Beginning & Ending w/Edit

Interesting composition and a very calm, peaceful mood. Typically we expect to see the cooler colours in the distance in a sweeping landscape, so the cooler colours in the foreground really puts that notion on its head. I think you have captured an aspect of the iconic Yellowstone very elegantly.

Did you select the sky as a separate smart object and darken it in photoshop in the double processing ?

Very cool shot. Nice positioning of the bison and the moon with the lone tree off to the left to balance it out.

Nice composition and colors, Zack. The frosted tree balances out the frosted bison well.

Great light n beautiful frame, the arrangement within the frame is too good!
I may prefer to darken the frame overall, except for Bisons.
Jagdeep Rajput

I really like this image Zack, well balanced and captures the feeling of being very cold.

That is an amazing shot Zack! My only small suggestion is the same as Jagdeep's, darkening the whole frame a bit, except for the bisons. But a really cool shot as is!

Nice work Zack. I like the levels from top to bottom but ~ IMO slightly over exposed for my taste.

Hi Zack,

I really the composition here - everything from low placement of the subjects in the frame, the "balance" in the frame (helped by the excellent positioning of the moon). Really good capture...

I do, however, agree with those suggesting that the image is over-exposed and I'd further suggest the exposure balance seems off, with the bison being "opened up" too much (to the point where the image is taking on an almost "overdone HDR" look to it). But the quality of the capture definitely justifies tweaking this one (or untweaking it) - at least in my opinion!

Cheers...

Brad

Beautiful shot Zach, I love the tightness of the scene and several elements really came together well for you. I would also like to see how it looks with the sky a bit darker. Well done.

Thanks for the comments guys. Below is a repost based on the suggestions I received. I've brought down the exposure of the entire frame a bit, and went a bit further with the sky. I've also added just a tiny bit of contrast to the bison.

Gary: The reason for double processing the RAW file was mainly to bring up the shadows in the bison a bit. Everything else was pretty good, exposure-wise.

Brad: While the shadows of the bison were indeed opened up, it wasn't very much, and this is true to how I saw the scene with my eye. Because of the position of the bison the image would not have worked without any detail in the bison at all. Thanks for the comments!

Ooh, lovely one with the warmly lit snow in background and those amazing bison that withstand so much cold. Love this shot, and the moon gives it an extra something.

Pretty great to get all of these elements in the frame together. I like the composition a lot - I think the revised image is improved though I would push the moon a touch darker and add a hint more contrast to it

Hey Zack,

Well...I wasn't there so can't argue with you! Like I said, regardless of the exposure preferences I think the composition is excellent.

Cheers...

Brad

Great photo of an awesome scene here Zack. Makes me wanna go visit Yellowstone! I like it just as posted.

I think this is a spectacular image. What makes it special to me is the ground-level view of the bison. So often, especially in the Lamar, we are forced to shoot them from a slightly elevated angle, or if we're on the same level the foreground is often obscured by snow, grass, etc. The clean, low angle in this image really sets it apart.

Max

Lovely image.
The changes are subtle Zack but i feel that the repost has a bit more punch.

Zack,
Both versions of this image are great, I am not sure which one I prefer

Zack this is an epic image, it's everything I love in an animalscape. Great light, depth, story, scene and mood.
Repost is the winner for me, I too felt it looked a bit too light in the midtones/shadows.

This looks good cropped down to a pano also I think. Works either way. Ron

Sweet light and great perspective -
congrats on the WP!

Sandy

Zack, I was about to say that this is amazing; but seeing your name on it changes that a bit, because we have come to expect "amazing" from you. So instead, I'll just say, SUPERB!

This is one of those images that could be described as "painterly." You are so good at recognizing compositions like this -- scenes that are so well structured that we would expect a painter to compose it by bringing together a composite of his best memories from different scenes.

Congrats on the WP (and annual EPA as well) and on your fine work in general.

Awesome !!