Hi again, Everyone!
I was about to call this a sequel to my earlier post of this handsome bull, but in fact it's a prequel. This is where I first spotted this guy, just standing there trying to look impressive to a nearby cow.
The sun had JUST broken over the ridge to the SE and although it made for some strong light/shadow patterns and wild colour temperature shifts, I loved the look and mood of the scene before me. I got a few quick grab shots then took the time to set up the tripod and do things "right." I zoomed OUT to include the colour and light in the ULC, and was kind of intrigued with the clear "split" between the top half and lower half of the image...something I would normally seek to avoid but found it interesting in a design concept here.
Sadly, no matter where I repositioned myself, I could not get an angle that had him completely free of surrounding branches, so the snow-covered branch intersecting his hindquarter was a genuine disappointment. Still, it's a moment that I deeply enjoyed and I like the natural setting, whether or not it's exactly as I would have scripted.
I did a considerable amount of processing on this image, although almost all of it amounts to very slight "tweaks." It's a little hard to describe the full process, but I attempted to outline it below.
The image is full-frame vertically.
What I'd love to hear from others is: does the branch intersecting the moose's hindquarters "ruin" the image. You can be candid...I almost didn't process this one because of that issue and remain on the fence about it. I'll be OK if everyone says sorry, not a keeper.
Thanks for looking...if you have time, the larger version certainly shows more detail.
Field Notes:
Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 200-400mm f/4 IF-ED VR @ 300mm
ISO 640
1/1600sec @ f/5.6
tripod mounted
minus way-too-cold-for-October
Processing Notes:
full frame vertical pano
converted from RAW with Phase One Capture One Pro
MINOR tweaks with Nik Color Efex Pro 4.0 and Viveza 2
selective adjustments to curves and colours
usual selective sharpening (I use Smart Sharpen in PS5)
VERY light Lens Blur applied to background OOF zones to soften slight edge to bokeh (not really sure of the cause)
Comments
9 commentsI also wish that there were some light on the Moose instead of totally in the background - but that's minor. It's a rather majestic scene with a nice balance of elements
I TOTALLY agree about the lack of light hitting him. I was softly offering suggestions to him about position while I was shooting.
Ok I understand - I thought you meant that it was shot horizontally and cropped to a vertical pano. I'd be interested in seeing more to the left of the moose but think this works pretty well
Sweet Photo John
Ken Archer
Interesting thought and idea. First off, the snowy branches overlapping the moose's hindquarters don't bother me at all. I kinda like how the moose is subdued (by being in the shaded area), tho' obviously if just a "kiss" of light was caressing the head of the moose, well...perfect world stuff.
OK - some honesty: I don't really like the crop as a standalone image - to me it's just too extreme and draws attention to itself for that reason - how extreme the crop is (not how good the image is). However - I can see where this image could be used very effectively on a thin, tall brochure (think 8.5 x 11 sheet folded in thirds) that has text laid over the top portion. But...as a wall-hanger...for me it's just too narrow. I DO like panos, including vertical ones, but this one just seems a tad too extreme for my taste...
But thanks a ton for posting this - definitely a great image to get folks thinking about images that are sitting in their own collection (and that may be "revived" with a little creative cropping!).
Cheers...
Brad