Black Bear & a Whiskey Jack

[Brownbear]

Just sharing... Far from perfect but these are my first wild bear images.

Photographed on Blackcomb Mountain (huckleberry and blueberry bushes)

Mom and her Cub

f/4 SS 1/640 (low light) ISO 1600 300 mm



Another black bear... The little tag in her ear means she has been relocated to the mountains from town at least once. (:

f 6.7 ISO 2200 focal length 500 mm



Back country - Alpine Bird - Whiskey Jack (Grey Jay)

f/4 ISO 125 (bright sunlight) SS 1/1600

I should've used a faster shutter speed... The image is a little soft but I still like it.

[Kodiak]

Whiskey Jack (Grey Jay)

•
Christina, this birdie is my favourite. The shallow DoF is only adding to the
dynamic of the flight! …love it!

[Brownbear]

Thank you Kodiak. Truly appreciated. I love photographing birds.

•
Christina, this birdie is my favourite. The shallow DoF is only adding to the
dynamic of the flight! …love it!

[Shadowman]

Nice images.

[pnodrog]

Good set of photographs #2 is possibly my preferred but not by much.

I think the softness on the bird is due a bit to movement but the main problem looks to me as if your DOF was not sufficient.

[deetheturk]

Wonderful set of images Christina

[dje]

Great shots Christina with some interesting compositions . Very enjoyable to view.

Dave

[IzzieK]

I do not know why but when I saw your #1 composition on the bear, it reminds me of the Beatles' song called Penny Lane...

...within my heart, within my soul...

I also like that you've captured the lift of the leg of the little bear. There is something special about it for me though I cannot connect as to why, I just love it.

#2 is a beautiful shot...no question about that...and #3 is a cutie bird. I am still hooked on #1 shot. I must have looked at it 4 times now and if I do not go to bed now, I will be dragged to it soon by my two boys here because I am disturbing their sleep with my keyboarding and the light from my laptop...

[Rebel]

The bird photo is my favourite, lovely bird... what is it?

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all!

Paul I appreciate your advice on DOF. I missed that.

Matt...

The bird is a Grey Jay that is also referred to as a Whiskey Jack. Truly! I photographed this bird in the alpine area of a mountain. A first sighting and photo for me.

Izzie...

Thank you. The bear images are special to me. The close-up was taken from a car. The Mom and cub I spotted on a trail on a hike in the same area where black bears are commonly spotted. I need a longer lens! These are too far and noisy at 100% viewing but I am going to print a couple of postcard size images for myself for the memory. Another bear came along and the Mother bear shooed her little one up a tree (amazing how fast bears climb) and the little one stayed up there while the other bear just kept its head in a bush eating berries. So I have lots of noisy bear butt shots.

Here is a heavy, noisy crop of the little one up a tree. Also special to me for the memories...



Next year I plan on taking one of those Grizzly bear viewing boat tours up in Bella Coola BC with a long lens.

Thank you to everyone for your comments and tips. Truly appreciated!

[Nicks Pics]

Congrats on the great bear shots! There is not much need to question where a photographer is when missing from CinC!
The gray jay is a splendid picture, I like how well all the colors go together. The close-up bear is very real and natural looking, excellent detail in the fur. I don't think you necessarily needed a longer lens for the bear and cub. I like to see the whole scene and how the bears show how big the trees are. I wonder if wb and general appearance could be improved, with some carefulness, even though it is a bit noisy. The cub in the tree is also cute. I like the setting on that one.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Nick,

Truly appreciated. Thanks also for the tips on wb and post processing. The Mom and Bear, and the cub shot are cropped heavily, likely 60%, hence post card like prints just for myself. I agree that it is nice to see the environment but I do hope to be able to afford a longer lens to better capture opportunities like this.

Congrats on the great bear shots! There is not much need to question where a photographer is when missing from CinC!
The gray jay is a splendid picture, I like how well all the colors go together. The close-up bear is very real and natural looking, excellent detail in the fur. I don't think you necessarily needed a longer lens for the bear and cub. I like to see the whole scene and how the bears show how big the trees are. I wonder if wb and general appearance could be improved, with some carefulness, even though it is a bit noisy. The cub in the tree is also cute. I like the setting on that one.

[Rita]

Congratulations! You got your bears in the wild. #2 is my favourite of the bears but I do agree with the others about your dog.

[ied]

Beautiful set Christina. Always exciting to get such captures in their natural
environment.

Irene

[Mike Buckley]

The last one is far and away my favorite. However...

Tape the following reminder onto the edge of your monitor: Continually check the histogram.

Notice that the histogram of your last image has a lot of space on the left. If you correct that black point and add just a hint of an S-curve that increases the mid-tone contrast, you'll eliminate the feeling that I mentioned in your other thread and conveyed in this image that you're looking through a thin layer of gauze.

I don't want to appear insensitive, but your photo skills are so well developed that it's a shame that you still continue to ignore the histogram so often. Once you get used to the look of photos that have ideal histograms, you'll spot the look in the images that don't have them. In the mean time, check your histogram...constantly.

Personally, after getting everything set just right, I would add a slight vignette to this one to make the light lead the viewer's eye to the bear. Guess what might happen when you do that: you might need to ever so slightly lift the left portion of the tone curve. How would you double check that? By reviewing your histogram.

Did I mention to constantly check your histogram?

[IzzieK]

Oh how pretty this shot is...that even includes the environment...it sometimes amazes me how some animals are really like humans in their way of protecting their little ones. Yes, noisy butt this one... cutie though...

Christina, printing it is one part of the process...trying to find the original file/edit is my weakest point. So when I print my shot, I make sure I have a sticky note or light pencil note at the back of the picture so I know instantly where I filed my beasts (file), so to speak...

[Brownbear]

Thank you Rita, Izzie and Irene.

Izzie

Yes, it was a special experience to view and I will always remember it, fondly.

I must admit that my file folders for my pics are very disorganized, but I do manage to find most images because I put key words like bear in LR. That said I don't have too many bear pics, whereas I have way too many pelican pics. ie; I will find the bear but finding a specific pelican is a bit of a challenge.

[Brownbear]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for sharing. I will give it a go tomorrow.

And thank you for reminding me about my histogram. Honestly I do always check it even during post processing. If I raise the black point the bear becomes too dark.. (clipped shadows)

Raw



Processed




Perhaps I'm not understanding what a good histogram truly is? Here is the histogram of the original raw image and my processed image.

Thank you.

The last one is far and away my favorite. However...

Tape the following reminder onto the edge of your monitor: Continually check the histogram.

Notice that the histogram of your last image has a lot of space on the left. If you correct that black point and add just a hint of an S-curve that increases the mid-tone contrast, you'll eliminate the feeling that I mentioned in your other thread and conveyed in this image that you're looking through a thin layer of gauze.

I don't want to appear insensitive, but your photo skills are so well developed that it's a shame that you still continue to ignore the histogram so often. Once you get used to the look of photos that have ideal histograms, you'll spot the look in the images that don't have them. In the mean time, check your histogram...constantly.

Personally, after getting everything set just right, I would add a slight vignette to this one to make the light lead the viewer's eye to the bear. Guess what might happen when you do that: you might need to ever so slightly lift the left portion of the tone curve. How would you double check that? By reviewing your histogram.

Did I mention to constantly check your histogram?

[Mike Buckley]

Keep in mind that I'm starting with your processed image. I am able to raise the black point to a value of 10 on that one with without incurring any lost detail in the bear. I can also slightly increase the mid-tone contrast afterward by manipulating the curve without incurring any lost detail.

If you don't like the look of the bear when doing that, select everything but the bear. When I did that, I raised the black point to 26 and slightly increased the mid-tone contrast afterward.

Hopefully you can display the histogram larger than shown in the screenshot. If the histogram is just barely touching the left side, that is theoretically when you get the highest black point that doesn't clip any shadows. Both of your histograms appear to be away from the left side, though at this size it's tough to tell. The histogram of your processed image displayed in my software is definitely away from the left side.

[NorthernFocus]

Excellent set, Christina. I really like the bears walking the log. And the detail in the bear in the bush is really nice. The slightly blurred wing tips on the bird are fine. Everything else is sharp. Up here they call those camp robbers. You'll really enjoy taking that brown bear trip