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Midnight Wolf

Midnight Wolf

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Hey all,
As a kid, I used to play around with my grandmothers 35mm Cannon. Many years later I'm now picking up the camera again. This is my first real dive into photography and especially photo editing. I've been trying to practice the techniques I've been learning from Steve's books and several YT channels. I'm shooting with a Nikon D750 and a Nikon 70-300mm as well as I just picked up a used Nikon 200-500mm lens. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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Looks like you got the exposure pretty good if a little underexposed. You could bring up your shadows in post processing to give some more of the details around the eye. Or use some selective technique to help the eyes. Usually centering the subject is considered more static/less interesting so you could mess around with cropping to get the eyes off the center.
 
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bleirer said:
Looks like you got the exposure pretty good if a little underexposed. You could bring up your shadows in post processing to give some more of the details around the eye. Or use some selective technique to help the eyes. Usually centering the subject is considered more static/less interesting so you could mess around with cropping to get the eyes off the center.
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Thanks. I bumped up the exposure just a tiny bit more and brought up the shadows. Those changes and cropping really does make a difference. I also ran it through Denoise AI, seems I forgot to do that. I tried to do a selective sharpening on the eyes, but even cranking the sharpness all the way up I didn't see any difference, would this be because the data just isn't there in the eyes to sharpen?
DSC_7382-Edit.jpg
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Midnight Wolf said:
Thanks. I bumped up the exposure just a tiny bit more and brought up the shadows. Those changes and cropping really does make a difference. I also ran it through Denoise AI, seems I forgot to do that. I tried to do a selective sharpening on the eyes, but even cranking the sharpness all the way up I didn't see any difference, would this be because the data just isn't there in the eyes to sharpen?
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You're off to a great start!

Both images are good but the second version is much stronger. The crop helps not just in making your subject larger but it's also a nicer composition with the buck's head and eyes off center to the left but head position angled back across the frame. Yeah the exposure leaves his face a tad dark and lowers the contrast around his eyes and in the end what we perceive as sharpness is really edge contrast so that doesn't help his eyes jump out. That said, I think the image overall is sharp enough and you certainly don't want to go overboard on sharpening in post processing.

You might try adding a bit of vignette (edge burn) to help contain some of the brighter tones like the grass at the frame edges. I'll add a subtle vignette to most of my images but the trick is it needs to be just enough to darken the edges but not so much that it's obvious to the viewer.

That's a really nice image, you did a great job getting to eye level perspective and the overall scene including the log is visually interesting. Great work and keep it up!
 
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Thank you all for the feedback! I'm going to continue to play around with the crop a bit. I'll give the vignette a shot as well. I've yet to play around with it, so that'll be fun to try out.
 
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Midnight Wolf said:
Hey all,
As a kid, I used to play around with my grandmothers 35mm Cannon. Many years later I'm now picking up the camera again. This is my first real dive into photography and especially photo editing. I've been trying to practice the techniques I've been learning from Steve's books and several YT channels. I'm shooting with a Nikon D750 and a Nikon 70-300mm as well as I just picked up a used Nikon 200-500mm lens. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
View attachment 26302
Click to expand...
It’s a really nice shot and that is one beautiful animal.👍👍
 
Midnight Wolf said:
Thanks. I bumped up the exposure just a tiny bit more and brought up the shadows. Those changes and cropping really does make a difference. I also ran it through Denoise AI, seems I forgot to do that. I tried to do a selective sharpening on the eyes, but even cranking the sharpness all the way up I didn't see any difference, would this be because the data just isn't there in the eyes to sharpen?
View attachment 26303
Click to expand...

I was not thinking of sharpening for the eyes but rather selectively brightening the face area around the eyes. You didnt say what software but for example in Lightroom you can use the adjustment brush. You paint over the face to make a selection/mask and then use the exposure slider and it will only impact the area you brushed. I like the new composition.

Or another approach would be in the curves tool. Top left of the tool is a button where you click in the image to adjust that part of the curve. Click the face then use the mouse to make the curve taller to brighten it. Don't overdo it.
 
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Midnight Wolf said:
Thanks. I bumped up the exposure just a tiny bit more and brought up the shadows. Those changes and cropping really does make a difference. I also ran it through Denoise AI, seems I forgot to do that. I tried to do a selective sharpening on the eyes, but even cranking the sharpness all the way up I didn't see any difference, would this be because the data just isn't there in the eyes to sharpen?
View attachment 26303
Click to expand...
Nicely done.

This second corrected image is really quite good. As progress from this I would next want to get slightly better light and exposure on the eyes, particularly his right to pull the viewer a bit more into the image (in fairness that could be as much a function of the conditions you were shooting in). Your aspect is just about down at eye level which is excellent. You'll hear it all the time but getting low so often helps the compositional value of wildlife shots by putting the viewer at the animal's level and, subtly, helping to compress the depth of field so as to showcase your subject yet further.

Having added a 200-500 to your D750, you already have a couple of great pieces of kit. There's a lot you can shoot with that combo and get great results. Hoping you stay down this rabbit hole. It is endlessly fulfilling.
 
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bleirer said:
I was not thinking of sharpening for the eyes but rather selectively brightening the face area around the eyes. You didnt say what software but for example in Lightroom you can use the adjustment brush. You paint over the face to make a selection/mask and then use the exposure slider and it will only impact the area you brushed. I like the new composition.

Or another approach would be in the curves tool. Top left of the tool is a button where you click in the image to adjust that part of the curve. Click the face then use the mouse to make the curve taller to brighten it. Don't overdo it.
Click to expand...
Oh! Okay. I'll give that a try as well. That's one of the things I love about Light Room is I can play around with the image as much as I want.

Thanks Tiago and Marcus. The lighting unfortunately wasn't favoring me on that shot or most of that day to be honest.
 
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Selectively brightening the eyes with a adjustment brush can often help in situations like this. The trick is to brighten the eyes enough to see the detail, but not so much as to make it look unnatural. It's not always possible, but certainly worth a try.

This is a very nice image, and you are off to a great start. The best way to improve is to just get out there and take a LOT of pictures. Side benefit: you get to be out in nature and doing something you enjoy. :)
 
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I would have been thrilled to capture such an image !!! For my tastes, since I saw the original, I would have preferred a bit more air above the antlers.....move the image down just a schosh to give those antlers room to breath within the composition...but this is my "artsy" take and being nick picking. I do agree the second image is more focused and striking. We all struggle getting the eyes to be Sharpe and in focus.....hoping to get catch lights in the eyes....something to watch for when the opportunity arises. Easy to nit pick, hard to pull off in real life. I've spend countless hours luggiing way to heavy gear up mountains attempting great shots......and in the end it's what presents itself to us.....great job...I'd be most pleased with this image on my card.
 
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