Fox Portrait + REPOST
by Jenaya Launstein
Hi y'all!
I was going to post a new version of my "winter fox" portrait from January after my dad did some major improvements to it in processing. But before I logged on to post it, we went for one of our regular drives around our home this evening looking for some wildlife to photograph. We found a bunch of horned larks and meadowlarks, a golden eagle, two coyotes and a bunch of deer (of course) before we headed back toward town. As we approached the old rail station just outside our town my mom and dad spotted this fox.
Unfortunately he was in the middle of all kinds of old buildings and discarded junk when we found him...I think my dad will post a picture of him on a pile of old metal pails and stuff later in the EPJ gallery. Suddenly, he ducked between two buildings and disappeared. My dad drove down one of the side streets hoping to spot him when he crossed the road right in front of us with a mouse in his mouth! We couldn't react fast enough to get a shot before he ducked under a snowbank, but when he poked his head back up to check on us I was ready and got four shots before he disappeared again. The background is actually exposed wood from the side of a building behind him, but I kind of like the way it turned out!
So instead of posting a reworked version of my first real fox portrait from January, I get to post my second in what my dad hopes will become a whole series for me! (I'll be sure to post the improved version of my earlier portrait soon.)
My dad did the processing for me on this one so I'll let him explain what he did below.
Thanks for looking!
Nikon D300
Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 ED VR with 1.4TC
ISO 400
1/250sec @ f/8
+0.3 EV (because of surrounding snow that has been cropped out)
on beanbag from truck window
Processing Notes:
- cropped to vertical 4X5 from horizontal with slight additional crop from bottom to remove the top of the snowdrift he was hiding behind
- selective adjustments to tone/contrast and curves
- noise reduction with selective masking
- lens blur applied to background via masking to remove bizarre moire pattern from side of building behind the fox
Comments
27 commentsI would look at removing some of the blue cast in the whites, perhaps drop the exposure to bring back some more detail and apply a hint more selective USM.
TFS
Steve
About time you learned to process, young lady!
Phil, I actually had been doing my own processing up till now. My dad just wanted to try some new techniques and stuff, so he's been doing my past few images.
Also, Steve, we backed off a little on the sharpening to fit the softness of my earlier fox portrait so they would look nice together. Thanks for the suggestion, though!
Ken Archer
Well that was why Peter I felt it needed some more USM, as ultimately the eyes need to be sharp irrespective of the mood, feeling etc you are trying to convey especially in a portrait like this. Jenaya where was the focus point place?
Thanks
Steve
Max
Steve and Peter: My dad knew right away what he did in processing that created that "soft eyes" effect, and corrected it in the version below along with your other suggestions. I hope you like this one better!
Thanks for helping us improve it!
Just a thought, but combining the OP with the 'bluish BKG & the RP (fox only) might be another alternative?
Just a classic pose...and very nicely isolated from the background. If I'm being full honest and incredibly picky, my first thought when I looked at the image is that it is a little "over-processed", almost to the point of looking a bit unnatural. For instance, to me the subject looks almost so bright here (relative to the background) that it looks almost like it was filled with a little too much flash and "too poppy" - especially on the orange lateral sides of the neck and in the yellowish region above the eyes. And the eyes seem almost a little too dark - like either they were darkened OR that they were left alone and everything else on the fox was lightened up (perhaps because of too much of a selective curves adjustment?). I actually don't see Steve's blue cast. While there is a certain softness to the image (mostly in the eye region and "back" from there, I actually don't mind that - to me it adds to the mood...
My thinking is that a slight reduction in exposure in parts of the fox and a little more attention to mid-tone contrast could make a world of difference to the image.
Anyway...just my 2 cents worth - this one is ABSOLUTELY worth working on until you get it to your satisfaction!
Cheers...
Brad
Brad et al: I know what you're saying about how bright/light the fox is, but this really is representative of this particular individual. In fact, when Jenaya's mom and I spotted this fox, we both IMMEDIATELY said, "wow that fox is light!" Unquestionably the lightest fox I've ever seen, with the brightest highlights and most unique pale orange fur on the sides of its neck. I have NO problem owning up to "overprocessing," but this really is pretty representative of the image on the back of the camera and after RAW conversion, which didn't involve any tonal or contrast manipulation other than lowering the exposure in conversion and again a little via curves in PS5.
And yes, I can't understand it, but its eyes really are that much darker than its face in the RAW file. In fact, I dodged them slightly for this very reason in processing! I do know the fox was getting a little ambient light bounce-back off the snowbank he was behind, which likely accounts for the "fill flash" look you (Brad) referenced. And the side of the building behind him was in complete shadow, creating this "studio" effect.
I'm really careful to keep our images looking natural and representative of the moment/scene captured, and never really gravitate to that "overprocessed" look you often see in "pop" wildlife images. That's not to say I might not mess up or make a mistake in processing or cook it a little sometimes, but I just really didn't do much to this one beyond the noise reduction and blur explained in the initial post!
Anyway, thank you for the encouragement to spend a little more time and try and perfect this further. I'm biased, of course, but definitely think it's a striking image so I'm glad to hear I'm not alone on that!
Thanks again!
Lots of Help here! I enjoy the repost Best! Foxes can be So Entertaining !
Enjoy your Images Very Much !!! Want to see more.
Thanks for sharing.
Bill
Three thumbs up!