Winter bulls

This works for me Lon. The lead bison is really nice. The other two, while not sharp, do add to the image. I really like the dark bison against the light background. Well done.

Lon, I have no problem with the lead bison sharp and the others not. I like the story line of the bison on a crispy winter morning which you have captured well. You may be aware of the artist /painter Oscar Howe from SD ... an image such as this reminds me of his wonderful paintings. My nit is I wish the center and left bison's lead footfall had made the step forward because it gives a bit of an awkward slant to their uphill climb. I do like the image!

Hi Lon, I much prefer Winter scenes as they for me, are far more atmospheric and can convey a lot more within the image. The slight warmth in the 'haw' frost grass is nice and really sets the Bison of well with it's rich colour. I don't think you could do much about trying to give separation, even with moving position, allowing them to walk in 'position/frame'? Nice to see that eye. I know it's optical, but the lead Bison does seem to have a slight lean to the left, but perhaps you were at an angle shooting down an incline? The diagonal line of the hill in the BKG also adds context to the location. I think you would have had to really crank up the ISO from where it was to achieve a lot more DoF, therefore I think you did well.

TFS
Steve

Hello Lon

As mentioned here by others, A Fine Capture!

The whole image with its many areas has a lot to offer for me. The frost and stiff plant life is great to see here? And still short enough to allow the full leg and hoof to be visible. A definite uphill climb with the centre guy leading, Would have been ideal for more separation between them, Like the DOF on leader and well defined eye. You have done well to open up the dark fur areas to show detail. Interesting to see where you used a negative meter compensation in this scene?

Like the Capture!

Bill

Hi Lon,

Nice winter scene - the small amount of snow on the bisons themselves, plus the ice-encrusted snow on the ground, definitely gives an overall frosty feeling to the shot. I have no issue with the DoF or the fact that just the lead bison is in sharp focus.

I am in agreement with Sandra on the slant off the two left-most bison's adding a degree of awkwardness to the shot. A tiny bit more separation between those same two bison might have helped strengthen the shot as well.

On the Tamron lens: I've been testing that same lens for a number of months and don't disagree with you on its versatility. And no one can argue with its value proposition. While I think many will really like the Tamron and it will serve them well, I have decided not to keep mine. My main reason is that I find the AF-S 80-400 VR to be a little more useful focal range for me. Add in that the 80-400 and is even smaller and easier to carry (it fits into a holster system with a pro body attached while the Tamron doesn't) and its better optics...and...well...I just can't really find a reason to keep the 150-600. In my case I have focal lengths between 400 and 600mm covered pretty well, which also factors into my decision to let the Tamron go.

Cheers...

Brad

Lon,
The lead bison is marvelous, and the others are not to bad either, although I wouldhave preffered no overlap.
DOF in this case a pure fantasy, whatever lens youy used
Great natural image

In response to William's ?, the reason I chose negative exposure compensation is twofold, one to keep as much detail in the frost covered grasses as possible and secondly to not let the relative mass of three bison influence the exposure too much. I guarantee that if you mostly fill a frame with bison body/bodies the meter will be fooled into trying to lighten the scene and overexpose. By shooting raw I can selectively tweak brightness as needed to protect highlights or pull detail from the shadows.

The lead bison is spectacular, agreed a bit of separation would have put it over the top but it's still a sweet image Lon.