Snow Beardby
rseeleyComment by macrothing:
Critique Club Critique
First Impressions
Oo. Nice, looks like in the wild, based on your details... is wild. For me, this always takes a photograph to another level and I hold high admiration and respect for photographers who get out there and do this, knowing just some of the virtues it takes to do so.
Other first impressions were: ... not so sharp.
Photograph Information, Technicals & Composition Review
Although the shallow DOF creates a beautiful effect with the surrounding shrubs and also the snow, I wonder whether a little deeper DOF would have allowed more detail and clarity on the Coyote. There could also be the old 'shake' involved and I am fully aware that this is likely hand-held and no tripod-stable-setup was likely possible.
Composition wise: I like that he/she is slightly left of center but perhaps a little more so might give this an added edge. I also find that the snow in the foreground, whilst a good effect, is dominating too much and competes with the subject. If this was a really close crop and not much could be done to sharpen in PP, perhaps opting for a more zoomed out crop/framing may have sufficed.
You say
"This coyote is chasing a mouse and using its snout as a snow plow. The mouse escaped, this time." - must have been a joy to watch (what you could see through the camera and when you were willing to sacrifice a shot and look up (although your 100-400 would have been providing a good close up)) - the whole scene would have been moving very fast and sporadically and makes the capture very, very difficult.
I also wonder whether some
slight tweaking of colors in PP would have helped the eyes/face/fur pop against the snow a little more, but difficult to say, depending on the quality of your original image.
Fairly minor, but your title draws my attention to the 'beard', which isn't very sharp or clear.
I gave this a 6 during voting. I don't remember lingering too long with the image and will guess that the dominating 'whites' were the main reason my eyes wanted to move on, that coupled with not enough detail for me to venture around the image, as I like to do with a shot like this. Perhaps the white could be 'used' more, like the framing that you've done, but with the Coyote 'embedded' more solidly within it... if that makes sense.
Comments, Score & Placement Review
156/378 and a score of 5.77 is decent enough for a Free Study, however I can't help but wonder with some little tweaks here and there in PP (Post Processing), whether it might have jumped out at the viewers/voters more and bumped the score up.
An average score of 7.20 is good and mostly they're telling you what they like or their reaction when seeing the image.
Summary
A difficult capture, very pleased to see this on DPC (wish there were more) - just either some tweaking in PP or else a slight adjustment to framing/crop, may have produced a stronger image.
Photographer found comment helpful.
