Pronghorn Family

[Teton Chuck]

Yesterday morning I was out looking for photo opps. when I came across this pronghorn family. i enjoyed watching them and thought I would share a photo. Comments / suggestions are welcome as always.

[Shadowman]

Nice effort, needs a bit more processing.

[terrib]

I love how that youngest one is peering around the others at you. This is a great catch. That all their faces are visible is hard to come by. My experience with pronghorn is that as soon as they see me, they are gone. So far the only shots I have are of the shiny white butts!

[IzzieK]

+1 to John's comment. This is a nice shot, I agree...and Travis, thanks for the smile at your experience.

[Geoff F]

I wonder if the highlights are a fraction on the bright side?

Excellent composition.

[kdoc856]

Hey, Chuck

Loved the shot. Agree with John and Geoff it hasn't yet reached full potential. Here's one approach that helps separate the fore from the background, and should draw the audience eye to the proghorns.

[Teton Chuck]

Thanks for the comments. Honestly, I don't know what to do with this photo. Pronghorn are somewhat cryptic in the environment which causes them to blend in. Kevin, I agree that your version catches the eye, but in nature they blend in, even in grassy fields. The sagebrush and the trees are accurate in color in the photo. But it doesn't "pop". I tried some minor adjustments in the attached photo and changed the crop. I don't know how much it helps. I would like to salvage this one because I like the composition.

[kdoc856]

I see your dilemma, and my version certainly did not preserve the relationship between the sagebrush and the animals. You've tried just a selective reduction of highlights, with perhaps a slight increase in contrast, sharpening and LCE of just the animals?

[kdoc856]

I really like your image, and hope you achieve the final effect that pulls together a pleasant visual feel photographically, and still remains true to the reality of the scene as you witnessed it. Here's my last attempt to combine the two, taking into it a greater consideration of the common elements of the animals, sagebrush and background trees. I lifted the exposure just to the right edge of the histogram, and selectively very slightly increased the saturation and contrast of the sage. The animals alone got a dose of sharpening and LCE

[Teton Chuck]

Thank you to all who commented. Kevin, a special thank you for your work on the photo and for the suggestions. I'm going to work on it in three weeks or so. In the meantime I will be floating through the Grand Canyon for 16 days, plus travel to and from Jackson. Should be quite an adventure.

Just for fun I am posting a pronghorn head.