Elk River Crossing

[Dvir Barkay]

I do not post here often, I am still mostly a landscape photographer and that is still mostly my specialty and comfort zone. But, when you go to Yellowstone you have to also take photos of wildlife. So here is a male elk crossing a river. It was very foggy, so I lowered the black point to bring out some contrast, maybe I should have left it a bit less contrasty and more ethereal. Also, I used a prime, so the framing is somewhat limited, and a tad tight as things stand.

1Dx, Canon 300/2.8 L IS, F/4.5, ISO 1600, 1/1250s

[haseeb badar]

Hi Dvir -- A nice river crossing pose .

I thought i would do a RP to convey my thoughts , it is certainly not perfect by any means but gives an idea what can be done with the image , and i expect others will guide much better , but any ways here's my take .

Took this to light room ( i dont use it for my WF ) , used shadow , darks , and highlight sliders in negative numbers and lights slider to a positive number . offcourse this could be termed as playing with the sliders for personal taste and feel. reduced the blues and aqua and increased yellows and orange. However i applied them in entirety and i do still find navy bluish color cast in water and legs . I tried to give more punch in the image and also retaining the feel of mist. The black might have been choked in doing so but that can be sorted out . So WDYT ? and also lets see what others have to say .

TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dvir - Great to see you posting in Wildlife and always good to see some Yellowstone wildlife too. I really like the mood of this which is largely due to the fog. Unfortunately, I think Haseeb's rp has lost much of that feeling and yes, the blacks are too much in the rp. I did my own rp reducing the blues and cyans and increasing the midtone contrast slightly. Btw I agree with your self-critique that it is too tight, especially below. The walking pose through the water and raised leg is great. I hope you'll share more from your Yellowstone trip.

TFS,
Rachel

[Dvir Barkay]

I agree with Rachel that your repost Haseeb is too contrasty. It was very very heavy fog, and I already pushed it quite a bit.

I like the added contrast in your repost Rachel. I can show you the original raw file, and I use manual white balance, and it is was just very blue. The other elk shots from the same scene but without the river lack the blue cast and have a more yellow magenta feel. I think that the river here, which is very very blue in daylight, reflected off the fog and cast a natural bluish cast.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Dvir, I very much like the light and atmosphere within the overall comp, but agree, it's just a little tight especially at the foot, but sadly that is a drawback with a fixed lens. I also think you could have pushed the ISO to gain at least a bit more SS & some more DoF, don't be hesitant!!!

Yes Haseeb RP has gone a little too far overall and also lost a lot of the OP atmosphere, this is were 'less is more'. Personally I think if you get the black point 'right' you'll be pretty much there, if you add Contrast you will loose fine detail and just clog the mid tone where your detail is.

Dvir a light hand in the PP of this and all I think would be good.

Hope to see more from your trip.

TFS
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Dvir,

So glad to see you posting here in Wildlife

I have not shot in such conditions before but I do find this frame most interesting, wondering what my approach would have been in terms of PP work if it was mine:)

I do agree with your self-critique regarding tightness, and can only imagine what this would look like with more environment included. Set aside crop/composition, I really like the general "feel" of the scene, subject embraced by fog and that water splash. There is a tired, worn-out look about this elk crossing a trodden path through the river and I find this very charming.

Haseeb has made it all look more "real" in his OP, meaning the frame has somewhat lost its "surreal" feel, although some nice detail and colours coming through. IMO this image requires lots of thought in terms of PP work and of course it all depends where you want to go with it, I would really spend some more time on this - love the unique atmosphere and this dream-like quality of the entire frame, very special image Dvir - thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

[Dvir Barkay]

Here is a slightly updated version
. Just moved the black point a bit.

[Dvir Barkay]

Hello Dvir,

So glad to see you posting here in Wildlife

I have not shot in such conditions before but I do find this frame most interesting, wondering what my approach would have been in terms of PP work if it was mine:)

I do agree with your self-critique regarding tightness, and can only imagine what this would look like with more environment included. Set aside crop/composition, I really like the general "feel" of the scene, subject embraced by fog and that water splash. There is a tired, worn-out look about this elk crossing a trodden path through the river and I find this very charming.

Haseeb has made it all look more "real" in his OP, meaning the frame has somewhat lost its "surreal" feel, although some nice detail and colours coming through. IMO this image requires lots of thought in terms of PP work and of course it all depends where you want to go with it, I would really spend some more time on this - love the unique atmosphere and this dream-like quality of the entire frame, very special image Dvir - thank you so much for sharing!

Kind regards,

Thanks Steve and Gabriela. It is always fun hearing your responses Gabriela, as they are so detailed, makes it fun to post here. I agree about the tightness, need that 200-400 lens :) . I am glad you enjoy the mood, I did too find it magical to shot an Elk in the early morning with so much fog (created by the immense amount of steam from the nearby hotsprings on the crisp cool morning). It creates an ethereal world that is beautiful and totally different then without the fog.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice mood to this, Dvir. I like your RP for sure, as well as the one Rachel posted.
Good to see you posting here. Fog and dust can add so much to wildlife photography, the trick is learning to use them to good effect.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Dvir, just took your OP into LR, balanced out the B&W points, brought back a bit more tone and colour and then used some Curves adjustments for the darker elements, but carful not to choke/clip the blacks. However, removing the Blue did get back to a more neutral 50 across all three channels, where you then take it is personal choice and could selectively add some into the water if you felt the need, but I think you can see the 'depth' you had in the OP.

cheers
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Dvir,

I apologise profusely for not replying earlier, I was under the impression I did.

And glad you like my replies, LOL.

To get back to this image, I think Steve's thoughtful RP goes right down my alley, the colours are so consistent with the "mood" and "feel" I perceived while viewing the original, and now the image truly has a wonderful "painting" effect. Just eliminating the blues did so much for this frame, I am sure you agree?

Love your experimenting and I think you've got the eye for that which is unusual, or unique. I have noticed this in your Landscapes too:) Your hard work really pays off and I think you're going places, keep it up Dvir - wonderful work. I will be looking out for your future posts

Kind regards,