Daybreak bull + repost

Terrific silhouette and glorious skies, add up to great effect here !
Jagdeep Rajput

Really nice. I like the frosty grass in the FGand the sky colors.

This is very very nice Lon and I really like it as is. Yet I do have some suggestions for improvement. I find it a bit tight both top and bottom, perhaps the uncropped version has this room? You mention you boosted the saturation already, but a little extra saturation would make it pop more without making it look unnatural IMO. Lastly I wonder if it would have been possible to obtain a lower angle; this would have brought its belly above the horizon line, making him look even more impressive.

Thanks for the feedback. Vincent, those were the issues I was working with/against. Primarily I wanted belly line and legs against the sky, but could not achieve that perspective with moving elk. In fact the next few clicks are progressively worse in that they edged down the swale between the foreground and far background, cutting off legs altogether. It just occurred to me that the EES guys don't have to deal with those kinds of issues, huh??!!
I made the crop trying to get less space behind, but I framed the original this way due to the butt of another elk to the left! So, here is a repost showing all I have left to work with and with a strong saturation boost. This might look a little strong in sharpening because it is a version with the in-camera sharpening still intact.

Very nice silhouette, the larger version looks sharp where it needs to be (head, antlers, legs) and I happen to like the original post better. It might be intersting to do a slight levels adj on just the elk to bring out more but it depends what look you are trying to display in this image. Well done.

A beautiful Silhouette Lon!!!

Ken Archer

Lon, I like the additional room top and bottom; I do understand your framing dilemma though, but seeing the FF I would probably crop it 4:3 by taking a slice off the right. The saturation boosts works very well for the oranges, but I would reduce the effect a bit on the blues. All these are, of course, just personal preferences; either way this is a great image!

Either version is fine with me. What I really like about this shot is first the BG colors, then the sharpness of the elk, and third there is still some detail in the camera side of the elk, instead of just a black silhouette. And, if I understand you correctly the elk were moving as you were shooting. Also, I am not sure having the belly of the elk against the sky would work all that much better. Thanks very much for sharing this shot.

Really nice Lon. Love the layered colors of the BG. The cut of the horizon could be nicer if lower but this one works pretty well as captured too.

Cool image. I would suggest saturation somewhere between the original and the repost. The bit of grass in the mouth and his alert pose suggests he is about to make a run for it, lends an interesting tension to the photo.

Lon,

What a specimen, I love the majestic pose and the moody lighting in the background. I love it !

Beautiful, Lon. Very interesting reading about all of the considerations and constraints you had here. I do prefer the repost. I think it has more impact on the viewer.

I think the repost is better here. The sat boost adds impact, and the added space makes a big difference.
Well done