Just a Big Polar Teddy Bear

[Rachel Hollander]

Another from the pack ice north of Svalbard, Norway.

Canon 5D3
300II + 2x III
1/2500
f5.6
ISO 1600
Monopod from moving boat, cropped to 16x9, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, NR and sharpening in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Jamie Douglas]

Ah ha so the flood has started :) Welcome back Rachel and hope you received my wee message re your new role in the forum . This fella looks like he is drying off from a swim? Love the wet wispy fir detail. I see a little noise in water areas which could easily be removed and not sure if the image is maybe just a little on the contrasty side?

[Loi Nguyen]

He is indeed a cute teddy bear! You handled the whites very well here. Really sharp for a 2X. Have you got more room from the top? I wonder if the image would have more impact with the bear lower in the frame. Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, not sure if it's the screen of the laptop, or the image, but it does look quite noisy, did you lift any of the body fur? They are so playful and full of character these guys, but not something I would like to play ball & stick with. The crop is OK, but if the IQ can stand it then keeping the same format, but tighter I think is another alternative and puts the subject a bit more off centre. Now you know how hard it is to shoot on a moving boat, well done, great experience and will help for future trips. Cool. Good to have kept the SS high to capture the moment.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jamie, Loi and Steve for the comments and suggestions. This is already a bigger crop than I would normally do. While I might be able to crop further for web presentation, it wouldn't hold up for prints. Steve - not my first time shooting from moving boat or zodiac. Definitely need to keep the ss up.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Brendon Cremer]

Lovely image Rachel, well exposed with great detail, agree perhaps a little noise in the bg but easy to deal with. Comp wise i like what you have done but as with steve i also considered a tighter crop, as you have said this would not really be possible perhaps loosing a little of the FG and RHS from the bottom right corner and then adding some more on the top and LHS may be a possibility, that is if you have some space top and left?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Brendon - I went back to the tiff file based on the suggestions and came up with an alternate 16x9 crop and applied a bit more NR to the bg. WDYT?

Thanks again everybody,
Rachel

[Andrew Merwin]

Rachel, I like both posts—the OP because it shows the environment so well & the RP because the PB is so prominent in the frame. I think the RP needs to be leveled.
It looks like you had a fun trip.

[Jamie Douglas]

Thanks Brendon - I went back to the tiff file based on the suggestions and came up with an alternate 16x9 crop and applied a bit more NR to the bg. WDYT?

Thanks again everybody,
Rachel

The repost is a stronger image Rachel and hope this holds up for print. This is such a good image

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel the RP IMHO requires rotating now, and I still think having him more to the left sits better as per my original thought. So many options

[Brendon Cremer]

Rachel i really like your RP comp is much better for me and the whole scene just works, agree with the need for some rotation but thats easy to fix. Yes Steves RP is nice but as you mentioned its pointless cropping the hec out of an image so that it looks great on Web but for actual use its useless.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jamie, Steve and Brendon. Always nice to have options.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, a great sighting, and a beautiful animal I would love to see in the wild, even though I may freeze my butt off. Well timed to capture the 'playful' pose, especially with two of the legs in the air. All crops work for me, but if I had to choose one, Im going with your OP, it shows off more of the surrounding ice.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Stuart, definitely need to wear lots of layers to keep warm but worth it.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Russell Johnson]

I prefer Steve's crop, though understand and appreciate the thinking behind the original.

RP has improved in terms of PP based on the points raised.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice job on the repost, Rachel. Gotta love that pose!!
Besides the comments above, it does seem a tad dark overall - did you try bumping exposure in RAW conversion by +0.3 or +0.7?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel,
great pose of the bear.

RP for me even better with the newer processing attempt.

TFS Andreas

[Gregor Bergquist]

Haha, This Teddy looks like he just want some love. (Reminds me of how my dog likes to lay on his back and looking with his eyes.)
I´m wondring though, how was the ice/snow? To me it looks a bit icy/crystalized. But that maybe was what it was like?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. Gregor - the ice in the pack ice did seem crystallized a bit more.

Thanks again,
Rachel