Yellow-bellied Marmot

[Ken Pollock]

This is an image of a juvenile Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris) that was taken in the Holy Cross Wilderness in Colorado.

Canon 5D IV
100-400 + 1.4 teleconverter @ 420 mm
ISO 1000
f/8
1/1000 s
AWB

PP – sharpening, slight adjustment to whitebalance, increased exposure 1/3 stop, reduced highlights, cropped.

Thanks for your comments.

Ken

[Glenn Pure]

I like this a great deal, Ken. Always a pleasure to see and different treatment and deftly handled as well. Excellent tone and IQ. Did you have other shots from this moment? If so, I'd be interested to see or hear why you chose this one as I imagine this could be handled a lot of different ways.

[Ken Pollock]

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for your comments. I chose this image because I like the way the out of focus rocks in the foreground and background framed the face of the marmot. The shallow DOF really made the marmot jump out of the image.

Thanks again for your comments.
Ken

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Ken - Nice to see a marmot and you've done well here. I like the dof and the sharpness looks good. Watch the blacks, some are on the border of being choked. For me, the oof rock on the left is a bit too dominant. If IQ allows for further cropping then I would try a more portrait crop rather than square with a bit off the left.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Ken,

I find this frame unusual and original as well as pleasing, with the subject standing out so well among those OOF rocks. Nice detail and reflection in the eye, which has a bit of blue in it from the sky:)

This works for me - lovely pose from the Marmot and overall the frame is well processed and presented. I truly enjoyed viewing, thank you so much for sharing.

Kind regards,

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Ken, this is a nice shot with the subject standing out against the OOF FG & BG. Agree the rock in the FG is a bit dominant but no deal breaker here.

[Ken Pollock]

Hi Rachel, Gabriela, and Sanjeev,
Thank you for your comments. I agree the rock in the FG is a bit dominantand I’ve redone the image with a portrait crop. It helps some, but doesn’t substantiallychange things, so I won’t repost it here.
I do appreciate the feedback!
Thanks,
Ken

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ken, well exposed and I like the choice of DoF here, with the OOF shrouding the subject. I wonder about a crop like this reducing some of the OOF environment, if IQ allows?

TFS
Steve

[Ken Pollock]

Thanks, Steve. I do like the crop as you've shown it. It does improve the image. Thanks again, Ken