How big are the bears in Alaska, Granddaddy?

[Steve Uffman]

Grandkids wanted to know so I used this image to show them...taken at a low angle at Silver Salmon Creek when the sun finally came out.

Canon 5d II 500mm f/4L 700mm (500mm + 1.4x III) 1/400sec f/8 ISO 400 Manual

thoughts and suggestions always welcome.

[DanWalters]

Great light and eye contact. Maybe just a little more room on the bottom.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Lovely detail shooting angle and detail...Needs more space all around and the hilites on the fur need to be toned down a tad... very nice image

[Allen Sparks]

That does seem like one big bear. Agree about adding room to the image and toning down highlights. Nice capture.

[Pieter de Waal]

Wow he is big. Like the low angle, pose and perspective you have captured here Steve. Agree with toning down as mentioned.

[Morkel Erasmus]

What a splendid-looking bear Steve! Love the imposing perspective here.
For my tastes, I find it a bit tight on top and bottom...but assume this could have been full frame out of the camera?

There are a few points which - if addressed - will improve the image IMHO...

1. The blue is a very vibrant and nice colour in this image (I feel it adds to the image), yet the blue channel is clipped...you can see it in the way there is a slight lack of clarity in the water lines but you can also see it by looking at the "Levels" functione...



If you now go to "Saturation" and select the Blue and then the Cyan channel and tone each down by about 10-15 points you get this:



2. There is also a definite blue cast on the bear's face...probably reflected off the water and picked up by the sensor. I selected its face and desaturated the blue and cyan channels by about 20 points each for this area. Will post the image in the next frame...

[Morkel Erasmus]

Retouched image...note that there are some blown highlights on the fur which you might be able to rescue if reworking the RAW.

[Brendan Dozier]

Beautiful bear and awesome pose and capture, Steve. Fantastic texture to fur, and like the foot splash. Good suggestions, and good point made by Morkel regarding the blue. Repost looks good, but my personal pref. would be to lower the saturation a bit more.

[Harshad Barve]

Agree with comments above
TFS

[Steve Uffman]

Many thanks to all...Morkel I like the repost and yes I shoot Raw so I know on these image I can get some of the blown highlights....Also thanks for the coaching...It is of great value to me. You are in an area of color management that I have just dipped my toe as I attempt to more thoroughly understand CS% . I will need to fully "immerse" to be sure I understand. I have plenty of literature, now I need to focus on this skill.

In a related note, I finally attempted to calibrate my monitor with Color Eyes and a Spyder 3......somewhat of an iterative process for me ....I have the evaluation where the numbers seem to be in line but I lack the expertise to be sure or if I can improve them. I read where the general target numbers should be and if I understood them properly, I am pretty close....but would like some affirmation or correction....Anyone out there with ColorEyes experience that I could share the Eval and determine if I am close?