Young Fox & re post

One from last night

I went for this comp as I liked the grass heads against the dark BG. Also I was trying to get a low POV and this brought in a lot of the FG that was in my hides shadow so cropped it out as much as I could.

1DMk4 400 2.8 mk2 @ f4 1/800 ISO 400 tripod & Mongoose h
Bob

Bob, with a bit more selective & careful adjustments withi LR &PS you can pull this image up several notches, although looking at the larger version the focus point/sharpness seems to be on the hind leg, not on the face?

Tonally it looks a little flat, however adjusting Levels, Selective colour, remove the slight cast in the whites and a Channel Curves adjustment certainly pulls it up. I like the mush, but adding a Graduate adjustment to darken it gives a bit more weight to the overall image IMHO. Like it as presented, but a 16 x 9 also works to as an alternative option.

TFS
Steve

Thanks for the advice Steve. Sharpness must be down to conversion as the RAW is razor with the centre spot smack on the eye

Bob

So how come the rear is sharper than the face?

Looks fine to me Bob ,but I reckon some off the top- like a widescreen job.
Cheers
JR

Thanks John. As i said i liked it as is to inclde the grass hilites against the wood behind

Steve you must have some awsome kit if u can tell that from a downloaded 410kb jpeg

Bob

Bob

The large version works so well.

Bob I have yet to get a picture of a Fox this one would certainly do for me very nice.

Keith.

Personally I would have liked a bit more room at the bottom for the virtual legs in the mush, but still a fine image

A different crop for Mike & John

Checked Raw file again and still struggling to see the sharp bit on its arse

And I sharpened the whole image by same amount in the interests of fairness

Bob

Nice picture Bob, but I have to agree with Steve. The arse is sharper than the face, definitely more definition in the fur. Is your camera back focussing? Very nice image otherwise.

I think at the end of the day the guard hairs on any animals coat such as a fox gives the appearance of being sharper than the face for example where there are less of them. The darker colour of the individual hairs make them look sharper.
JR

An interesting one this and I think that JR has hinted at the answer. At f4 and given the subject distance I would expect reasonable DOF on the fox. And so with the focus being on the eye then the rear fur should be in reasonable focus and stand out quite nicely for the reason given by JR. I have taken a third look at the RAW and I am satisfied that the focus is on the eye.

I am as keen on sharpness as anyone and regularly micro adjust all of my lens & body combos

Bob

knowing Bob he wouldn't have posted it if face wasn't pin sharp, so I go with John R personally, like the first comp much subtler, I also like the softy evening light feel, so all in a cracker, well done mate would clone grass off nose though sorr

First one for me Bob and looks sharp enough from my lappie. Lovely comp and light. Classic!

Nick.

Thanks guys.

Bob

Having seen the RAW, it's tack sharp where it needs to be. This is a very young fox......

More to come from these youngsters too Bob which is great

Second one for me Bob , I didn't get the first crop.

Bob.