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Red Fox
This is my first time posting in the wildlife section but a Fantastic Mr Fox has been on my bucket list for a long time. They may be less shy in other areas but around here they are like ghosts. I was thrilled to capture this one hunting in natural barrier island habitat early one morning before he heard the terrifying clicks from my D850 and disppeared. 1/2500, f4.5, auto ISO - 2500, +1 ev, 500 f4 E, D850. cc
Last edited by John Whaley; 12-13-2017 at 01:58 PM.
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Wildlife Moderator
Hi John and welcome to the Wildlife section, I hope that there will be many more posts from you in the future.
A nice sighting, especially when it's not expected. I know you will enjoy the 850, it's a real cracker of a camera body and is a great rival to the D5, and I think better too. Good you kept the SS high which you needed, but for me you needed more DoF ie f/6.3 too, don't be afraid to push the ISO. I like the framing although I can see it with a little less at the foot, or a 16x10 where you loose some of the green above and space below. I like the raised paw and room for him to run into, great to have the face clear of the grasses, nicely timed. Just watch the Black in the legs, it's a fraction choked and some may feel you can reduce the Blue too.
TFS
Steve
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Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
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Wildlife Moderator
Hi John, as a rule we normally allow only one posting per thread, unless it's a RP or a similar image for comparison or for educational purposes, but personally I would have kept the above for future postings and feedback. As each has it's own merits and are standalone, so really it's only fair I think to keep the comment to the OP. Perhaps you may wish to therefore consider keeping them for your next postings where you can get more feedback specific to the image posted and where the techs are also paired with each image?
If you wish to do this then I can remove them. My only question is, have you applied any sharpening as they all appear to need more sharpening.
cheers
Steve
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All good. The original post was edited in LR and then moved to PS. I separated the fox from the background and applied slight Neatimage noise reduction to the fox and greater to the BG. Then sharpened the fox using the smart sharpen filter at about 85+-.
Last edited by John Whaley; 12-13-2017 at 04:17 PM.
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Wildlife Moderator
Excellent John, very much appreciated as I feel you will certainly benefit overall.
OK John, are you using the current versions of LR & PS? Personally I would apply some 'in-put' sharpening in LR prior to exporting out to PS, apply any further adjustments/refinements to the Tiff, reimport back into LR and Export from LR using the Export module with the sharpening applied to the Output status ie Screen.
I might be covering old ground so forgive me if I am:
- Do you always retain retain the Master layered file as a PSD?
- Crop, but save 'Save As;' so you retain the Master but have now a new file to the output size?
- Apply Smart Sharpen to the final, cropped size?
- I guess the amount is 85, but what about Radius, personally I always preferred USM
Re the Blacks John, you could have just scooted across the areas highlighted with a brush and be specific rather rather than Global.
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Thanks Steve.
Current versions.
Master file retained
Reimport to LR and export from LR.
Apply Smart sharpen filter to the cropped image size but not to the final export size - ie 1200 x 1000 if that is what you mean. I have tried that but to me it starts to look crisp when I apply it to such a small file.
Smart Sharpen filter radius set to 0.5
Blacks were adjusted in the second post to the raised paw with an adjustment brush in LR.
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Wildlife Moderator
Thanks John.
I will PM you where hopefully we can expand and hopefully move it forward via more dialog and without hijacking the thread. I think it was more noticeable in the other images so perhaps we can improve things for future postings. I feel from your replies its only a few tweaks we could perhaps try.
Would you be able to forward one of the Raws??
Cheers
Steve
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Lifetime Member
Hi John - Welcome to the Wildlife Forum. Fantastic first fox photo (how's that for alliteration?). I like the low pov and the feeling of the fox coming through the brush. The walking stride and look of determination are also nice. Steve has covered it well. Interesting to see the different color patches on the fur. I'm not sure I've seen one with the yellow patches before. I hope to see more wildlife images from you in the future.
TFS,
Rachel
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Macro and Flora Moderator
Lovely shot I like the recrop. I personally prefer the shallow DOF because part of the body is obscured and as a result the head really stands out clearly.
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Nice pose on the fox like the raised foot and all the grasses.
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Hi John -- a big welcome to the wildlife forum and would agree with the above. A lovely image to start with and wish to see more from you. TFS !
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John, welcome and what a great first posting here. Your timing to capture this shot is excellent. Steve is already covering some of the technical issues and will get you on the right track quickly - particularly when and where to sharpen (output sharpening after final size reduction is essential to get good detail and I can notice the absence here). I like the setting a great deal here and feel you are pretty good with the colour and tone. I hope to see more too.
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This is very nice and a great first post.. Love the implied action with the leg up. Congrats and keep them coming....