European brown bear

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 1DX Canon 500mm f4 L IS II Auto ISO 16000+1/3, 1/800 sec f4
ACR + PSCC
Another from Finland cropped from a landscape rather more than I would have liked but this was the only time I saw any of the bears on two legs - just had to get a shot asap.
This is mummy bear.

[John Whaley]

I like the intensity of the bears expression with the alert ears. It looks sharp, detailed and well exposed.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Jon - Great that you got one of momma standing it up. They are so impressive when they do that. Nice sharpness and the file looks good at this size. Can you recover any more detail on the top of the head? I do find the comp a bit awkward with too much above and wanting more below. However, I also realize that the fg appears to have been very busy so having more below might not be ideal.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Superb pose from this Mommy Bear

Lovely capture, nice colours and good detail. I really like the way the subject pops through those barren trees. Agree with Rachel on composition, perhaps taking a tad off the top might balance things a little?

Really special sighting and superb timing Jon, well processed too, thank you so much for sharing

Kind regards,

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you everyone I agree with your suggestions but there is nothing more at the base and I had already cropped the top significantly. I was concerned about image degradation if I cropped further. Regards the lights I looked at them I did reduce the TIFF.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Great shot at such short notice. I love her pose, there is so much detail. Were you at 16000 or 1600 ISO?

[Jonathan Ashton]

Great shot at such short notice. I love her pose, there is so much detail. Were you at 16000 or 1600 ISO?

ISO 16000

[Glenn Pure]

Jon, I like this one a lot and as presented here - the composition works for me. So much to like in this: the setting which, while busy, is soft enough in detail, tone and colour to provide good separation while providing a strong feel of the bear in her environment. But above all, I simply love the detail and your treatment of tone and colour on the bear. Such wonderful texture and rounded off by that great intense stare. Really lovely work. And at a remarkable ISO.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone hope you have a super Christmas

[Stuart Philpott]

Jon have the best christmas.

Buddy the detail at this iso is utterly mind blowing I just love what you have done with her. I'm so hard on myself in these brief one chance framing situations Jon instantly, i'm really struggling with the base of the frame. I'm glad you shared it ,her pose is so gorgeous and the post work I adore,but that base is really messing with me personally. This situation arises with my hares too often and I don't measure up it's landscape to portrait in a nano second and I find it incredibly difficult to nail. Sorry if a tad harsh buddy it's such a wonderful image with her pose and that detail it seems unfair to comment on the obvious


take care

stu
Stu

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Jonathan, I think it was wonderful to capture an Euro bear in its habitat. The bear is in sharp focus, so the branches are not that distracting. Had the branches not been there, sure you would have a "cleaner" image, but that is not the environment. Agreed with Rachel about recovering the details on top of the bear. Have you tried to reduce the highlights?

Loi

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback, you seem pretty insistent about the highlights so I have had another try:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, I prefer the BKG in the OP, the actual subject looks for 'course' in the RP, why did you change him? Yes recovering in the head does help, however I think the original may have gone a tad too much on the RHS of the Histogram. because of the stance I don't have a problem with the loss of the legs. I might look at a square crop, loosing a bit off the top as an alternative. Nice to see you not letting ISO cramp the capture.

Jon, could you fire it over and I'll take a look when I get back tomorrow, as I think you can get more without degrading the image so much.

TFS
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

Here you go Jon...

[Jonathan Ashton]

Yes I take my hat off to you Steve! Pretty darned good - as I said it must have been a good raw file to begin with