I usually do not like strong side lighting on a subject (as opposed to full backlighting which I love), but I kinda liked the mood it gave to the image in this case. She was peacefully grazing on fresh leaves and grasses and when she looked up towards me the light caught my attention. It was a cold start to the day, but as the warm light foreshadowed it became quite warm that day...
Canon 7D + 500mm f/4 + 1.4TC, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/1000s., f/5.6, ISO 400, handheld, small tweak to the comp but basically FF, removed an oof flower lower right corner that was more a distraction than an addition.
Hi Daniel - excellent sharpness and detail. I like the warm feel and you are right, the mood here, even with the uneven light is nice. I sort of like the s curve that the shadows and light create on the head and neck. Pleasing bg too. I do find the one longer hair to the left of the head as we look at it sort of distracting/out of place. Nice to see you posting in Wildlife.
Love it! The grasses' direction complements its long neck in a nice way. I'd lighten up the 'dark side' just a tad (by raising the Shadows in LR) to see a little more of its right eye. Nice one!
The sidelighting worked a treat here Daniel! Lovely details and sharpness. I would be tempted to tone down brightest highlights with a luminosity mask here.
Good to see you posting here!
Hi Daniel , good portrait and really lovely saturated colors , almost a Velvia feel with strong contrast, well done.
But i am tempted to think i would darken the HL slightly and open up shadow range to get a tad more detail out them, specially in the face.
I like the composition, as it conveys that lovely, long elegant neck, but for me I would take a sliver off the top, just my taste I guess. The saturation is very rich, however knowing your birds the colours here are faithful and not over cooked. Techs & detail as per expected, spot on. Interesting about the the side lighting, my initial thought is the same as Andreas, to emphasis it more, but watching the shadows, getting more detail in the muzzle would be good. In doing so, perhaps pegging back the white/highlights a fraction to the left ear, it's probably turned so catching the light. The right ear would have been very nice with some backlighting so it lit the whole ear up, with some rich, blood reds coming through, likewise any veins & structure.
I like it but for the WHITEs of the right ear that look as if they need to be toned way down. That done if possible I would love it....
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Very original, and it just shows how versatile your photography and processing is. So good to see you posting in Wildlife again!
I like the way the subject stands out and especially the shiny/wet nose and the fur - it feels like I could stretch out my hand and touch it! Beautiful side lighting, IMHO there is plenty detail to be recovered in the right ear, it is a tad bright and some might find it a bit distracting but I just love this Daniel, killer BG, sharpness is there, and the colours just stunning!