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Thread: Bison on the Prairie

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    Default Bison on the Prairie

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    Shot in the Sd Badlands last month while shooting sheep. Processed with Dpp 4,Photoshop ,Topaz noise. Shot in early morning light had a strong red cast. I cut back on the cast still has some but didn't want to flatten it completely. Played with this quite a bit and this is actually my second edit. Comments and critiques appreciated.
    Canon 1DX 111
    500f/4 L Is
    500 mm
    Av 7.1
    1/2500
    Iso 1600

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Kevin, nice to see something different, have always wanted to photography these, but in the snow.

    SS may have been a bit high here as the subject was static and you had good light, but no harm done and the MK3 just nails it with no detriment to IQ. As presented the subject is dark concealing detail, plus, unless you use Topaz DN prior to exporting as a 'baked' Tiff you just kill the image. No being there it's hard to appreciate the red cast, but I might remove it from the sky.

    Its hard to pullout the detail I believe is within the Raw from the OP, but hopefully there is enough to illustrate my thought Kevin.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Thanks Steve I see what your saying about the dark detail. I did dodge and burn quite a bit just not as much as you did. I do appreciate your comments as I do think they have helped my processing to a great extent. Thanks for taking the time.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Kevin, without seeing the Raw, my gut feeling is that perhaps this was shot a little under exposed, as the Bison was dark against a light BKG, but I could be wrong. Personally I would push it a bit more in terms of the raw capture being 'lighter', ie the histogram more to the right (EV +2/3 say), in that way you are capturing far more data and darkening or 'burning/dodging' is far easier overall. It's always better to darken an image than to lighten. In addition, you see far more detail within the file and again, this then requires less sharpening, but the key is less time in front of a monitor. Far too many folk have dark images in the Blacks and Shadows and then ramp up the sharpening to try and extract the detail and the whole images just looks bad.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Kevin .... nice looking bison in the sea of yellow grass , having the cool color contrast with the blue sky .

    You have received good suggestions from Steve ...

    To be honest I am missing some finer detail /sharpness in your OP ( having the used kit in mind ) , surprised to see some grass stems very sharp ( in front of the bison ??? ) .
    Also wondering why you are removing a red cast , if the image was shot in nice warm light ???!!! For sure it is a personal feeling or preference .

    As you use DPP , it all starts with the " right picture style " at the beginning and building up the image in terms of color / contrast .... finalizing or refining in PS . One thing that I will never understand is the fact , why using NR at your used Iso ???????? But your and others call .....

    Nice one ... TFS and all the best for 2021
    Cheers Andreas

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Andreas, as he applied NR after the export I’m guessing it’s flattened out the whole image. Agree, folk are too eager to apply NR, these files at 1600 are so clean unless under exposed, but even then as you know.

    As you use DPP perhaps Kevin could forward the raw and you can give him some pointers as you use that software?
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Andreas, as he applied NR after the export I’m guessing it’s flattened out the whole image. Agree, folk are too eager to apply NR, these files at 1600 are so clean unless under exposed, but even then as you know.

    As you use DPP perhaps Kevin could forward the raw and you can give him some pointers as you use that software?
    You might know my opinion about the usage of NR .... just as much as necessary !! ( but this is for sure a personal preference not a general thing and tastes are different ) Normally we are sailing the same ship .... when it comes to this .

    Kevin you are more then welcome to fire me the RAW .... as it all starts in DPP , well if you like .

    I bet he applied NR twice .... in DPP and on top in PS

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    Steve I went back and looked at the original capture and you are right it is under exposed. I seem to do that because mostly shoot birds with whites and afraid of blowing out the detail. Also when I am in the field have hard time seeing the histogram without glasses.
    I can see that I have information in the fifth box actually in the middle but I guess being dark it could have been all the way to the right more. Thanks for the suggestions I will try and adjust my exposures better.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hopefully Kevin you have enabled ‘My settings’ (Green label) this is where you have key settings you can access immediately? If so, go to the Yellow tab I think, go to Histogram brightness, just drop the exposure, this should resolve your issue. Add this into My Menu you can then toggle bright or dark depending on the situation. It’s one feature I’ve enjoyed having in the EVF of the R5&6, you see the histogram and adjust in real time without taking your eye off the subject.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    What a beast of a bison. Classic setting and pose. Nice he gave you a look. The light sure was nice.

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Kevin I can remember well when I posted some images of bison I also had some problems with the colours, you may not want to read this but I ditched DPP and went back to ACR (pretty much the same as LR in terms of processing and effects).
    From what I recall I think I tended to over expose my images by about 1/3 stop as routine for bison , I think this gives a decent starting point and when most of the frame was bison I increased exposure again. I also found some problems with blues and magentas but I am sure you have now got some tips on how to manage them.
    I think the image looks quite eye catching, in terms of composition I think I would include a little more sky.

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