wolf

Comments welcome

whoah I hope you had a very long telephoto lens, i wouldn't want to be too close to this guy. Impressive shot really, you managed to capture the spirit of this animal especially in his eyes. Excellent DOF and definition, stunning image. great job

Scarey Image.

Wow! Amazing. This is one of your best photos in your portfolio. Nice shot.

WOW!! How'd you do that?

thanks for the kind comments. How did i do this? Well i had little miss riding hood parade in front of the wolf and let nature take its course. Ok, seriously there was a second wolf and this was a warning to keep away.

I usually don't care for captive shots unless their as well done as this. Thanks for sharing this with us.

great capture,congrats

Seriously impressive exposure!

 

the best C.

Thanks for the comments. I wonder what you think of the lighting? I wondered whether fill flash would have helped especially for the eyes but for me at least, the highlights show the hackles raised and focus on the muzzle and teeth being bared. Any thoughts?

Great shot Barry. I don't think a flash woulld add a thing. It looks to me like you shot this on a day with light overcast, the shadowed area isn't too deep or dark and really adds to the depth of the photo. Don't wring your hands over this one, you get it right!

Jim

I'd tend to agree with Jim's comments.

 

If anything fill may have killed some of the texture in the pelt. You did remarkably well balancing the deep tonalities around the mouth and nose with the white fur. Quite a contrast range. Not mean feat with a 20D. All the detail is there in the capture and fine tuning with PS is always possible. The eyes look natural like a wolf's eye should actually look. The attention end of the image is that snout and the teeth.

 

C.

 

Very original shot, welldone, regards!

I agree with the others, lighting is quite well balanced as it is. A flash would not have added anything. The important thing in this picture is the attitude and spirit of the beast which you have captured masterfully.

I am happy with it as it is. I would love to try this with the wolf face on to me too. thanks again for the comments

great stuff, nothing to add really from the above. a few ideas though -- i often use photoshop to subtedly brighten here and there -- you might apply a little bit to the eye here and the inside of the mouth, but not very much or it will be obvious. also, i like to try these things in color and black and white (and a tinted version of the black and white), just to experiment. this would be a good candidate, not in replace of, but in addition to.

Great! For me the light is perfect!

Thanks Ghiga. Ben, I am planning to take a photoshop course to improve my digital darkroom skills. Thanks for the suggestions.

Nicely done! A little more light in the eye would have been nice - and the mouth as Ben suggested, but I like the focus on the teeth. The composition is good too. I wouldn't worry too much over this one - well done!

Quite the beast you captured. It looks angry and focused. I think the lighting is perfect. Don't you think that using a flash in this case might draw his attention to you?

Just realised you are tumrumble on photography blog.Great shot and it deserved to win POW, mine was the albatross.How do you like the site compared to this one.

Thank you Kathy. I will play a little in photoshop to see what I can come up with. Kim, I certainly wouldnt want to be the center of attention of this wolf! Birte, I enjoy both sites. They are very different from each other. Always a pleasure to see your photos.

Great capture of a moment not often seen by people. As for the lighting, it works for me but I don't think it would have hurt to use some fill to brighten up the eyes. As it has been suggested, you can certainly do some work in PS to brighten up some areas. I'm not so sure about the crop though. From my understanding, this is a captive shot which would have allowed you to feel safe enough to move around to find the right composition. I do understand though that this is a 'moment' and you just have to depress your shutter when it happens, otherwise you'll miss it. For the comp, I would have liked to see the whole head or at least the ears. I can see that the ears are back and in my opinion, this would really add to the image since it is a part of their warning. Otherwise, the DOF and exposure here are dead on. Very nice!

Nanette, thanks for your comment. I would like to try fill flash next time to see what effect it has. I did want to include the full head including ears but a second wolf came up alongside this one and so i had to crop out its snout and unfortunately had to lose the ears. In the 4 hours, this was the only clear shot i had with this behaviour. I will be back to photograph them again as i am getting the feel of a new camera and lens and captive animals are good for practice. I will keep in mind everyones suggestions. thanks again.

Barry, It is a nice head in its natural reaction. The lighted area of the bg. corresponds well in letting see the dark mouth.( not black on black, if it was higher).IMO the darker upper part is not disturbing and the fur is well seen with its details. I wish the fg. eye was more accentuated, and with PS ( as Ben offered)it will be done.Good image. Pnina