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Skyline with elk
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Skyline with elk

by Lon Sharp

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 29, 20132,488 views11 comments
The title is because this is really all about the color of sky before sunup. I am somewhat surprised to have this come out with printable IQ, given the circumstances and my settings. I was "pre-dialed in" to possibly get something as the light came up, with camera settings using auto ISO at a max of 12800, well beyond where I would normally go.

This is off a bean bag, 400mm, f4, 1/60, -.7ev, D3S. Processing included a bit of noise reduction, as well.

Feedback encouraged!

Comments

11 comments
Comment posted by Ronald Murphy on October 29, 2013 at 11:38 AM
The warm-to-cool color gradation is beautiful, and the wisp of cloud adds nice visual interest. Perfect silhouette. And no obvious noise.
Registered on March 13, 2012, 279 Posts, 975 Comments
Comment posted by Brad Hill on October 29, 2013 at 12:20 PM
Hi Lon,

This is real sweet - very nice graphic look and feel to this (it almost looks like it could have been created with a vector-based illustration program, like Adobe Illustrator!). Colour, composition, and all the techs work just fine for me! Some may find silhouettes like this to be a bit cliche, but I think one could find lots more folks who like 'em!

On the noise and ISO choice. To be honest, this is the exact kind of shot where I wouldn't hesitate to crank the ISO right up (like you did). The reduction in dynamic range (with increasing ISO) is irrelevant in this image - it's not like retaining shadow or highlight detail was at all important here. And, any noise in this image could very easily be controlled in post processing - and, more importantly, controlled without having any harmful effect on the strengths of this particular image (the only detail you need to retain in this shot is edge detail, and NR isn't going to harm that much).

Cheers...

Brad
Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments
Comment posted by Max Waugh on October 29, 2013 at 12:28 PM
The color transition is marvelous. I think you need a sky like that to set this type of shot apart and you nailed it. Looks good for such a high ISO as well.

Max
Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on October 29, 2013 at 2:56 PM
A beautiful and strong silhouette Lon. :toast: Like Brad said, NR on these type of images is really easy to do.
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Cross on October 29, 2013 at 8:04 PM
What a great shot, Lon. Just love the colors in this sunrise and the bull elk silhouette just adds to the impact. This certainly would make a great logo or the like for someone. The gamble with the ultra high ISO paid off.
Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 30, 2013 at 1:23 AM
Lon,

This is great :toast: :toast:
Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments
Comment posted by Rick Andrews on October 30, 2013 at 8:53 AM
A beautiful gradation of colour, which for me makes this shot Lon. Of course its always helpful to have a cooperative young bull elk who takes direction :wink: I also think this would make a strong pano shot by clipping the height just around the wispy clouds, then as Peter mentioned, it would also make for a great logo.
Registered on December 31, 2011, 45 Posts, 222 Comments
Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on October 30, 2013 at 11:42 AM
Beautiful light n wonderful frame!
Just looking at the thumbnail, I knew, it is your kind of image !
Jagdeep Rajput :smile:
Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 31, 2013 at 1:23 AM
One of the nicest elk silhouette photos I have seen in a very long time! Beautiful sky, nicely saturated colors and a wicked color scheme.
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments
Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on November 4, 2013 at 2:34 PM
Simple. Elegant. Beautiful.
What was the eventual ISO setting settled on by the camera?
Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 17, 2013 at 8:53 AM
ISO 12800? One sure can't tell..
Lovely sunset colors, a wonderful example of silhouette done right :smile:
Very nice :toast: :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments