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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
