Brown Bear Portrait

[Rachel Hollander]

I thought I would start us off on the December theme of Portraits/Head Shots with another bear image (I hope you're still not bored). This was one of the adult sows with cubs. Brown bears come in lots of different shades from light blonde to a dark chocolate brown and many have red tones as well.

Canon 7D2
100-400 II @ 400mm
1/1600
f5.6
ISO 800
HH, slight crop for comp, levels, curves, TK luminosity masks, sharpened in PSCC.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Glenn Pure]

Great start to the theme, Rachel. Lot's for me to like here: wonderful pose and detail on the sow including nice eye detail, great background and I'm happy with the foreground grass in this one as it doesn't impinge on the bear. I'm guessing from your comments that this is probably one of the lighter toned bears given the way you have rendered it here? The only thing I'd revisit on this one is the composition. For me, there's too much frame on the right side at present. I'd be tempted to take a little off. But still a fine image and one to be very happy with.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel thanks for starting off this month theme ..with this bear image .Keep the bears coming as at the moment you have the almost exclusive right on them and i personally do not become bored .

All does work nicely together for me , you have a good tonal range and the detail is so nice you have extracted . The subject is nicely separated from the sedge grass and i do like the cocked head of the bear , he might have checked you guys out .
I might try to give the bear the tiniest push in the mid tones for a bit more color/tonal depth in the fur, just a thought .

TFS and keep the bears coming , Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, agree with Andreas on a bit more Midtown but via a B/W H/T not the slider within PS which doesn't really provide the ideal solution. I like the HA, hump and the DoF works nicely, but there's too much negative space on the RHS, about a third less, although I would do it visually. Personally I would have ended the two grasses touching the chin a little lower rather than touching, with no detriment to the overall image.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Glenn, Andreas and Steve. I'll take a look at the comp and midtones but Steve what does B/W H/T mean? As you know, the grasses stay for me.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Looks great to me, I find it difficult to comment on the fur other than to say I like the colours and tones. As you say the bears vary tremendously in colour so I presume they must be pretty close(??)
I like the slightly awkward pose, it has an almost caricature quality to it, I only wish I can get some shots like this one day..

[John Mack]

This is a very nice bear frame. Love the color of its fur. Its head looks massive.

[greg cowle]

Rachel, very nice detail in the bear, the light looks nice. I find the composition a bit awkward though. The shoulder makes her look like a hunchback because of the angle. I'd suggesting cropping the left side near the top of the shoulder.
Greg

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve what does B/W H/T mean?

To create a proper Midtown adjustment it's via a (B/W H/T) Black & White half tone ie Luminosity layer and not the slider in PS. Originally you had to create them via Calculations & Subtractions in PS, but it would take 5-15 mins depending on which H/T you required and complexity.

[haseeb badar]

HI Rachel -- I loved the expression , especially the eyes they are so expressive. Excellent details and you are one fine ambassador of this lens. One of my favourite images from your postings . Superbly done .

TFS !

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel ... i think is talking about mid tone adjustment through a mask ........today easily created with Mr kuyper´s panel , doing all the calculations /subtractions with a click of button . With the same quality ...all done in 16 bit .

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

Sorry to come in so late, been trying to open this thumbnail for the past two days, Internet very slow here due to weather conditions ( or so they say when one calls the helpline...). Never bored with your bear images and in fact looking forward to more from your trip

I like the pose from the subject here, at first he looks somehow threatening but the facial expression is one of curiosity. Good techs, image well exposed and lovely detail coming through. Maybe a little too much space on the RHS, given the direction the bear is looking into? Like Jon, I find it difficult to comment on colour as I have never seen those bears before; I would "enhance" the eyes a tad if this were mine, as well as "shorten" those grasses touching the chin (but I know you won't do it, LOL)

You should be very pleased with this, I certainly enjoyed viewing and appreciate the mage quality as well as POV. Thank you so much for sharing, hope you have a lovely evening my friend

Warmest regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everybody, much appreciated.