Posted by Jeff Harrison on October 23, 2009 at 6:29 AM
Early one morning I managed to creep quite close to this Brown Hare which was shadow boxing by itself (!) at the side of a balancing pond.
As I raised the camera the hare saw or got scent of me and took off at some speed through the shallows at the edge of the pond, but I just managed to lock focus on it and fired off 5 shots as I tracked it through the water.
In my most ambitious photoshop project to date I've merged these 5 shots into a single image and here it is.
The end product is quite a big file and quite a bit of detail has been lost in compression but, as ever, I'd appreciate any suggestions as to how I might improve it and also members views on the image generally.
Thanks for looking
Taken with Canon EOS30D and Canon EF100-400 L lens at 400mm, f/5.6, 1/250th sec, ISO 400
Posted by David Sewell on October 23, 2009 at 6:49 AM
A case of hare today, gone tomorrow?
Sorry, I couldn't resist that. I think you have done well here. Personally, I much prefer this approach to five flash pictures with dark background on a single frame of film, which was how it used to be done. I will leave it to others to comment on your Photoshop skills - this is better than I could have managed.
David
Posted by Andy Astbury on October 23, 2009 at 6:56 AM
Can't see much wrong there Jeff - effective image well assembled
An absolute cracker but the technique is way beyond me
Posted by Ian Mason on October 23, 2009 at 2:27 PM
It works very well! I love the poses where the hare's hind legs are in front of his body.
Posted by Dawn Monrose on October 23, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Great action shot(s)!! Great technique - nicely done! Also, really like seeing the hares reflection - not sure why really, just makes it all the more unusual!
Posted by Jeff Harrison on October 24, 2009 at 4:10 AM
Thanks all - I'm glad everyone (so far!) seems to like it as I spent hours on it
Posted by Lewis Thomson on October 24, 2009 at 6:03 AM
Hi Jeff,
Nice image, really has appeal! One minor thing though, the wall looks a little odd above the second hare from the right, it doesn't seem to join up quite right and looks a little blurry compared to the rest of it. Sorry for saying something negative, but I do really like it!
Cheers,
Lewis.
Posted by Major Gilbert on October 24, 2009 at 12:13 PM
An interesting shot that appeals to me Jeff. Food for thought.
Major.
Posted by John Robinson on October 24, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Looks ok to me , and I can understand the problems with merging the wall in the background in an excercise like this .!
Not my scene, but Well done I say!
JohnR
Posted by Jeff Harrison on October 25, 2009 at 4:43 AM
Thanks for the further comments guys And yes - you're right Lewis, I couldn't get the wall (which was, as John suggests, the biggest problem) at the far right quite as good as I'd have liked and I eventually gave up on it.
But the image certainly does have popular appeal and, having shown it at three exhibitions, I've now sold more prints of this than any of my other images! Though it's surprising how many people seem to think it's a shot of 5 individual Hares running in a line
Thanks again all
Discussion
16 repliesAs I raised the camera the hare saw or got scent of me and took off at some speed through the shallows at the edge of the pond, but I just managed to lock focus on it and fired off 5 shots as I tracked it through the water.
In my most ambitious photoshop project to date I've merged these 5 shots into a single image and here it is.
The end product is quite a big file and quite a bit of detail has been lost in compression but, as ever, I'd appreciate any suggestions as to how I might improve it and also members views on the image generally.
Thanks for looking
Taken with Canon EOS30D and Canon EF100-400 L lens at 400mm, f/5.6, 1/250th sec, ISO 400
Sorry, I couldn't resist that. I think you have done well here. Personally, I much prefer this approach to five flash pictures with dark background on a single frame of film, which was how it used to be done. I will leave it to others to comment on your Photoshop skills - this is better than I could have managed.
David
Robert
Neil
Good photochopping skills
Hi Jeff,
Nice image, really has appeal! One minor thing though, the wall looks a little odd above the second hare from the right, it doesn't seem to join up quite right and looks a little blurry compared to the rest of it. Sorry for saying something negative, but I do really like it!
Cheers,
Lewis.
Major.
Not my scene, but Well done I say!
JohnR
But the image certainly does have popular appeal and, having shown it at three exhibitions, I've now sold more prints of this than any of my other images! Though it's surprising how many people seem to think it's a shot of 5 individual Hares running in a line
Thanks again all