Hello David
Lovely portrait of the badger, I do find the OOF foreground a bit distracting, perhaps if it was burnt in a little to darken it down?
Best wishes
Phil
Yes I take your point I did tone it down a little before I posted the image and even thought of cropping it out but didn't like the balance. I have now cloaned in the area from another image taken the previous evening with a shorter lens (not so OOF) when the ground was wet and darker.
David, in my humble opinion, I think the second shot looks a little artificial. My thoughts in the first place were to just use the burn tool to slightly darken the FG. I hope you don't mind, but I tried it myself, then decided that it looked a little better with a bit cropped from the bottom and a little from the top to balance things up. Obviously, I have now deleted your image from my computer.
Best wishes
Phil
Thanks for your input - now have three versions on my files and still a little undecided. I did create a second version using the 'burn tool' to tone down the BFG and then created a third which I posted and felt I liked better. There is always a danger when you say that you have cloaned something in that it is viewed with suspicion from the outset. It will be interesting to hear other comments.
Re the crop I have tried to keep it as oblong as possible as I felt it better suited the shape of the Badgers face.
Hi David
I would have liked a bigger DOF as although the eyes are pin sharp the nose and ears are soft,I can see by the techs why you have chosen such a shallow dof and its a lovely portrait all the same
Regards
Dave
Like the shot with the eye contact and the exposure looks great with detail in both blacks and whites, would have liked more DOF for the nose, but still a fine image. I can't decide which version suits it best either I'm afraid! Funny how some photos are relatively straightforward to compose and 'fit' easily, and some take more work to find the best fit.
Discussion
11 repliesCanon 1D MkII + 300 f2.8 IS iso 500 at f3.5 1/15 in natural light. Full frame apart from approx 5% crop from bottom
Lovely portrait of the badger, I do find the OOF foreground a bit distracting, perhaps if it was burnt in a little to darken it down?
Best wishes
Phil
John
Yes I take your point I did tone it down a little before I posted the image and even thought of cropping it out but didn't like the balance. I have now cloaned in the area from another image taken the previous evening with a shorter lens (not so OOF) when the ground was wet and darker.
Interested to hear comments!
David
Best wishes
Phil
Thanks for your input - now have three versions on my files and still a little undecided. I did create a second version using the 'burn tool' to tone down the BFG and then created a third which I posted and felt I liked better. There is always a danger when you say that you have cloaned something in that it is viewed with suspicion from the outset. It will be interesting to hear other comments.
Re the crop I have tried to keep it as oblong as possible as I felt it better suited the shape of the Badgers face.
Thanks again.
David
I would have liked a bigger DOF as although the eyes are pin sharp the nose and ears are soft,I can see by the techs why you have chosen such a shallow dof and its a lovely portrait all the same
Regards
Dave
An excellent portrait with or without the foreground.
Still undecided which version | prefer the best though.
An excellent result
I think of the three I much prefer your version with the darker f/g.
JOhn
I am with John and like the darker foreground, nice portrait of a great subject
Dan
Like the shot with the eye contact and the exposure looks great with detail in both blacks and whites, would have liked more DOF for the nose, but still a fine image. I can't decide which version suits it best either I'm afraid! Funny how some photos are relatively straightforward to compose and 'fit' easily, and some take more work to find the best fit.
Mark
I like this shot, a great closeup portrait which has great character, a very appealing image.
Of the three shots posted, I prefer the second image.
cheers
Sean