Elk in Meadow

Chad, The Elk is a nice subject and I like the composition - but there is a massive halo around the elk - probably the result of Tone-Mapping. I've never Tone-Mapped (and to be honest, don't even know what it is) but I think it's the cause of this problem. Look forward to the repost with no Halo.

Please note I'm using a really crappy (cheap) LCD at work which probably isn't capable of handling the tones. I'll check this again later tonight on my home monitor.

- Luke

The halo is there, definitely. This is a good photo, but I think I would have to do it over if it were mine. A "down and dirty" solution would be to clone in from the edges, isolating the elk edges and making sure to keep the grass striations in alignment. If you tone mapped this in ACR or LR, I would go back, reset, and use a finer brush.

Overall a very nice elkscape. I think it would be improved if the elks' head was held higher and the aforementioned halo was removed.

Ok, looking at it on my home computer - halo is still there albeit, less noticeable.

Hi Chad, This could really be an awsome image once the halo is fixed and i wonder what could have caused it.

I noticed the halo when I first processed it but I was trying to balance the halo with getting detail in the fur. It is really easy to blow out the light brown fur on the top of the back of the elk. I didn't know how to get rid of the halo. I guess I could have masked it in Photoshop but I'm a real newb at Photoshop too. The tone mapping was done in Photomatix Pro.

Here is another attempt trying to balance the detail in the light brown fur with the halo around the elk.

Hi Chad, let me start by saying that the repost looks a LOT better! I quite like the inclusion of the wide open habitat here and all in all it is a very pleasing image. I remember having tried the tone-mapping function in Photomatix and realized quickly that I must stay away from that tool!

Hi Chad,

I'm in agreement that the re-post is a lot better. I like the overall scene (especially in the re-post) and the detail on the subject looks quite good.

On the tone-mapping: I tone-map all the time (using a different tool) and you definitely have to be careful with it. Most commonly I tone-map on a separate layer and then mask accordingly, depending on the image. I'm not sure of the tone-mapping controls that Photomatix has, but with the tool I use it's critical to select the right pixel radius and blending mode to get a natural looking result (without a halo).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

I like how you were able to respond to the initial feedback with a well processed re-post for a significant improvement!

I really like the repost. The elk seems to pop from all that green background.