Elk - Yellowstone

Hey Folks,

This is a male elk that we saw one afternoon. In my opinion, what made this an interesting portrait for me is that he just looked wiped out and tired. I hope that all enjoy.

James

This next guy was definitely in the mood for a challenge. He looked like he had gotten beaten up a bit, but my was he impressive. I did a small bit of PS work to clean up a branch around this guys antlers, as I did not want the image to become distracted. How did I do?

James

Enviable shots- # 3 priceless.

Thank you very much. I was very pleased with my elk photographs this year. As I had said earlier, for whatever reason, I was not able to get the diversity of photographs that I typically do. Oh well - next year.

James

This one was shot at ISO 1600 early in the morning. It was practically in front of the hotel at Mammoth. A little noisy, perhaps. I am debating adding a bit of saturation to it as well.

-James

James, what was your shutter speed on that shot of the bull you said was taken at ISO 1600? Just curious as I've been shooting wildlife a long time, as you know, and I've never shot more than 800 ISO but usually I never shot more than 400. I'm not saying 1600 is bad, I'm just curious of your shutter speed at that ISO for that particular shot. . .

Maybe I need to shoot some higher iso stuff, it might give me a few more minutes of shooting light. . .

Great elk shots. I like the up close and personal feel of the first two. The second one is great light and an awesome pose. The last one could benefit from some work on the color, warming it up a little. Cool photos though I wish I was there to be that close!
Like I mentioned in the Critique posting, there sees like there could be more contrast though. Didn’t you say you work on a Mac? I wonder if this is a different gamma thing going on her or if what I’m noticing is just a difference in preference between my eye and yours.

I agree with jeffdipa. i dont know enough about computers and post processing to know what's going on. But they seem to lack snap, and they are kind of flat. I think its a color and or contrast issue, but I'm not sure.

James, can you look into it and get back to us?

Hmmm. Let me first ask the question. Do they all look flat to you? Or, is it only certain images?

james

James, I think almost all your images could use a little contrast boost. If by flat you mean lacking in contrast, then yes. I know I sometimes add a little to much contrast, and I always assumed you erred on the other extreme. However I am starting to wonder if it's a difference in setup as apposed to deliberate choices. That said, I could ask you a similar question, do all my images have to much contrast?

James, while I dont have the original file, and I was not there to see the shot, I believe this shot represents more contrast and more color.

I was not there with you, so I cant be sure, but I'll bet that grass was even greener than it is in my edits. I'm sure with more PS skill and more time, some one who really knew what they were doing could get that shot in better shape than I.

Can you post the a down sized original? I did not adjust much in the way of saturation, but maybe should have. . .

here's another. . .

Hey Tony,

Thanks for posting these - I appreciate it. So the question then is, is it a problem with brightness, contrast or a little of both?

James

Well...I have been examining my images in PS. I don't think that the curve is at all a problem. The histograms are pretty much perfect on these critters. What I do see, however, is that by just kicking up the contrast a bit that the images seem to pop out of the image significantly more - and I am only talking about increasing the contrast by +6 on the images.

It is food for thought. I am always a bit anxious about blowing out whites, and kicking up the contrast beefs up this problem a bit. However, on images such as these, increasing the contrast really seems to help.

I will post some of my experiments later today when I get a chance to relax. Thank you both for the comments. They really help.

Cheers
James

A couple of more elk....

-JM

Hey James, great shots, beautiful! And I like that contrast better.

Jeff