European Bison in the mist

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi folks like to present an image i have taken recently in Kraansvlak Bison sanctuary .
Straight on the first day i stumbled over the herd in nice sunny weather , but light was not on my side as i had to shoot against the sun , so i stopped and just watched them . After a while the herd started moving still in a backlight situation , within some minutes weather changed dramatically from sunny to foggy/misty as the area is right on the coast .
The herd was moving into my direction so i took the chance and waited for them at a crossing .....

Canon EOS 1Dx II
EF 500 IS L II
HH

F 9 ; Iso 10000 ; 1/4000 ; by mistake i dialed in the high SS and did not recognized it , would have been better to shoot at 6400 or even less with 1/2000 sec .But things happening .

Processed with DPP 4.6 ( fine detail picture style ) and PS CC 2017 ; cropped slightly from all sides for composition . I kept the original dull / misty look , tried to use the full tonal range but decided to leave a big gap to the blacks ,as there has been no such tone on location due to the misty weather .

Thanks for looking and commenting to my previous thread .

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - Love the misty feeling here and the comp works too. Before reading your intro, my first impression is that the blacks of the bison are a bit thin given all the deep blacks in the beards of your recent posts. I agree with your self-critique about the techs.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, I understand why the image looks 'thin' with little tonal depth, but I think in this instance you can be less reflective of the conditions, but still retain the overcast/misty atmosphere. The techs, well we all make errors at times. I feel there is just enough for the virtual legs and I like the angle of the subject, as he looks away, rather than to you.

Not saying this is right and it's done on the laptop so could well be improved, just a thought before gearing up for another day.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thank you Rachel and Steve for your comments and suggestions , as always much appreciated .

Hey Steve , special thanks for your RP , i am 100 % with you regarding the tonal depth , but as said in my intro i keep this frame 100 % as i saw the situation .I had the same , well almost , version during processing . But this does not reflect the scene and i did not want to create something that was not there at the time of shooting , i had that already in my head while i was taking the images to keep the mood in post.The fog/mist was so dense that even the 1Dx II was struggling to lock on the subject as the animal was moving , albeit slowly , and the fog was moving too .It was a very atmospheric scene in some seconds the sun was peeping through the dense fog .
I have more room for the virtual legs ......a tiny bit , but good idea too keep more for them .

Cheers Andreas

[Andreas Liedmann]

for demo purpose the original shot

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Andreas,

I really like your thinking behind this image. And I am happy to see your choice of ISO did not affect your frame in a negative way.

Surprised you did not think of adding more tonal depth to the subject, as you are super skilled in this department. Steve's version has lots of "pop" while it still retains the misty look intended.

Right now I am thinking I have to try experiment more, really enjoying the variety in your posts - thank you so much for sharing Boetie

Kind regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Gabriela much appreciated your comment , for sure i have the skills to go on Steve´s route , as said above i have been there during process . Meaning i had two versions , a classy one like Steve´s and my very flat one as posted .
For you the classy one might be more attractive , but for me i do prefer my version where i have kept the misty feeling in the whole frame . Just a matter of taste .In foggy/ misty situations there is no " pop" and i did not want to create such thing.
Cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

I perfectly understand, Andreas.

My comments were obviously based on how I perceived this scene. I am certain you explored various avenues and settled on what appealed to you. I did try to establish a "connection" with this version you prefer, but the thought of having it printed suddenly made me question your decision. Interesting how our minds work... I really made an effort to think "out of the box" here but struggled, my brain wants to hook on something in particular, I want an anchor - there's lots of beauty and interest in this frame but all behind a veil, if this was your intention than you truly achieved what you wanted. You did grab my attention and made me think, Boetie

Kind regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi again, I'm with Andreas on this one and actually prefer the mistier, flatter version. I might only tweak the blacks of the beard.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, no problem, you are the author .

The fog/mist was so dense that even the 1Dx II was struggling to lock on the subject as the animal was moving , albeit slowly

Perhaps tweaking the cases may have helped?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Gabriela , Rachel again and Steve again ....much appreciate your comments .
Folks i still think i am happy with my initial thoughts .....Gabriela this is processed for screen , not for print . For print i might do a little bit , but not much to still keep the flat overall look & feel ..like in real life .
Steve i did not had in mind to change the cases , my fault , i might try next time . But still unsure if that works as i think the AF system is based on contrast detection ..... and there was no such contrast so for me it is clear that the AF system is having a hard time to find something to lock on.
I had a similar situation with another Bison , he was standing on a ridge , flat flat light , dark bison against a washed out bright sky and mist .... with the 1Dx MK I , even more difficult !!!!

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Well perhaps as you say, with little contrast locking on may have been a tad harder, or manual focus as the subject was still.

BTW - 120cms of fresh snow in the last 7 days.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Enjoy all that snow ....hope you keep on the tracks .....are you going on black tracks ?

BTW as said above , Bison was moving albeit slowly and i was handholding the big glass , so manual focus was not really an option from my POV , completely lost that habit over the years. Unless i do landscapes .

Cheers Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

I have to confess I have no favourite, I like all versions for differing reasons so I am sitting firmly on the fence.
(I also have a bison shot in a snow storm looking equally pale and haven't posted becasue I cannot decide how much to deal with the contrast).