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Thread: Bison calf

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    Default Bison calf

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    Hi all,

    I was recently in MT visiting my brother and took a couple days in Yellowstone -- what a place. I had a lot of nice sightings, although not the best weather / light, but it was really nice. I'm slowly working through the images but figured I would start with this bison calf. This one was running back and forth around this pond (shown in the BG) for a couple minutes. In post, relatively standard adjustments for me, some levels, NR in photoshop, sharpened. This is a very small crop, probably about 98% of the full frame. I have wider shots but liked the splash here.

    Camera: Nikon D500
    Lens: 200-500mm f/5.6
    Specs: 1/2500 ISO 4500 f/5.6

    Thanks for looking and commenting on prior posts!
    Alex

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    Details look good for the high ISO. Like the splash and the motion of the bison. Looks like your were one foot away from having a four of the ground.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Alex, a fun image and great to see a subject not often posted, albeit Andreas posted some adults.

    Great timing with the legs in 'galloping' mode and tail in the air. The trailing mud adds to the movement and speed of the subject. Being side on has worked and good to see you pushing the ISO and having the confidence in the kit.

    I feel the image is a bit thin and a lot can be achieved just in the simple adjustments within LR which I think you use? Getting more in both the FG & calf just adds, plus I think a hint more USM to the face works. I think you may have tweaked the Black slider in levels a tad too much, evident in the hoofs, but just my take.

    Hope others chime in with other thoughts.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Alex - Great to see a "red doggie." You can really see from the colors here how they got their nickname. I also like the feeling of motion here. I took the liberty of doing a rp. I darkened the bg and burned a few of the brighter areas in the bg. ThenI applied a curves layer to the calf giving it a bit more depth and punch. I also worked to control the hls in the red channel. Finally, I applied another round of sharpening. WDYT?

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Thanks all -- I really appreciate it. Steve, Rachel, thanks for taking the time to do the RP (Steve emailed me one) and I like both of what you've done. I tried to combine the two, having the background still somewhat light while trying to bring out more definition in the calf, but also trying to keep the calf that lightish red color I remember. I also cloned out the back rock as per Steves RP and tried to bring out more detail in the foreground, also tried to tame the white patches as per Rachels. I also added more sharpening, I think the original was 80 at 0.5 which was conservative -- I struggle with the amount of sharpening in situations like this and very young birds where they have really soft feathers / fur. I think I'm at the point tonight of staring at the image too much so hopefully this is a step in the right direction and not too over the top / not enough. Thanks again, best,

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Alex, I think you havre to be clear between the two RP (have attached my original so others who read the post have a comparison) as my suggestions were based using LR only which I think is your raw converter and where you really need to maximise the full potential of the file and have a far greater scope, Rachel's is with PS and a 'baked' Tiff (or sRGB JPEG) as that is what is available. My point is that doing as much as you can at the Raw stage is the key, exporting to PS is where you can tinker and refine, but have a limited scope because it's a 'baked' Tiff as I said. The nuances of removing the rock and the two lighter grasses is purely personal tastes and ethics .

    From my perspective both RP's have 'heavy' blacks especially in the hooves, this might be a minor point, but it's all about retaining detail, especially within the finer parts. Certainly Alex the detail and colour within the fur is far better in your RP and a vast improvement compared to the OP and so the image has moved on greatly and in the right direction. Just take your time because what you do at the Raw stage and within that module with be the bedrock for the rest of your PP.

    Cheers
    Steve

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Alex I could not help in this case to see the reposts but I have not read the text. My first reaction was the image was overexposed, secondly the subject just a bit largein the frame. I liked the flicked mud, I like your last repost but think the blacks are a little better in Steve's repost. I would go somewhere between the two but erring to Steve's.

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