To much?? Not Enough?? Could use some input on this photo

[Kathy O]

So my husband and I had just hiked over this steep ridge behind our cabin in Colorado, very exhausted by the time we had gotten to the top. I hadn't even got my camera out of the bag yet when we saw this awesome creature enjoying his view of the mountain. So I scurried to get my camera out to get this shot -- I love this picture and I know it is not perfect, but from the whole trip this is my favorite photo -- it seemed magical I have included 2 edits of this photo, one with just a little editing done and one where I bumped up the colors etc. I could use some input as to which you like better, is the second one to much?? or did I get it right?? Are there things you would do to make it better? I keep thinking I did to much to the second photo . . .

Thank you so much for your help.

[Stagecoach]

Wonderful image Kathy and well worth posting for ideas on pp work.

For me, I prefer the colour of the sky in No 1 and consider the global contrast/colour boost in No 2 is too much.

Hows about Taking No 1, increasing contrast/colour on the lower half and losing it by using a gradient above the stags head. This then reduces the competition between the stag and the mountains making them appear more distant (as already in No 1).

[billtils]

Kathy, the first by far, as far as I'm concerned, for the same reasons as Grahame.

Indeed I'm not sure that I'd tinker with it all; you took it with the intent of capturing the stag, not the landscape, but as luck would have it the landscape is fine and there's not really much you can do to hero the animal. It's a nice picture that captures the moment - enjoy it.

[JBW]

seems to me that in #2 you placed the emphasis on the scenery rather than the elk(?). I agree that #1 looks good just as is. But (my mentors taught me there is always a but) the Elk could be emphasized while leaving the rest of the shot alone. I applied just a touch of brightening, sharpening and emphasis.

[pnodrog]

My approach has been similar to Brian's but I have also removed some of the distracting pile of rubbish and tightened up by cropping. The crop deliberately puts the stag? on the thirds. I spent more time than I intended but if you wanted to do it really well it would take even longer. All editing has been done in photoshop but cloning was done manually not using the content aware cloning tools. For this sort of edit, photoshop is my preferred editor. Lightroom does not provide the masking and cloning control that I feel is required.

[MrB]

I realise that the following suggestion would not be the same image, but I wonder (if you have sufficient pixels in the original) whether you have considered something like a three-quarter crop. This example has also had a gradient brightness reduction of the top half and local contrast enhancement of the bottom half, to enhance the impression that the stag appears to be enjoying his view of the mountains.



Cheers.
Philip

[Shadowman]

I like the treatment of the second image, at first I was going to say that the image would look better with the stag looking towards you; but as shown it seems the two of you are sharing the same view. Nicely done.

[lovelife65]

Love this image. Agree with other comments in regard to a crop, to focus on the stag. I like the fact that he appears to be enjoying the view.
The second image is not necessarily "too much" from my untrained eyes, but the colors of the sky seem too purple (and thus the mountains) and appear uneven ...
Very nice photo, thank you for sharing.

[Kathy O]

Thank you all for your awesome input, I appreciate every thought and every suggestion

[Manfred M]

I'd like to see a bit more contrast in the scene and a darker more definitive sky. I agree with Paul, that large lump needs to disappear. Too bad that the stag was not looking at you.

[Wavelength]

Excellent, in spite of the fact that the animal looks away, hiding its face...the thing is that it force our attention to watch the beauty of the cloud covered mountains at distance...So an excellent composition, i must say

[AG64]

I'd like to see a bit more contrast in the scene and a darker more definitive sky. I agree with Paul, that large lump needs to disappear. Too bad that the stag was not looking at you.

Manfred, I agree with you about the added contrast and darkening the sky. The only other thing I’d try is to target the low clouds and see if darkening and added contrast might help. There’s probably some good detail but they may be just a bit too bright to retrieve it - would likely require blending a darker exposure.

Beautiful composition Kathy!

[Manfred M]

Manfred, I agree with you about the added contrast and darkening the sky. The only other thing I’d try is to target the low clouds and see if darkening and added contrast might help. There’s probably some good detail but they may be just a bit too bright to retrieve it - would likely require blending a darker exposure.

I agree Arno. It is far easier to recover details in shadow areas than from highlights. In scenes like this I will sometimes bracket my shots so that I can pull some of the highlight details out using a nominally underexposed image. In this shot, pulling out the highlights is about as much as can be done from the posted jpeg. Raw data gives us a bit more data. but usually not enough.

[LePetomane]

Kathy, nicely done. It's great to be in an area where you can get shots like that. We see elk in the Bighorn Mountains but always at a distance. Moose are another story and they scare me more than bear do.