February in Minnesota

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BLev65

BLev65

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February is a very difficult time to be an animal in Minnesota. We have bone chilling cold that dips down to -20 degree F or lower, blowing and drifting snow, and melts followed by re-freeze. I think that the latter is the hardest on mammals and birds that feed on rodents that live beneath the snow pack and the earth. As such, life exists on a tight balance and everything from afterbirth from cattle to diseased and dead carrion is protein... These images were taken and processed with the goal of conveying the harsh nature of a Minnesota winter.
CoyoteBJL_8289-Edit-Edit-1.jpg
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CrowBJL_7566-Edit.jpg
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CoyoteBJL_8425-2.jpg
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The #1 is very beautiful 👏
May I suggest a 16*9 format (by removing the top, which should also remove the dark traces in this part) and also remove the small darker shrub in the middle of the photo.
In this way, the attention would be even more focused on the animal.
 
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BLev65 said:
February is a very difficult time to be an animal in Minnesota. We have bone chilling cold that dips down to -20 degree F or lower, blowing and drifting snow, and melts followed by re-freeze. I think that the latter is the hardest on mammals and birds that feed on rodents that live beneath the snow pack and the earth. As such, life exists on a tight balance and everything from afterbirth from cattle to diseased and dead carrion is protein... These images were taken and processed with the goal of conveying the harsh nature of a Minnesota winter.
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These are all beautiful shot, the wolf is just so cute.

Oliver
 
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aolander said:
Nice images! I especially like the 1st and 2nd. (I'm a fellow Minnesotan.)
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Thanks Alan...
If you live here, then you know the nature of this year. It's been a very challenging year for photography. Our alternating blasts of snow, cold, and rain/drizzle has really created a challenging landscape for both subject and photographer. Every image I've made this winter has required both effort and creativity.
I managed to photograph coyotes on three consecutive weekends, and this is only 4th time I've produced decent coyote pictures in MN in my 32 years here (moved from CA to MN in 1990). While I could have punched the contrast to emphasize detail, I chose to push for high key processing to match the theme of the other shots... I am linking an alternate processing of the same animal shot just before it lifted its paw..
Thanks again and good luck shooting through the rest of the season.
bruce
CoyoteBJL_8286-Edit-Edit.jpg
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PhD69 said:
The #1 is very beautiful 👏
May I suggest a 16*9 format (by removing the top, which should also remove the dark traces in this part) and also remove the small darker shrub in the middle of the photo.
In this way, the attention would be even more focused on the animal.
Click to expand...
Hello Philippe... thank you for the comments and suggestions.
So you are aware, all of the processing and compositional choices were quite intentional. I am a stickler for details and don't hesitate to clone out elements that I find distracting. In this case, I pushed the tonality of the coyote towards the whites and softened the focus in post. My goal was to match the tonality of the eagle and crow. While there are times that I will remove background elements, in this case I am trying to suggest a sense of depth and complexity in the habitat. So while it is snow covered, the prominent and softened vegetation says something about both distance and place.

regards,
buce
 
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ssheipel said:
Beautiful shots.
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Thank you... It's been tough photography this winter. I have less time to enjoy hours in the field, and the conditions have been less than ideal. In the past I could count on holes in the ice where otters, muskrat, and eagles will "congregate." There is much less of this, so I have had to work hard for every image I've made and decided to keep. A Minnesota winter is nothing like a Florida winter :ROFLMAO:
 
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