The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
This image was made last year nearly 1 year ago today in the Alaska back country wilderness. For more of a write up and a description of the trip, see last years bear pictures.
This image was taken on a very foggy morning. Our workshop leader was all excited and woke us up early so we could make the trek to where he thought we might get some great images as the sun was coming up through the fog. Since the bears were on the edge of a small cliff, above the river where the bears feed on spawning salmon. Since we couldn’t get on the other side of the bears we decided to simply shoot them as backlit subjects. The conditions were superb for about 2 hours, the first hour showcasing the colors of sunrise in fog. These two siblings?? played for the entire tow hours. They were probably 3 year old cubs that got the boot from mom earlier in the year.
We ended up getting more images than we knew what to do with. It was one of those mornings that you just never forget.
Feedback Requested
I’m wondering about the mood and feeling you get from seeing these. They are both cropped quite a bit because when I was shooting I was trying to get the playfulness of the two, so I included some background and surroundings.
I also converted several images into black and white as the suns warmth dissipated during the shoot. Do you prefer the color version or the black and white version.
I actually added a third image of a lone male wandering one early morning and thought I’d share that one too.
Technical Details
Camera: Z9
Lens: 180-600mm
Focal length: 290mm
Shutter speed: 1/1600
Aperture: 6.3. wide open for this lens
ISO: 80
Flash: none
Great photos! I really like the feel of the images. They are all very different but all work very well. I think I like the first one best! It reminds me of two kids doing a play behind a sheet. Very nice. Sounds like it was a fantastic experience.
These are all full of character, love the dynamics in the interaction, very engaging images, David! You asked for mood and color vs b/w. I think the first one could work as both but the current color version sits somewhat in between, for a silhouette shot that focuses on the behavior and dynamic shapes the color is not needed, and a b/w high contrast image could work. In color, I may try to give it a little more of that beautiful golden light mood, with a little less haze on the bears. But like everything, it’s a question of taste and what you want the image to be about that decides what direction to take it. I suggested a small modification to the crop, just to balance the edges (right edge was cropping the bear but left edge left space and having both edges agree gives a little more balance, in my opinion; I also reduced a bit of the dead space on top of them, which is not needed for what the image is about, I think).
The b/w image you have is insanely fascinating. It gives off that monster vibe, very cool. I wouldn’t change much about it other than perhaps reduce some of the empty space on top, again just because it isn’t contributing to the story. It you didn’t already crop a lot I could also imagine some interesting close-up versions of this that enhance the drama, but it’s already very dramatic!
As for the last image, beautiful rim light here, and low key image with effective placement of the bear. I could see this made even more low key with the outline of the bear being almost all that you can see, like a more artistic direction, but once more that’s a matter of taste. If you have extra space in the raw, a smaller in frame with more landscape could be worth exploring, and this one might actually do well in color so you can see the golden rim light.
Hope this is useful. My first review on here, so please excuse if I am off protocol or something. Cheers
Terrif image! I too, like the first image. I get a sense of the jovial nature of the bears in this scene. How wonderful that you were in a place to see a magical moment.
David, I prefer the first view. I think it’s special both because of the action and because of the colored background. The overall brightness adds well to the sense of playfulness and a touch of mystery. In #3, the backlighting on the bear does a great job of letting it show in the expanse of darkness. I do like the “hints” showing the ground that it’s standing on and the black depths behind.
Interestingly, it looks like you tried unsuccessfully to remove the Weekly Challenge tag. I’ll mention that to David.
Yeah, it’s interesting because I don’t even know how the weekly challenge got applied in the first place. It could have been an accident by me clicking the wrong box but I don’t remember doing that. Thanks for bringing that up and also commenting on the bears. Fun trip.
I am loving all three of these images as I find each individual one unique in their own way. The first one has more of a playful mood with the BG fog being warmed by the rising sun while the other two have more of an ominous mood with the darker tones. In the second one the bared teeth and swatting paw along with the B&W treatment only reinforce that mood for me. If I had to pick a favorite it would be the third image because of that gorgeous rim lighting on both the bear and sections of the ground. The dark tones and the bear’s posture have an ominous feeling as well making me wonder what exactly has piqued his/her interest.Bottom line is all three are winners in my book. I can see why that morning was one you would never forget. I hope you have a few more to share.
Sorry for the late replies here but I’ve been out of town for a little bit.
Thanks you for taking the time to comment and offer up suggestions on these images @David_Schoen, @Huw_Thomas, @timothy3, @steffen-foerster, @holly1, @Mark_Seaver, @Ed_Lowe, @JRajput, @Don_Peters. As always, I appreciate your thoughts.
Shooting these bears out in the middle of the tundra hundreds of miles from the nearest lodge or airport and living in backpacking tents for a week was life changing for my wife and I. With the abundance of food available to the bears there was never any real threat to anyone in our group getting hurt by one of the bears getting too close. And we had bears closer than 10 feet…maybe even 5 feet. Scary but also not scary if that makes sense. Alaska is a very wild place unlike anything in the lower 48 and getting to witness these bears in their natural environment was incredible. If you haven’t been it’s worth the effort to get there and the experience of a lifetime. @steffen-foerster…Thanks for the crop suggestions. I like it. I’ve played with going almost completely black on the third image and I like that direction as well. They both tell a different story so I guess it’s all about how I’m feeling when I’m processing these but I do have a nearly all black image with just faint rim light that I really like a lot. Thanks for that suggestion. Oh, and by the way, your critique was spot and and quite useful so I encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing here on NPN. Great review of these images. @Ed_Lowe, Thanks for your input on all three images. I love that third image also. We got up very early every day, made breakfast, loaded up the photography gear backpacks and headed off each day around 5:30 am. It was during these early morning and late evening hours that we were able to capture so many wonderful rim lighting images of the bears. And yes, I have so many images I don’t even know where to begin but I also don’t want to bore you all either.
I am posting an link to some of the images from this bear trip that I’ve placed into my Alaska Bear Gallery if you’d like to see more of them. https://davehaynes.smugmug.com/Alaska-Bears
