European Bison portrait

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi folks back to Bison business .....
Image taken recently in the Netherlands ...this frame was taken in early morning light ....around 9 am .
I got the chance to get very close to the herd as nobody else was around .

Canon EOS 1Dx II
EF 200-400 IS L with TC engaged ( 560 mm )
HH

F 6,3 ; Iso 20000 ; 1/2500 sec ; man exp ;

Processed with DPP 4.6 ( fine detail picture style ) and PS CC 2017 ; full frame ; i did not lighten that eye .

Thanks for looking and commenting to my previous posting

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - A nice simple, close up portrait with beautiful rich tones. I'm surprised you needed ISO 20000 in that light though.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Andreas,

Another image that makes me marvel at the beauty of a species I have never had the pleasure to encounter in real life. There's something so noble and proud about this animal.

I have been staring at this frame for a few minutes now, trying not to miss out on the essentials. At the same time I am so taken with those silky hairs (love the textures and rich colours you brought out so well) and cannot help but notice those shiny and almost interlocking horns. So much detail everywhere and that glistening eye tops it all, nice PP work Boetie.

Wondering about techs, could you perhaps ellaborate a bit, 1/2500s is indeed great but somehow more than I'd expect? Just curios about the lighting conditions and circumstances.
Love the tight comp. What a beautiful portrait, I feel you have done justice to your subject - thank you so much for sharing

Kind regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Ladies thanks for your comments .....much appreciated .
Easy to explain the techs ....
dark subject , taking a large portion of the frame
shooting freehand with no support , standing upright ... man exp .... auto iso ..... + ev to ETTR
I might have got away with 2000/sec or even 1600 /sec , i just wanted to be on the safe side .
And as you can see ...... very high ISO / noise with the 1Dx II not an issue if handled right ......, so why not create a very 100 % pin sharp image with these techs ?
My thinking right now ......heard from somebody else here .... listened and thinking it is a good way to work with .

Hope this clarifies things a bit ....Cheers and a very pleasing weekend to both of you

Andreas

[Andreas Liedmann]

Think we have seen frames here taken with the same kit ....not showing this fine detail , mostly taken with slower SS .
So for me this answers some questions

[Gabriela Plesea]

Absolutely Andreas, I agree with you 100%. No noise whatsoever, BTW. Super detail.

Very pleased with your answer Boetie

Have a great week-end:)

[Rachel Hollander]

Andreas - I guess I am just surprised that you needed to go to ISO 20000 to get the ss and aperture in what looks like much better light than your other bison images which you shot at lower ISOs in what looked like much less light at similar ss.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela good that i have answered your questions .....

Well Rachel i have no influence on the metering once i have chosen the method, just can alter the F-stop and the shutter , as i do shoot auto iso most of the times specially when shooting in non consistent conditions , like shooting the bisons with the 200 -400 and having the subject large or small in the frame . The Bisons are lighter in color and tone if you have flat light ....
Therefor and in combo with my preferred shooting method the ISO is jumping up and down , and i do not care that much about the ISO as long as i have an ETTR image as output .
With the right piece of software ......and the image being ETTR .... no issue with the noise .
If i could choose i would for sure lov the ISO being lower .... meaning less work in post , but i rather work with the controllable noise and have a sharp image instead of having a low noise file but not 100 % sharp .I do sometimes get away with way lower SS and lower ISO , but then circumstances must be perfect , specially from my technical skills side . Sadly many times i am too excited during my excursions that i am struggling to shoot at lower SS . Once i have settled and have the save images ....i do experiment , but many times i do not get the chance as situations are not lasting that long.
Hope this clarifies a bit

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andreas for the clarification. I never use auto ISO and didn't realize it jumps around that much. I shoot in full manual. Definitely ETTR is the way to go no matter what.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, love the side profile, cracking detail especially when you consider the techs. Again proves the MK2 delivers providing you get the exposure right. Personally I feel Loi's image has the edge because of the white BKG that just separates the head perfectly. However, I also like the the way the tip of the horns just overlap, subtle. Nice, rich depths of colour in the coat.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Steve much appreciated , i think even with a not 100 % perfect exposure the 1Dx II you can get stunning results .....IMO . But for sure if the exp is right is the best bet for high output

I would have liked a more even creamy BG ..... like Loi had .... but the Bison did not listen to me , and stayed there .

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

I would have liked a more even creamy BG ..... like Loi had .... but the Bison did not listen to me, and stayed there .

They never do.