Moose Cow in River: Please allow a bit of rambling story telling as it will explain my request. First, I love to shoot moose but they generally result in several problems. They tend to...

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Please allow a bit of rambling story telling as it will explain my request.

First, I love to shoot moose but they generally result in several problems. They tend to hide in the willow creating deep shadows on their already black coats. This cow moose, while in sunlight had a great deal of shadow on her right side resulting in the black blob. I generally do not do much in post but moose seem to be different. I lightened her right side to get some detail in her coat and also brought down the highlights in the water on her left as they had a great deal of glare from the sunlight. So, here is my offering, did I do it right or am I way off base?

Have at it. I'll be interested in your opinions.

Thanks

Larry

Pierre H.J. Dumais Loc: Mississippi Mills, Ont.

I think you did it very "right" Larry.

Pierre

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

I like your edits. My only suggestion is to lose a bit of distracting foreground, like this.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

PierreH wrote:

I think you did it very "right" Larry.

Pierre

Thank you, I appreciate your comment.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Nikonian72 wrote:

I like your edits. My only suggestion is to lose a bit of distracting foreground, like this.

Thanks for commenting. I actually thought about cropping some of that river bank off and choose to leave it. I sorta liked the feel of the river bank to enhance the mood. However, I see your point and like what you did. I was just afraid it would leave the moose a bit too close to the lower edge.

Thanks for showing me another way.

Larry

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

It would be nice to see both before and after, but what you did looks very good and naturally lit to me. I don't think it needs a foreground crop.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Heirloom Tomato wrote:

It would be nice to see both before and after, but what you did looks very good and naturally lit to me. I don't think it needs a foreground crop.

Here is the original file just down sized a bit to post.

tusketwedge Loc: Nova Scotia Canada

Really like your subject,sharp and crisp.The only thing I would have tried if possible would be to shoot at around f 9 to f 13 to bring the background into the picture.The moose itself I know is the main subject but the surroundings for this type of image to me is important as it shows it's natural habitat .Also by using a higher f stop your background would be darker. Don't know what program you use but cs6 has an awesome shadow recovery in bridge that is hard to beat ,with no loss. JMO.

Gauss Loc: Earth

Hi Larry. ScottO from the Rocky forums here. How have you been?

I think you did a good job bringing out the detail in the young lady's coat. I like the sheen on her shoulder, leg, and belly. Just the right exposure to capture that.

I don't think you should worry about how close you crop the bottom of the image. There's no rule against getting right to the edge. Here's an example of a tight crop.

OK to be close to the edge

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

This a a good shot of the moose and you did well with your PP. I think Nikonian72's crop does improve it. Was the image you posted cropped at all Larry? If not then perhaps leaving more space around the moose when taking the picture would allow you to make a different composition later?

Graham

JC56 Loc: Lake St.Louis mo.

Very nice looks like you got it just right and Nikons crop helped it a bit more. What pp software do you use?

treadwl Loc: South Florida

tusketwedge wrote:

Really like your subject,sharp and crisp.The only thing I would have tried if possible would be to shoot at around f 9 to f 13 to bring the background into the picture.The moose itself I know is the main subject but the surroundings for this type of image to me is important as it shows it's natural habitat .Also by using a higher f stop your background would be darker. Don't know what program you use but cs6 has an awesome shadow recovery in bridge that is hard to beat ,with no loss. JMO.

Thanks for commenting. I shot this at f5.6 because I did not want the background to be too sharp. I felt the stage was set enough and chose to use a lower f-stop to to try and create more separation between the moose and the background. For me, these guys just seem to blend too much. When I have more space between the subject (moose) and the background then I shoot with a deeper f-stop--f8 or f11

I do my post work in Lightroom and love its ability to control both shadows and highlights. I have CS6 where I work (I teach photography at the high school where I work) and agree with your assessment of its tools. I just prefer Lightroom.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Gauss wrote:

Hi Larry. ScottO from the Rocky forums here. How have you been?

I think you did a good job bringing out the detail in the young lady's coat. I like the sheen on her shoulder, leg, and belly. Just the right exposure to capture that.

I don't think you should worry about how close you crop the bottom of the image. There's no rule against getting right to the edge. Here's an example of a tight crop.

Thanks for commenting. I do like your "tight" crop as it really shows off the clarity and beauty of the moose. My personal preference is to include a bit more of the environment. I like the close, tight crops for head shots which bring me to my real bug-a-boo. I have NEVER gotten a head shot of an elk bull that I like Those antlers are so long they just make it impossible, for me at least, to do a head shot. Maybe someone here will help me with that issue.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Graham Smith wrote:

This a a good shot of the moose and you did well with your PP. I think Nikonian72's crop does improve it. Was the image you posted cropped at all Larry? If not then perhaps leaving more space around the moose when taking the picture would allow you to make a different composition later?

Graham

Thanks Graham. I posted the original image above and there was more space around the moose.

treadwl Loc: South Florida

JC56 wrote:

Very nice looks like you got it just right and Nikons crop helped it a bit more. What pp software do you use?

As noted above, I do my post work in Lightroom 5.

Thanks for commenting.