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Thread: Mtn. Goat

  1. #1
    Steve Wheeler
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    This image was created on Mt. Evans in CO. in Aug. of this year. I had helped a very good friend move from Dallas to the Golden area and once the boxes were unloaded we had an chance to go do important stuff.:D I had only ever seen one of these guys on a distant slope through a spotting scope years before. I can't tell you what a treat it was to be able to spend time with this small group just below the 13,000 ft summit. It was a thrill to just sit and watch... Let alone photograph them.

    It's hard (for me anyway) to subjectively judge an image when it is directly connected to such an emotional experience. I like the image composition, OOF FG vegetation and the clouds in the BG. It seems like a good head angle, eye contact & catch light. It is almost full frame with a little taken off the top and bottom for comp.

    One thing I noticed while shooting these guys was the amount of exposure compensation I had to use... Or rather didn't have to use. Shooting an egret under these lighting conditions I would've had to dial in a lot more then what was generally used with these goats. Is that because of the differences in reflectivity between feather and wool?:confused:

    Your thoughts and comments always welcome...

    Thanks for looking!

    40D & 500 f4.5L on a bean bag over a boulder, ISO 250, f7.1 @ 1/3200, -1/3EV

  2. #2
    Alfred Forns
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    Hi Steve you are correct on the reflectivity issue !!!

    Can only imagine the thrill of being so close to the goat !! Sure would like that experience. I like the image very much particularly the angle and eye contact !!! Don't think you could have done any better from your position. Were you able to get a totally clean head image !! Big Congrats !!!

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    Hi Steve... I really like the angle and your overall composition of this one. The clouds add a nice touch in my opinion. Very nice!

  4. #4
    Steve Wheeler
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    Thanks very much for your feedback guys... Just got back from class.

    Alfred... I'm sorry my man... I'm not sure I know what you mean by "totally clean head image"? We were with this group of 6-8 goats for an hour and a half to two hours so I got quite a few images. (It was absolutely a thrill!)

    Just the head by itself or silhouetted against the sky as opposed to having his body in the BG like this one?

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    Steve,
    I like your image. I am sure it is a thrilling experience - an experience of a life time. I like the composition. the open mouth makes it appear a little comic (just my opinion). It tickled a funny bone in me. I somehow don't like the outline of its body kind of emerging from its open mouth. If I would have another shot where the head is a bit raised and separated from the body, I would consider it to be better than this image, which is already excellent. The green and red foreground, the blue sky, and the whites make this image very appealing. Thanks for sharing. I am sure we will see many more images from this exciting trip.
    Cheers,
    Sabyasachi

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Nice image with some great detail Steve. You got him with the nice new fur coat, blue Colorado sky with just a touch of cloud, and some alpine flowers in the FG. With his head/neck coming in from this angle it almost gives the appearance of him "jumping" into the photo at the last second and blocking the view of another goat in the BG. I think including his right shoulder would lesson the impact of the head/body merge. Just my opinion of course. Now, can you tell me how you drive up here from Texas, make one trip up there, and get shots like this while I struck out on four attempts this year? :)

  7. #7
    Julie Kenward
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    Makes me want to break out and sing "Edelweiss!" Lovely image, Steve. I love the OOF flowers in the FG and the BG is simple and clean. It all works to make for a beautiful image.

  8. #8
    Steve Wheeler
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    I appreciate everyones feedback... Thank you!

    Sabyasachi... I see what you mean. While we did move with these guys as they moved, I was trying to be extremely careful not to move to much or more than I absolutely needed to hence things might not be positioned or framed to a T. Since this was the first time I'd ever found myself in this situation it was hard to know what I could get away with and what would've blown the whole thing.

    Steve C... Dunno what to say dude... Beginners luck... Karma... I dunno? I knew at the time that what we had come into was extremely lucky to say the least.

    Thanks Julie... I certainly felt like singing at the time, but that would have scared them away for sure!


    Steve

  9. #9
    Robert Amoruso
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    I like it for all the reasons mentioned. It looks a bit soft to me. I downloaded and ran my small JPG sharpening on it and that did the trick.

    USM 175/0.3/0 1 time, USM 125/0.2/0 two times.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Wheeler View Post
    Sabyasachi... I see what you mean. While we did move with these guys as they moved, I was trying to be extremely careful not to move to much or more than I absolutely needed to hence things might not be positioned or framed to a T. Since this was the first time I'd ever found myself in this situation it was hard to know what I could get away with and what would've blown the whole thing.

    Steve
    Steve,
    I really appreciate your restraint. I have seen photographers get excited and blow up the situation in minutes. I have seen photographers distracting an animal from drinking water, separating the calf from mother, moving too close to a predator when it is stalking its prey and in that process blowing up its cover....the list is endless. I believe no image is worth more than the welfare of the subject. I am sure if you would not have taken care, you may not have got this image. As far as your image is concerned, it is a good one and all of us were trying to come up with suggestions which may be applied if the situation permits next time.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Cheers,
    Sabyasachi

  11. #11
    Steve Wheeler
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    and all of us were trying to come up with suggestions which may be applied if the situation permits next time.
    ...Completely understood Sabyasachi and greatly appreciated! That is exactly what makes this site and it's members such a treasure.

    After this experience it is very easy to see how some could get overly excited. It took a while of sitting with them and telling myself to just CHILL, but my heart rate finally come back down from stratospheric levels. :D

    Thanks again for the feedback!

    Steve

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