A bit 'arty'

For me, just enough silhouette to make this work well.
Love the bloody water coming off the fish.
I feel the bright fin and bright water draws the eye too much, so I'd dampen them both a bit - otherwise - terrific!!
Sandy

Beautiful silhouette Steve! The bloody water dripping from the fin really adds drama. The back lighting is just right too. Excellent capture!

Very dramatic! Love the light and the little bit of red coming from the fish. Nice detail in the fish as well.

Cool! Because of the dark bear this is all about the poor fish IMO! No nits for me.

Great and unusual image.
The bloody water from the fish's mouth and fin, and back light on the fin makes this a dramatic photograph.
The bear's golden fur is perfect.
Just great overall.

Thx
Jef

I like it. It's a bit of a different image and it works for me. Agree with subtly toning down the fishes fin a bit but that's about it.

Love it Steve...especially since the fish is quite 'visible' as opposed to the silhouetted bear.

I assume the stream was flowing diagonally from top left to bottom right based on your position?

Arty is Good!!! Love the way the fish looks with the water coming out of it like that and beautifully detailed. The rim lighting on the bear is very cool and the little circles of light in the background are stunning. Very interesting photo as is. I must say that I find myself wondering how a full body view of the bear would look, might be my preference.

Fantastic image.....How do you achieve light on the fish? was it because fish had silver color?

A 'bit' did you say, Steve? This is fantastic! Just love the way the sun lights up the fish's fin, and the water pouring out of the fish's mouth, apart from the back-lit bear of course! The only one nit is that the image needs a teeny weeny bit CCW rotation.

Hey Steve,

I applaud your effort at creativity and - cliche time - thinking outside the box. The shot is dramatic (how could it not be with what's going on the lighting!) and definitely eye-catching. Some aspects of the shot work for me, but not everything.

On the positive side, I quite like the rim-lighting (especially that on the top side of the bear) and I like the specular highlights in the background and the bright splashes caused by the bear's left paw. The deep red blood adds impact to the image too (tho' it does puzzle me a bit). Overall the action and the lighting add up to drama.

On the less positive side, I have to say I was quite perplexed by the lighting when I first glanced at the image. What doesn't add up to me is how two backlit subjects can be so different in illumination. What I'm referring to here is the bear's facial region and the fish. Both should be similarly affected by the lighting - i.e., both in dark shade. Having absolutely zero detail on the bear's head (face) doesn't seem to go with a quite well lit fish - heck you can even see the yellow of the fish's eye and separate out dark-on-dark tonal detail on the shaded side of the fish. In itself this wouldn't bother me a bit, but it conjunction with zero detail on the bear it seems quite visually discordant to me.

I readily admit I'm being really picky here, and I'm sure (especially reading the comments above) that many (most) would respond far more favourably than I did to this image. So overall I'd say it's a winner.

Cheers...thanks for posting this thought-provoking and dramatic shot!

Brad

Firstly thanks to all who have commented and I do appreciate feedback good or bad, contrary to belief.

Brad your summing up is spot on as ever and you have raise a good point. Sometimes what we think and apply, may not always be the right course of action ie slightly lightening an area etc. Perhaps the idea of shadow, vibrancy & punch outweighed the more subtle & hidden areas in the original?

This is the RAW, perhaps it is a combination of the two?

Appreciate the feedback.

Hey Steve,

I hope you didn't take me wrong - most folks (as shown above) would really like this shot. For some reason, lighting issues really, really stick out for me (perhaps years of blending exposures and taking my own licks has had an effect!). It all comes down to a matter of balance (both compositionally and, in this case, lighting). The raw file looks like a typical "under-exposed-to-save-the-highlights" shot (which is what we all have to do)...and I think your processing IS a big improvement over the raw. For MY taste, the lighting balance is a little off, but it's a personal preference thing (and I'm in the minority).

I'd say keep up the playing, learning, and experimenting - always good to force oneself outside their comfort zone!!

Cheers...

Brad

Not in the least Brad, very valuable, constructive and insightful feedback.

Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end, beyond your comfort zone. As you say it is all a matter of taste and to what degree do we take it. I was hoping that in applying just a small amount of saturation just to give it that edge, darken slightly it would get to where I thought it should be. Perhaps i should look at a few more 'blends' for this, guess I need to invest in a hint more 'apps' if you know what I mean.

cheers
Steve

Best wildlife shot I've seen in a long time!! The silhouette is very effective and the back lighting really highlights the bloody water coming off the fish. Focus and DOF are perfect! Excellent work!

Steve,
Talk about an image that commands attention and makes you want to look carefully at the details. The bloody water dripping from the fish, it's eye, and the splash of the bear's paw all come together to make a very interesting photograph. My eyes really want to see just a little detail in the bear's shadow.
Congrats on capturing a WOW image!!

Hi Stephen,

Have to say I'm torn on this image. For sure the highlight is the bloody water dripping off of the fish which is very dramatic. The fish itself though just looks underexposed which I think detracts from the contrasty impact of the rest of the picture. The lighting on the fur is great and I love how the you get most of the visual cues which say "bear"; the ears, hump on the back, snout, legs, etc. OTOH since you can't see the face and are relying on the silhouette to show the subject I think I'd prefer to see the entire animal and not just it's front half. I do realize it may not have been possible shooting with a prime lens though. Anyway - still a provocative and dramatic image.

Clinton

Brilliant! This has such impact on so many levels. One of the best wildlife photographs I've seen in a long while.

I agree that the lighting looks a bit odd, I'd say try to bring a little detail into the face of the bear - only a tiny bit should be necessary, and that will make the lighting on the fish appear more natural. Clearly the reflective nature of the fish skin stands out more in the dim light than the dark fur of the bear, but if there's a touch more light on the face it will look even better I think. I think if you take the 'black' slider in your raw converter all the way to zero you'll start to see a tiny bit of detail in the face that you can then bring in.