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Thread: The Hunter

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    Default The Hunter

    I shot this in YNP just the other day. It is a coyote hunting rodents (aka mousing) on a cloudy day with frequent rain showers. As you can tell from the colors of the plants, there was a recent frost that has started the fall color changes. Some of the leaves have also begun to turn color. With all the grass I feel fortunate to have gotten a clear image of this coyote. A lower perspective was impossible since I was on a bank above the coyote.


    ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500, HH, +0.33 EV, 100-400 @ 400


  2. #2
    Robert Amoruso
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    Andrew,

    Lower might have gotten grass covering the face too so it looks like the higher vantage point was a good option. Exposure and processing look right on. The grass and beginning fall colors make the habitat look interesting but not distracting.

    I am debating on the somewhat centralized placement of the coyote but not sure how I might recrop it. Let's see what others might suggest. Thanks for posting.

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    Thanks Robert. I agree with you about the crop. Because the coyote is looking right down the lens the crop is difficult. I did crop off the LHS, RHS, top & bottom. This is about 60% of the image. I am looking forward to what others have to say also.
    Andrew
    Last edited by Andrew Merwin; 09-10-2010 at 05:12 PM.

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    I agree with Robert about the placment in the frame but it is a really nice capture of this coyote.

    Willem

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    I like the skulking pose and the soft light.

    What camera body?
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    Robert Amoruso
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    Andrew,

    Giving your crop some thought and I feel this works good as presented. Thanks for posting.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    I like the skulking pose and the soft light.

    What camera body?
    Mark IV
    Andrew

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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Amoruso View Post
    Andrew,

    Giving your crop some thought and I feel this works good as presented. Thanks for posting.
    Thanks Robert. When I cropped it this way it seemed to be the best way to go because the coyote was focused straight ahead. I guess it is appropriate to break the rules some times.
    Andrew

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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Merwin View Post
    Mark IV
    Perfect. Selecting one of the lower right AF sensors either manually or with the joystick would have yielded a much more pleasing composition with the animal in the lower right corner. With practice it becomes easy to do and easy to anticipate the need for doing so.
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    Taking a second look an upper right sensor would have been better as you would have kept the lovely reddish leaves in the lower right corner.
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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks Artie. Is this version what you have in mind?
    Andrew

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    Yes. That is 100 times better. And you still have the nice red leaves. Well done. Did you have lots of room all around that enabled you to make the suggested crop?
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    I agree with Arthur. The composition in the photo is much better too view. Well done.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Yes. That is 100 times better. And you still have the nice red leaves. Well done. Did you have lots of room all around that enabled you to make the suggested crop?
    Yes, I had some empty space around the coyote. I kept the existing crop & just moved it to place the coyote on the upper right ROT position.

    Thanks for your suggestions.
    Andrew

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Kes View Post
    I am just wondering, aren't these guys very shy ? I remember them being impossible to get close to and here's one walking in your direction ...
    Normally coyotes are quite wary of people. This one, however, was very aggressive. I was afoot when I shot the image & shortly afterwards he was so close that I felt threatened by his proximity. I moved away from him & he changed direction to approach me. When he was within 10 feet, I made an aggressive noise & movement toward the coyote & he resumed his original direction. He was so close that my 100-400 lens was to long for an image. After this image was taken, I was backing up trying to stay 100 yards away from him (YNP rule: stay 100 yards away from predators & 30 yards from all other mammals).

    Another person got out of his car to photograph this coyote while leaving his door open. The coyote jumped into the car, stole the man's hat, & took the hat to a nearby hole/den making it impossible for the man to recover his hat.

    During this incident, I realized that I had left my pepper spray in my vehicle & regretted that over sight. It was a disturbing experience. If I had my pepper spray with me, it would have been out, cocked, & pointed at the coyote. My take away from this experience is to always carry pepper spray everywhere in YNP. Dangerous wildlife is very abundant & somewhat habituated to people.
    Andrew

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    Andrew, great image and great story! I liked this when I first saw it and even more so now with the alternative crop. The colors of coyote and the leaves/grasses are so complimentary.

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    Quite a story there Andrew. It all ended well though, with a great souvenir photograph to remember it by:)

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    Thanks everyone for your very helpful comments. Although this experience turned out ok, it was definitely a "touron" error in judgement on my part. :o I must have had a brain fart.
    Andrew

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    Best to go with "brain typo" here :) Less of an odor :)
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