The Glare

Steven, this is a wonderful action shot, and you have good sharpness and detail in their eyes as well as the snow on their snouts. The snow bank in LRC is unfortunate. However, something has gone off with the technical quality - contrast is odd and there is a heavy cyan tint. Not sure whether it has been caused by the exposure and high ISO or post-processing (my guess is some post-processing?). If it was done in post, perhaps you can revisit the original, because the moment you've captured is awesome.

Wow, this sure is a striking image Steven. Powerful poses, expressions and composition! I must echo Karen's remark about there being something awkward about the appearance of this image though. To me it looks like there has been too much S/H recovery, which have the image an HDR kind of look. Looking at the exposure techs, the exposure may have been off?

This is an awesome capture, but I too think there is something going on with the processing. It looks very funkadilly HDR to me, and perhaps that's the way you processed it. Maybe as a single RAW file processed multiple times? I do see a cyan cast, but don't find it objectionable, nor do I really find the HDR look objectionable. It's just that these things are quite noticeable when viewing the image.

Neat photo of the coyotes, but strange look brings it down IMHO.

Hi Steven,

The eyes, poses, and clearly agonistic poses of these two coyotes is very compelling. It is definitely a dramatic shot. I do find that the processing of it has been taken in a direction that doesn't work well with me (others may love it) - it looks almost like photo art as presented here. I don't know what you've done to the image, but contrast (possibly through HDR or heavy shadow/highlight application) and saturation push it a little beyond what many might consider a "realistic" image (nice piece of art, tho'!).

I'm curious about the actual field-situation that led to this photo. Were they at a kill? It's real unusual (based on my experience) to have coyotes acting this aggressively towards humans - more often than not they prefer to turn tail and head out pronto. Can you give us a little background info on what led to the image?

Cheers...

Brad

The raw image was run through DxO Optics Pro 8, using neutral color --- raw only preset --- where it picked up the blue cast and which I inadvertently intensified. The tortured background is in the original raw image and I guess represents the gnarled bushes in the BG and the lack of DOF. No attempt made to use any form of HDR.
The image was caught just after antagonistic behavior between them and then they looked up retaining the same expression. Nothing like a D3 or D3s shutter to gather attention. I agree with Brad, I have found over 4 years of photographing coyotes no hostility directed towards me but I don't put myself in harm's way and attempt to maintain their circle of confidence.
Thanks for the critiques, I appreciate it.

Hey Steven,

Thanks for the info - helps. I haven't used DXO Optics in my workflow, so can't say anything intelligent about it. I do notice there is a halo around the coyotes and I'm guessing it's from the same source (use of the DXO product).

Sounds like you have somewhat predictable access to the coyotes - which is great (and probably a whole lot of fun). In a previous post you mentioned something about someone feeding the birds - hopefully the coyotes don't get fed too often...these guys are so smart that food associations with humans set in real quick (and are almost always harmful to them in the end).

Guessing you have a lot more coyote shots to share with us - really looking forward to seeing them...

Cheers...

Brad

I must say I've never seen Coyotes with an eye color like this and I see Coyotes all the time. The image does have strange cast to it and the coyotes colors seem over saturated. I know that some people like this type of high saturation but I admit I prefer images that appear natural.

I like the action and the great eye contact plus the flying snow.

I hope the Coyotes are not being fed, that always ends badly for them.

I like the attention they show in this pose, but as a matter of preference I find the processing to be distracting enough as to call attention to itself. Of course such effects might have strong appeal in some commercial/graphic markets, if that is what you are going for.

You really have a nack for action shots of coyotes, but ditto on the processing comments by all the other members.

The image was selected for the "Daily Dozen" on the National Geographic for April 26th in spite of the warts which were rightfully identified by our group. Again, I thank the members for their candid critiques.

What very striking action and expression - great shot, but the colour problem spoils it a bit for me. Luckily NG seem to be less picky and see the potential of this image. If I were you, I would reprocess it completely from scratch, it is so much worth it!
Grt, Ingrid.

My processing comments would only echo what has already been suggested; outside of that, what makes the photo for me is the pose, expression and context of the image - you definitely attracted their attention!