"Yippee Ki-Yay"

Looks like a big belch to me. As he's levitating, one can only think he's high on something. But, it is a cool photo. Pretty simple composition that you set up well. Coyote's in the right spot, simple but nice color palette, and some nice diagonals within. And you got some action as well. Looks like harsh mid-day light that you handled nicely. Everything exposed nicely. Job well done.

Cool shot, Gary. I really like the icy surroundings and the half squinted eyes. Plus I think you caught him with all four feet off of the ground. Excellent.

Gary,
Getting any animal with all 4 feet off the ground is special. Clearly the light was not in your favour here, but it is still a great image

Hello Gary

A real treat to see and capture!
like how you were able to get those diagonals in .
He seems like a teenager with his testosterone pumping here!

Bill

Hi Gary,

Cool shot - I agree with all the positive comments that this shot has drawn to date. Nicely done!

Two other comments: The shot does have the "shot at a distance with tons of focal length" look to it - a bit soft and almost with blurring or "smudging" on it. I suspect this is purely a function of the amount of air you're shooting through (complete with those atmospheric heterogeneities, including what most of us think of as "heat waves", which even occur on cold sunny days) - I don't think it's the TC (but possible).

And...on the super-picky front - I notice that there's a very faint circular/elliptical "brightness glow" around the subject. It's easiest to see on the the thumbnail, but if you inspect the larger versions it's there too (maybe the equivalent of about 1/3 of a stop?). You mentioned that you did a radial blur outside the coyote in Lightroom - wondering if somehow that was the source of this faint brightness gradient too?

Cheers...

Brad

Thank-you to all who have commented, much appreciated. Brad, I had played with the radial tool in LR on this one. I thought I would try and get a little artsy here and create an effect that would make the photo a little different than a standard telephoto image. Almost immediately after posting the photo I didn't really like the way I implemented the effect. I applied a decrease in exposure and a slight softening of the area outside the immediate coyote. In hind sight I wished I had feathered the effect more than I did. Likely the whole effort was unnecessary if it appears soft and smudgy. But what am I going to do with all these cool adjustment tools and photoshop sliders?
(I posted a version of this photo sans radial tool manipulation on my website under NEW PHOTOS, #28)

I quite like this Gary, not just the cool howling pose with all legs off the ground, but particularly the composition with all those lines. If I look closely I can indeed see what Brad sees. I think the image can do without that radial blur, the one on your website looks just great. What's the point of using tools just for the sake of using them.

Nice job of waiting for the right opportunity. I like the howling look and that it looks like all feet are off the ground. Wonderful title and image, way to go.

I like that it appears you caught all four feet off the ground!

Very cool Yote shot Gary. Great lines and airborne position! Yippy Ki-Yay:) ...not exactly Athabascan, but it works.

Jim

awesome title and love all the paws off the ground. The lines also have a nice effect.