Bearrying (+revised)

[Marylynne_Diggs]

Revised Version

Revision 2 (latest)

What changed: This is the one I shared on social media with friends. A tish more yellow in the upper left. Somehow I deleted the raw file, restored it, and had to start over. I think I got it back to where I had it. I must have done some kind of crazy right click delete on the wrong image. Just glad I noticed immediately.

Revision 1

What changed: Cropped to place the bear in the upper left, applied slight vignette.

Added after receiving feedback from the community.

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Original Version

Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical

About This Image

This was our closest bear sighting along the Denali Park road. This one wandered around the hillside, scratching its back on a poplar, eating berries, and then curling up like a dog for a bit of rest. This was my favorite picture of the batch from that half hour or so of observation.

Feedback Requested

I’m not very experienced with wildlife photography, and though my settings here were better than in my previously posted attempt with caribou, there is still some movement (bear? camera? bus?) It was sometimes a challenge as 7 of us were on the bus, all moving to one side, adjusting ourselves. I could literally feel the slight movements of the suspension as I clicked, but really, I just needed to go higher iso and faster shutter.

I’m open to any suggestions on dodge and burn, sharpening, cropping, denoise settings in Lightroom, whatever you think would improve the image.

Technical Details

Canon 5D3 with 100-400 at 4oomm
ISO 1000, f 7.1, 1/640sec
Beanbag on window sill

[Huw_Thomas]

Hi Marylynne

Nice title!

It’s a great image from a bean bag on a bus!!! Lovely colours worth making the most of - and the bear stands out, eye contact, and is nicely in focus

The bear is very central - an off centre crop would have more energy/dynamic

I have cropped it to make bear off centre with a nice curve of red as a bit of a leading line.

Its doesn’t seem noisy but I tend to but anything above is0 200 through DXR PR to get the lens and camera raw corrections.

Here you go with my crop. - just a suggestion - how I would do it - yours is fine

Best wishes
Huw

Processing example based on the original image:

[Mark_Seaver]

Marylynne, the colors here are excellent. The bear shows good detail. At NPN sizes, I don’t see any motion. I agree with @Huw_Thomas about moving the bear off center, for a more dynamic view.

[Larry_Greenbaum]

If you were in one of the Denali park busses you really got a fine close shot. I like this as is with the bear in the center.
I learned my rule of thirds from Cole Thompson - one third your vision, one third the shot, and one third editing the shot to realize your vision. The red vegetation provides the diagonal that gives the image excellent composition. What a fabulous detailed shot of this bear. He or she looks like you could be intruding on one of its last meals before denning down. Terrific as is.

[timothy3 (Timothy Sutherland)]

Marylynne, great shot! The colors are amazing, I love the eye contact and the red diagonal is very good. I like Huw’s crop but I think for me the original crop is okay. You had some ISO to play with so I think you’re right that you could have used quite a bit faster shutter speed. Even so it’s a really good image!

[Marylynne_Diggs]

Hi Larry: It was a Camp Denali lodge bus, which they have been using for short trips within the back country since the landslide closed the park road. Just 8 people and the driver so each photographer had their own row (ie four seats and an aisle).

I like the off center crop too, and it gets rid of the small spot of gold in the ulc.

ML

[Igor_Doncov]

I like @Huw_Thomas’ crop. I also like that burst of yellow below the bear’s head. I think small additions like that greatly improve images. I think they lend a sense of authenticity somehow.

[Dennis_Plank]

a fine shot of the bear, Marylynne, and the setting is awesome. I was thinking the same thing about moving the bear off center when I saw this image, but I chose to do it in the opposite direction, partially because I wanted to raise the bear in the frame to put it more at our eye level. One of the tricks I’ve learned in bird photography is that if you’re shooting down at the subject, it helps make an illusion of being at eye level if the bird is high in the frame and vice versa. I don’t know if your original was cropped on the bottom, but this is as high as I could get it without adding canvas on the bottom, and I wouldn’t really want the bear much closer to the top.

@Huw_Thomas has a more conventional position with the bear moving into the frame, but in this case I thought the head turn compensated for that.

Lots of ways to go with this image and the colors and posture of the bear will support many variations.

[Marylynne_Diggs]

Thanks @Igor_Doncov, @Huw_Thomas, @Mark_Seaver, @timothy3, and @Larry_Greenbaum.

Igor: Funny you mention the yellow shrub under his face. I considered removing it as a distraction, but I just loved the pop of color.

Timothy: I have now set up that body with a default hi iso, hi shutter speed C-1 control. All I have to do is dial to C1 and all of that changes. Next time I’ll be more ready.

Revised version above momentarily.
ML

Mark: Good to know it looks okay. When looking for sharpness, I often pixel peep at 200 or 300%, so I’m setting myself up for disappointment at those magnfications.

Huw: Thanks for the confidence to crop a bit more. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to isolate the bear v. show the environment, but as she is wandering downhill, I think it makes sense to give her room to roam.

[system]

The original poster added a revised version of their image.

[Willemd (Alexander Willem Degroot)]

Wonderful image, Marylynne! The red and yellow shrubs frame the bear and make the bear really stand out. In addition the bear appears to be looking right at you and he has a very curious/innocent expression on his face. I think you should consider a 1x1 crop to really show off the bear’s face and expression. I also removed the small stick poking the bear in the side.

[Mike_Friel]

I’m happy with all the crops; I prefer your original version as I just love the rich environment, which, I imagine, the bear did too. Lovely shot, Marylynne.

[timothy3 (Timothy Sutherland)]

Love the revision but I think I may like the original a bit more. They are both great images!

[Marylynne_Diggs]

Thanks Willem and Mike.

Mike: Yeah, I couldn’t decide how much environment to include. So many options when the landscape is this colorful. Thanks for the alternative perspective on cropping.

Willem: I wondered about that blade of grass. It had some tiny dew drops on the underside, so I though if I ever printed it, those might be worth keeping, but I agree that it removes distractions and helps us focus on the bear. She was soaking wet, had poplar leaves stuck to her in various places, and I think this is the bear that had some poop clinging to her rear end. Life was hard that day, but the berrying was good!

ML

[Willemd (Alexander Willem Degroot)]

I like your latest revision the best, but I think it is such a great image that they all look good!

[Dennis_Plank]

A fine job on the revision. Marylynne.

[Vance_Gese]

Exceptional image of a grizzly set against those glorious fall colors so unique to the tundra and taiga of Alaska. While the centered image works very well against all that color, I personally would try and minimize the loss of all that fall color in attempting a cropped image. Perhaps trimming a bit off the right hand side to a 4:3 or 4:5 ratio, which I am biassed towards. Regardless, I would be very pleased with this beautiful image.

[Lon_Overacker]

Regarding Revision 1:

Marylynne,

Haven’t even read any other comments yet, but I’ll come right out and say it, this has to be your “money shot”! The opportunity and reward taking that yellow bus!

This is just a killer shot! The bear is flat out beautiful. The autumn colors… meh… just some sort of icing on the cake.

The original is fantastic. The revision next level… IMHO, the only thing I would change with the crop/positioning, would be to leave just a bit more of the yellow leaves in the ULC; the cluster there was pretty good size in the original. I think you could still have the offset crop, but yellows and reds surrounding the bear are just gorgeous.

I’m so glad for you that you came home with this one.!

[Bill_Fach]

Marylynne: I’m woefully late to this party but I’ve really enjoyed the discussion and all of the offered variations. The bear is spectacular, especially with that eye contact. Of all the suggestions and iterations I think I like your revision the best. All of that wonderful frame filling color is the perfect complement to a magnificent creature. Most excellent. >=))>

[system]

The original poster added a revised version of their image.