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Thread: Bobcat with Prey

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    Default Bobcat with Prey

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    Image taken last winter just before sunset. I climbed up a hill looking for white tailed kite when I saw this bobcat slinking away, trotting silently, not running. I searched the surround bush and found her crouching down under a bush. I only had a 500mm with me and could back away due to the tall grass. I wish I had increased the ISO for more DOF.

    1DX
    500f4 II
    1/200
    f4
    ISO-1600
    Handheld

    Color balance in LR5, converted to CS6, Levels, sharpening, nothing else done to the image.

    Appreciate your comments

    Thank you

    Loi

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    What a lovely sighting - you must have been chuffed! I like this a lot, and there's definitely the feeling that you 'caught' this cat while it was busy feeding, and that makes for a nice spontaneous moment.

    I think it's a little too dark all around (although suspect that you were trying to keep the atmosphere of the time it was taken) and I think there's a little magenta/purple tinge to the whole thing. So I warmed it a bit, and moved magenta/green slider slightly towards green. I also lifted shadows as I was seeing a bit of blocking up in the blacks, and I thought it might be a little oversharpened. I can't un-sharpen it, so I just added a touch of global noise reduction, which reduced the effect of the sharpening slightly and addresses the slight noise in the background. Finally a touch of contrast boost all round. I considered a subtle vignette to draw the eye towards the middle, and think that might still work - but it shouldn't be visible....

    What do you think?

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, I remember this fellow, but from a different angle?

    I think from recollection your post has followed a similar route, but could be wrong, however Ed's has certainly covered a lot of ground and clearly shown the direction you need to take. I think the RP is a little to sharp, but I feel it's the overall look & feel that is priority here. Given the opportunity again Loi I think you would come up with a far better image overall based on this years learning curve and the knowledge & practice you have put in.

    Looking forward to more stuff in 2014.

    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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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Loi - great sighting and nice low pov. I agree that it is a bit oversharpened and about the color cast. Ed has covered the issues well and his rp has certainly taken it up a notch.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Strange because I added no sharpening at all, and in fact added some global NR which should have reduced the apparent sharpness!
    Ed

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    Both wonderfull images, but I think the RP from Ed is more pleasing to the eye.

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    BPN Member Douglas Bolt's Avatar
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    Nice cat! My first impression was: run Curves - Auto and see if would get rid of the color cast. I did and it improved the image, for me at least. Just two clicks - curves and then auto. Works most of the time.
    Douglas Bolt
    DougBoltPhotography.com

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi & Ed, imported the OP into LR:

    - Adjusted the WB
    - Likewise the tint to loose the Magenta
    - Dropped the Exp -0.15
    - Added a Graduate filter to top right & LHS
    - Dropped the Contrast & Clarity (to me this has resolved the crunch/sharpened look?)
    - Adjusted the RED, Green & Magenta in HSL, again in PS
    - Curves adjustment to remove the Blue cast (see rodent no blue cast)
    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 Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Loi,

    great image with low angle. Lots of improvement has done till I finished reading all comments. Steve's RP does it for me.

    Have a great eve

    Ciao
    Anette

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    Merry Christmas Everyone! Thank you very much for your comments. Regarding the crunchy look, Steve was right on about Clarity. I was playing around with Clarity to try to fix the DOF problem and forgot about it. The WB is hard. I was going back and forth in the range of 6000K (as shot AWB) and 6600 (Auto LR5) and my own eye drop neutral gray on the nose of the cat. At the end I ended up with 6000K. Not sure where Ed and Steve ended up with, but my guess was close to 6600K? The blue tint on the prey is now obvious once Steve pointed it out. I didn't see it at all!

    Have not learned the Graduate Filter yet, but Steve dropping the exposure and the graduate filte was quite effective in making the cat apparently more in focus against a darker BG.

    I will breakdown soon and get myself a good monitor. The only thing that is still holding back is where to put it. can't say I have a good place with controllable lighting.

    Thanks again.

    Loi

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Loi, thanks for the explanation, sadly importing into LR as a JPEG means you have no idea what the 'k' is, it's only + or -, not helpful sorry.

    You know what to look for in terms of monitors, but as you say where to put, but again you know the ideal places.

    Hope the brief info on Bots helped, all the very best for the festive season and New Year.

    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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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by edwardselfe View Post
    Strange because I added no sharpening at all, and in fact added some global NR which should have reduced the apparent sharpness! Ed
    Did you apply NIK Detail Extractor? That was my gut reaction to the original post. Love the animal and I am 100% fine with the aperture and the resulting d-o-f.

    Edward did a great job on all counts with the repost. The repost does not look any more sharp to me than the ORIG but, do realize that when you save, open, and then save a JPEG again that the quality will be slightly to somewhat degraded.
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