The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
Hello! This is my first post!
I do genuinely like this image. For me, I like the framing of the trees, fallen logs, the river in the back, and the bison. I do feel like there is something missing that I can improve within my editing. I’ve recently started learning more about masks and brushing that I think this particular image could probably benefit from, but I’m looking for some specific ideas!
Creative direction
I love capturing wildlife. I’m trying to hone my skill of capturing wildlife in wild places without much human interaction. I’m not sure I have a particular “creative vision” for this image.
Specific Feedback
I’d love to hear some ideas for better editing on this frame. Tighter crop? Types of brushes/masks to use? Things of that nature.
Technical Details
Canon 5D
Canon EG 70-200 1:4 L USM used at full focal length
Description
My friend and I were driving through Yellowstone National Park after a day of fishing in the Lamar Valley. We saw a ton of bison (which I have plenty more photos of). As we were leaving, we turned a corner and saw this bison strolling near the river. I had my friend pull over so I could take this picture really quick and we could get back on the road.
Great picture. I liked that you got the bison clearly with no overlapping trees. To me, there is just a bit too much of the logs and forest. It is a bit distracting. You might try cropping a bit but, still keep the bison framed. That would make the bison a bit more prominent.Nice environmental shot. Wish I was there.
Congratulations Charlie on your first post! Nice photograph. I agree with your approach regarding framing… but also agree with Charlie. The subject is the bison and perhaps cropping will help. The post processing is good. Advice I would give in post processing would be to edit to the subject, de-emphasize areas that are not the subject so that the viewer is drawn to the subject. So in this example, if you did not crop the image, I’d reduce the saturation of the trees and brush in front. The other advice I would give is to watch your greens. The brush in front of the bison is very saturated and my eyes immediately go the brush.
Welcome to the NPN Casey, I like the shot, it shows the Bison in its environment and it’s also an “honest” shot showing how we often see wildlife as we travel through their space.
I think that the previous comments are heading in the right direction, I would use a clone tool to remove the dark, out of focus tree stump below the bison and then crop in slightly closer. This would still allow for a number of trees/logs but give a greater emphasis on the animal.
Good luck with it.
Cassey, welcome to NPN. This view does a fine job of showing off different aspects of Yellowstone, with bison, the Firehole river, the dead areas where hot water has run previously and the hot springs along the upper right edge. Something to think about is that when you center your subject, while you are focusing attention on it, you also tend to make the view static. In this case the centered Bison works well because you have include so much additional information about the area in the frame. I could possible see a modest crop, removing the two trees closest to the left side, the dark shadow along the top (right of center) and some of the fallen tree and debris along the bottom. You can also burn-in that fallen tree, which will make it less of an attention getter. It’s kind of fun right now, because it points to the Bison, so I wouldn’t remove it entirely.
