Scratching the ice

Gallery: WildlifePosted April 13, 2012207 views7 comments

Taken in Picos de Europa N.P. (Spain), I really like to see how the chamois move in this rough environment of rock and ice. The snow was really hard and the animal went down the hill using his front legs like skis.

I usually use the automatic mode for the white balance but sometimes in the shadow and with snow, it doesn’t work well and I get the images too much in blue. I needed to adjust the white balance until got the real colors and this was the result.

Canon 1D Mk3
300mm f2.8
f 4
1/2500
ISO 400
Crop.

Feedback and comments always welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Oscar.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on April 13, 2012 at 4:12 PM

Oscar, I like your action shot of the chamois. Looks like it is headed straight for you and trying to brake! I do feel the image is in need of brightening or a contrast boost since to me it looks monotone. Must have been exciting. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on April 13, 2012 at 8:31 PM

That is awesome !! Absolutely love it ! Perfect slalom ski head position

Looking at the exposure details, i think there was room was a slight +2/3 ev compensation.

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on April 14, 2012 at 11:20 AM

Hi Oscar,

Great timing on capturing this compelling bit of action. I also quite like the crop (and composition) you chose - nice amount of foreground for the chamois to move into and overall the subject is very well-positioned. White balance looks fine to me, but the image does appear to be under-exposed somewhat. I think Anand is real close in his estimate of bumping the exposure about 2/3 of a stop. Tiny bit of a shame that the head overlaps that dark crack/crease in the rock as it makes it a little harder to separate the right horn and ear from the background (but not a thing in the world you could have done about that - totally out of your control).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this one.

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 14, 2012 at 8:49 PM

Wow, awesome action shot Oscar! Love the position of the Chamois! Your comp looks great, too! I do agree with the others that it looks underexposed, and if there was any way you could up the exposure it would definitely be worth it! Congrats on an awesome image!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Oscar Benavides on April 15, 2012 at 11:07 AM

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Now it looks better to me. Thank you again.
Oscar

Registered on January 2, 2011, 12 Posts, 141 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on April 15, 2012 at 6:23 PM

Cool capture. I agree you can brighten this up a bit for way more impact.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on April 17, 2012 at 1:42 AM

Hi Oscar. Looks like nice sharpness on this fast moving subject. Not to heap on too much, but still needs a bit more exposure. I would be curious to see the original, I'm not "sold" on the composition here, maybe a bit more room on the right side or even a horizontal format as he is moving right to left primarily. Very dynamic photo as is.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments