Hi Ashleigh - A very warm welcome to the Wildlife Forum! A really great first post. I like the pose and the muted fall colors of the bg. Please note that your image does not have an embedded color profile. When posting on the web, sRGB is best. Take a look at Steve's Saving for Web sticky at the top of the forum. It has easy step by step instructions for making sure the proper color profile is embedded.
You said this was about a 76% crop so I would like to see a bit more room below for the virtual legs if you have it. Elk have long legs. If the image were mine I would apply a curves adjustment just to the elk to give it a little more oomph and then also apply another round of USM to the elk with maybe a bit more on the head and throat. Finally I would apply a little NR to the bg.
I hope you'll post more of your wildlife images and also share your thoughts on other people's images. It helps us to foster a sense of community, get to know each other and your photographic style but most importantly learn from each other. We recommend that you post on at least 3-5 other images each time you post one of your own.
Hi Ashleigh - and another warm welcome, nice opening shot too.
Rachels reply has covered the raft of main areas I might have brought up in my observations, so not much more to add. I think being slightly overcast has helped in the overall colours too. Personally I'm comfortable about the room/space at the foot of the image, but feel a tad more to the LHS & above would probably be enough. So providing you haven't flattened your Master file with all it's workings/layers then a simple recrop should be sufficient and easy to do. Good not to be too tight in your composition, but on the other hand don't crop the **** out of an image and throw all that info out the door and also bash the **** out of those pixels. I would add a fraction more USM to the head & rack, as it just clarifies things a bit more. Techs look fine and enough SS.
Look forward to your seeing more from you in the future, both terms of image and hopefully your thoughts on other members work as it's great to have another pair of eyes.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Very nice pose and attitude on this bull, and good separation against the BG. I like the sharpness and detail, maybe like Steve said a bit of curves and/or contrast might add a little punch.
The "virtual leg" space is a rule I don't always agree with, in this case I don't find it an issue.
What a striking image -- great pose and lovely pastel BG!! A touch of Nik's Detail Extractor, possibly combined with Tonal Contrast (both in Nik's Color Efex Pro) might bring out a little more detail in the darker areas -- just a little. It would save the trouble of selecting the elk for a Curves adjustment.
Sorry for being late to the party here.
This is a lovely angle and pose, Ashleigh! I like the framing as is, and the soft light was a big help here in bringing out detail. I just feel you could sharpen the bull overall a fraction more?
I am fine with the space at the bottom but I have no idea how long their legs actually get (though I support the principle Rachel is punting).
Looking forward to more of your work and your input on other critique threads in the wildlife section!