczak
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    Hey Loi,
    A bit late but welcome to the forums! Great advice above and given the crop.....may not be salvageable. Can you adjust color balance in Elements? If yes.....you could try adding yellow to the snow......thus minimizing some of the blue. You will learn a great deal here with participation!

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