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Archive 2015 · Cataloochee critters

  
 
lighthound
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Cataloochee critters


Took the wife and granddaughter up the hill to see some fury critters Saturday.
We saw plenty of fur and feathers but there was one fury critter we didn't expect to see.

I tried my best to get a decent shot of the little guy but I had the wrong lens at the time and I wasn't about to walk the 1.2 miles back to the truck to grab my other lens. Using a flash on him from the front really pissed him off so I stopped as soon as I saw his reaction. I felt bad and didn't even think about it until after I took the shot and saw his reaction.

I tried use a heavy vignette on this image but I'm not sure what the weirdness is around him so I backed off. Do you think that's his shadow from the flash? Anyone know what kind of Bat he is?


Image #3
Is of the larger fury critter kind that we expected to find. I cropped a good bit off this one on the right and top because of a large oof tree that was killing the shot. I tried to lessen the brightness of the edge of the oof tree that is in front of his nose. Does it look ok or is there anything else I could/should do to help minimize that blur?

Image#4
I went around and around on the best way to crop this one and finally settled on this. I trimmed a little off the bottom because I didn't have his full legs in the shot and a little off the top to get rid od a distracting dark shadow from the forest behind him. In doing so I had to take a little off the front and rear but I didn't want to clip his butt off and tried to balance it as best as I could but keep more room on the right in front of him.


Image #5
This was a nice treat and one I didn't expect. I had to sneak through the woods from the bottom of a small hill so he couldn't see me. I got a few images before he saw me and took off but most of them have oof leaves and branches in the way. This was the best shot I got of him while he was fanning out. As far as a wildlife image I know this isn't an ideal shot but I think it conveys the message of woodland creatures and the oof leaves and branches gives it a nice sense of depth. Or.... Am I just telling myself that to compensate for a poor image?

Over all I learned a few things from this outing so far.
1) Carry ALL your gear with you if walking more than a few hundred yards from your vehicle
2) I'm really wanting a longer / better lens. Feel free to send me your unwanted Siggy or Tammy 150-600mm
3) Bat's really hate bright flashes
4) Bull Elk might look like they don't mind your presents at first but they WILL let you know if you push it to far.

Any other C&C would be appreciated.




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May 04, 2015 at 01:34 PM
beavens
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Cataloochee critters


Cool bat!

I dig him, but that funky colored shadow has got to go. The WB looks off as well - too warm in certain parts according to my eyes and [work] monitor.

First shot is much more engaging, but the second has that "leave my alone I'm sleepin!" vibe going.

#3 - See if you can recover some detail in those highlights on the fur. It looks like you had to contend with some mixed lighting, which obviously can cause some exposure issues. Comp is a bit tight for my liking, but since the eyes are looking back it's not the biggest issue for me. What I'm having a hard time getting past are the two OOF trees. The left cuts the elk(?) in half and pulls my eyes out of the frame, while the right is JUST distracting enough to pull me off the face. Tough light to work with!

#4 - Mid-bugel?? That sound cracks me up every time I hear it! You've got some exposure fall off in the upper-righthand corner (not sure if due to underexposure or added vigenette?). Looks like your WB might be running a tad cool on this, judging by the color or the fur/grass. I'm fine with the cropping of the legs, but do you have anything to expand on in the upper-right to add negative space for the angled neck and the "sound" to travel into?

#5 - Unfortunately too much clutter to be a keeper. I love the coloring and feather patterns, but those blocking trees/limbs and the overall chaos in the shot makes it a tosser.

Lessons:

1) I hear that and I know how much it sucks to to miss out on a shot, but think about the flip side where you come out with limited gear and either adjust as best you can or make a mental note and come back with proper gear. Lately I've just been slapping on my 35mm and seeing what's out there. It's SO liberating to have simply a body/lens/strap instead of a bag or pack with 2-3 lenses.

2) Start putting a little cash away! Also remember that you can sell your 70-300 if you're looking to pick up an ultra tele - that will take some of the sting out of it. Also buying used from the Buy & Sell subforum is a GREAT way to save cash and get gear that has been taken care of.

3) Lol definitely - might not help for bats, but look at employing a diffuser of sorts. You can build a DIY on the cheap (and easy - even I had no issues) following this guide: http://super.nova.org/DPR/DIY01/

4) Yeahhhhhh don't mess with these guys during their rut!!

Cheers,

Jeff



May 04, 2015 at 02:12 PM
lighthound
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Cataloochee critters


Thank you Jeff!

I don't understand where that weird warm WB came from in the Bat shots but I see it as well and I tried to make it go away but failed. I think I'll try to use an adjustment brush in LR and paint over those funky shadow areas and adjust the WB on them. The color of the bat was odd and I think I have that correct here so I'll have to be careful not to mess that up.

#3 Yep, you got it. The sun was shining through the trees and I had to drop down that rear area on the fur considerably. I'll try to bring out a little detail there to make up for this. Yep again on the oof trees. The one on the left doesn't bother me as much as the one in front of him. I thought about going with a square crop to make the left one go away but that's really pushing it as that's about a 60% crop and I don't think I have the pixels with a 24mp. Plus it was bit soft to begin with due to slight motion blur. I can't give it anymore room to the right because of the oof tree. What you're seeing is just a small edge sliver of a huge tree that really looked like crap before I cropped it out.

#4 Actually he wasn't bugling but that's why I liked this shot because it does look like he was. It's the wrong season for that but I can pretend.
I think I see the WB you're talking about now. Looking at his nose and lips it does look "cool". Now that you pointed that out his entire side is a little "cool". Strange how I didn't see that before. The dark corner top right is a sliver of the dark forest shadow I was talking about that ran across the entire top of the frame. I knew I was cropping down too close to his head to make it go away so I tried to leave that little section hoping it would work. Sounds like a little cloning/healing tool work is needed there.

#5 Ok, so I was making it up in my head then.
I didn't like that funky oof blur thing on the left any how.
What's up with that? That's weird looking now that I look at it again.
I think it might have been that creature from the movie "Predator".

Thanks for that link. I'll be making one of them for sure.

No rut this time of year but yep, I know better than to push it with them in the fall.


Thanks again for the feed back Jeff!




May 04, 2015 at 03:02 PM





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