The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I wouldn’t call myself a wildlife photographer. I’m a landscape photographer who occasionally gets lucky when wildlife appears in front of my lens. If I happen to come across an animal and feel there’s a reasonable chance of capturing a good image with my landscape-focused gear, I’ll take the opportunity to make a few shots.
That said, I recently returned from a trip through South Dakota and Yellowstone, and one of my goals was to capture a tight portrait of a mighty bison. I ended up having a couple of great opportunities, one in Yellowstone and another in Custer State Park where this image was taken. The sun had just slipped below the horizon, and we were driving along one of the gravel roads that cut through the park when we came across a small herd of bison. They looked like they wanted to cross the road, so we stopped to give them space, but this guy decided he wanted to cross exactly where we had stopped. He walked right up to the side of the road and stood there, looking at us as if trying to decide what to do next. In reality I think he was just curious.
Specific Feedback
As I said, I’m not much of a wildlife guy, so I’m grateful for any and all feedback you may have.
Technical Details
Canon RP with a Tamron 100-400mm lens at @137mm
1/400 sec at f/5, ISO-6400
Handheld, shot from the driver’s seat of my van.
Some noise reduction and sharpening in Topaz Photo AI
A few notes on gear. I was very surprised how good of a job the Canon RP, a lower end camera did. When I use the Tamron lens on my main camera, the Canon 5D4 it doesn’t focus that well but with mirrorless it’s much better. Also I;m rather happy with the image quality considering that this was shot at ISO-6400.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:
Tom, what a great face to face closeup here. I have not done any wildlife photographer in 20 years now. So, I can appreciate your well taken point on landscape work and the occasional or accidental wildlife encounters.
I had a few VERY close encounters by accident with Bison in the Tetons years a go and was very leery of the encounters.
I love the hopefully friendly look here and it will no doubt be an image encounter you will recall over time…
You might burn down the nose slightly but otherwise it looks fine to me…
Great capture with wonderful detail and light! I wouldn’t say the nose is way too bright – it has a metallic look that catches my attention in a good way!
I love closeups but do wonder about just a tiny bit more room on the sides. But it is fantastic as presented!
Tom, I’ve just recently started shooting wildlife myself, my primary subject now is wild horses. but I have done some buffalo myself. My current lens tool is a Nikon 180-600 on a Z8. Let’s me get close enough without getting in danger. I think the previous suggestion are all that is warranted,. Some would say the small spects of grass are a distraction, I’m fine with it… it’s nature.
We have a nature preserve here near Denver, Rocky Mountain Aresenal National Wildlife Refuge. Every year they send 20 0r so young calves to Native American tribes so they can buld their own herds. I shot this bull 3 year ago. His look was a bit intense…
Tom, this is a great head-on look at what I think is a female Bison (the relatively narrower head is the clue), although it might be a younger male… The colors look great. Bison are very dark so getting them to show color well is a challenge. The specks of grass on the head and in the beard have me chuckling…they are so typical and tell us what this one’s been up to…
Thank you kindly @Mark_Seaver ! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
I also really like the grass that’s all over the face. I think it’s small details like this that help tell a story that adds to the viewer’s experience.
Tom, congrats on the well deserved EP. I actually like the grass on his head and neck fur. I’d question it if it didn’t have grass.
This is a very small thing but you might consider darkening those eyes as there is a glare or film over them that make them a little bit dull looking. Also, on my computer there appears to be a tiny amount of magenta around the mane but it could also be my laptop so take that for what it’s worth. Here is a slight rework:
Thank you @David_Haynes ! I like your edits to the image - you’re right about my version being on the magenta side. I’ll have to address that. And thanks for the tip about the dull eyes. I’ll look at that as well.
