Bravado

Gallery: WildlifePosted April 20, 2013370 views13 comments

Early in the morning, the young male tried to bluff the alpha female into thinking he would attack her probably over a bread crust left by bird photographers earlier. For his bravado, he came away with some minor bites and I'm sure wounded pride. Taken at Maple Lake Nature area of the Cook County Forest Preserves, Illinois.

Image captured with a Nikon D3s @ 300mm VR f/2.8

Shutter speed @ I/800 sec

Aperture priority @f/4.0

ISO @ 12,800 & exposure compensation @ 0.0

Handheld

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on April 20, 2013 at 3:30 PM

Nice action shot Steven. You captured the moment well.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on April 20, 2013 at 4:48 PM

Well caught, Steven. An intense moment!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Lusk on April 20, 2013 at 6:51 PM

Great, low-level action shot!

Your coyote photos show expressions that can't be seen in real life as they change so swiftly.

Keep them coming.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 312 Posts, 600 Comments

Comment posted by Don Westbrook on April 20, 2013 at 8:49 PM

Really nice action. I like your low angle position as it adds to the shot and brings the viewer right down to the action. This Maple Lake sure seems to be great place to view coyotes!

Registered on January 4, 2013, 11 Posts, 332 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on April 21, 2013 at 2:35 AM

Steven,

This is what I call anaction shot, a perfect capture of the "moment"

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on April 21, 2013 at 4:05 AM

Hi Steven, nice low angle and the splayed front paws and jaw open really conveys the message.

You might like to just drop the Cyan or Blue where it comes through in the coat, also I might just feather/soften the mask around the subject, as I guess you may have applied some NR to the BKD.

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Clinch on April 21, 2013 at 11:13 AM

Great action shot, very sharp given how fast he must have been moving. I agree with Steve on the softening or feathering the BG mask, it is overly obvious when viewed large. The low view angle really makes the shot.

Registered on January 5, 2013, 37 Posts, 261 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Gagne on April 21, 2013 at 11:43 AM

Great shot.

Registered on July 29, 2012, 33 Posts, 114 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on April 21, 2013 at 8:08 PM

Great pose, nicely filling the frame. I would consider reducing the sharpening on the back (oof areas) part of the body and background, letting the detail of head region carry the day. You might choose to add some contrast to the back regions of the body...to be decided after trying, to see if it is truly an enhancement.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Haney on April 23, 2013 at 4:09 PM

Great action, and I love how the bg color matches the subject so well.

Registered on April 7, 2013, 138 Posts, 537 Comments

Comment posted by John Sherman on April 25, 2013 at 11:38 PM

The priceless expression sucked me in, but the weird masking halo gives a fake look to this. I'd like to see this without the BG NR to see how the original looks at 12800 ISO. Sometimes the grainy noise look looks okay and in this case the action holds its own big time.

Registered on March 10, 2013, 31 Posts, 142 Comments

Comment posted by Steven Svalina on April 26, 2013 at 5:41 PM

As requested by John Sherman. I look forward to his critique and advice.

Registered on March 19, 2013, 5 Posts, 23 Comments

Comment posted by Steven Svalina on April 27, 2013 at 6:51 AM

Under a different title, this image appeared in the "Daily Dozen" on the NG web site for December, Week 4, as originally shown on this web site.

Registered on March 19, 2013, 5 Posts, 23 Comments