Coyote Redo with increased contrast

[mrsisu]

Picked up the contrast on this - does it look better? This was not taken with optimal light ie rather late.

[rpk717]

Don,

I think it helps, the light here was so flat and the BG and the subject were so close in tone and texture it's a hard one to work with. Thanks for showing us this re-post. This forum is can be a great tool for teaching us how to work an image.

[jckegley]

I couldn't see too much difference between the two photos.

It's a tough one to work with not only because the colors and texture of both the animal and the background are so close....but also because the background is close in distance to the animal. I took the liberty of saving the photo to my workstation and trying the standard set set of tools photographers use in photoshop and was unable to bring the Coyote out of the background or make him pop out. Not to say it can't be done, but I was unable to achieve the results I was looking for with my skill level.

Now if you wanted to go crazy you could use 'layers' and the 'gaussian blur' tool in photoshop to blur the background, but you would be getting into the ethical area of what actually created the photograph.... the camera.... or photoshop. My personal preference for nature photography is not to use those tools. Though when I take people shots I use them frequently. With people I am trying to make the subject look as good as possible regardless of the means. With nature my goal is usually to have as accurate an image of what I actually observed as possible (obviously the water lily example I posted earlier is an exception to this rule).

I'm still jealous you were so close and wish I had a photo of a Coyote as nice as that. Maybe next year.

[Photobiologist]

I see a bit of improvement. I don't think I would want the coyote to "pop" in this photo. This grizzled looking critter slinking along the edge of an almost matching cover looks really appropriate to me...

[mrsisu]

This young man or gal was slinking along the edge of this bramble like area so what you see is what I saw and what there was. I think with his/her stealth this coyote eats regularly.

[jckegley]

Don, was that a common occurence in Bosque.... to get so close to a Coyote? I find it just amazing, everytime I have had any type of encounter with a Coyote it is from a distance. A very far distance.

[mrsisu]

Not unusual to get that close at least to this coyote. I suspect he/she may be the same one that walked within 10 feet of one of our members last year. This was a very healthy looking animal and its sort of you don't bother me and I won't bother you. I do feel better if there are afew folks around which there tend to be. My image was in the same area that we had our close encounters last year.

[ldow]

If you're in photoshop, I'd crop a little more off the left and balance with a dash from the top and bottom. You need to use level control rather than blasting the whole image with increased contrast. It's good to remember that our eyes have a light/shadow resolution of 1/10,000 and our cameras simply do not approach that. On the bottom, bring down highlights a little, midlevels more, and increase shadow (to get more what your eye saw). I'd take a little time with the coyote, correcting areas of highlight burn out.

Nice shot - can make a nice 'monochromatic' image with a little more detail work. You can use 'lasso' technique, masqueing techniques or layering technics to correct the deficits in the technical mediums with which we work in the field. Go for it, and don't be scared away from 'getting to what you really saw' by thinking that you are 'mamipulating' reality by using tools that actually help you GET to the reality rather than a technical blah of what was really there.:)

[mobiek]

This guy is in great cover. Nice shot getting him in his own camouflage.