I observed this scene start to unfold right after I photographed sunrise at Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton NP at the peak of Fall colors in 2024. I saw two cow elk standing on the bank. I had no idea what they would do, but I quickly switched lenses from a 35-70 mm lens to a 100-500 mm lens which allowed me to better capture what followed.
Feedback Requests
I would love any suggestions on any subtleties that I may have overlooked in editing this image. In the original image the trees in the background were brighter. I darkened them to focus the viewer more on the elk and the water. I would also like any suggestions on the composition.
Pertinent Technical Details
Canon R5 with Canon 100-500mm L lens, hand held
ISO 1000, 238 mm, f/5.0, 1/1000 sec
Edited in Photoshop
Willem, I’m thoroughly enjoying the pair of elk and pair of geese swimming in opposite directions. You’ve also go a fine set of reflections in the water around them. For me, most of the trees on the far bank have such a different feeling that I think cropping to a pano would better tell the story of the animals in the river. If you continue with this format, there’s an optical problem, in that the reflections are brighter and different colors than what’s making the reflections, which is optically impossible.
Hi Willem! Looks like you had a productive trip back to Texas. I have to echo Mark’s comments. The river portion of the image is sweet. I really like the swimming elk and geese, and the mist sets it off very well. I was confused by the top portion though, until I read Mark’s comments. The trees and hillside as is does not support the bottom as it’s unnaturally dark compared to the river, and especially the reflection. This is image is definitely worth the effort to fix this issue.
Thank you @Mark_Seaver and @Steve_Kennedy for your very helpful feedback. I have updated my image above taking into account your suggestions. The version above is much closer to the original image with minimal adjustments. I would love to see any additional comments.
Willem
Willem, this is much better! It lets the trees on the far bank add to the scene so that the entire scene fits together nicely. I do think that a modest reduction in the blue of the water would be good, but that’s getting to be personal taste. (You should be able to test that by using the blue/yellow slider in a color balance layer and shifting slightly towards yellow.)
The new version looks much better. To me, the most important part of the image is the action in the water. I would crop to focus on that part of the image. Even though the histogram doesn’t show clipping, I would also use the tone curve to slightly lower the highlights.
