Lucky you to witness this scene! To me, your shot lacks focus. Where am I suppose to look first? I wish that the birds were the main point of interest but the background does not help.
Would B&W help?
Good idea with the critique club Wendy!
Gotta agree the lighting is backwards, I want to see the subject well lit. Of course out in nature that is easier said then done. I am also confused on what the subject is, I want to look at the Bison but it seems a bit out of focus and the birds are sharp but they are so small. I would try and kill some of those blown highlights. Hmm... funny me giving you a critique lol.
[viewing on Ipad] Critiquing because of the critique thread...
Pro's: I really like the pose of the buffalo and your chosen angle of view to shoot at. Compositionally you used the Creature's back to create a nice line to the birds and created a good focus point on the birds. You chose to expose the subject well and let the background overexpose, which was a wise choice to get the necessary detail in the dark and back/side lit subject.
Con's: You chose to put the focus point on the birds but the subject was more than just the birds. I feel that the depth of field should have included the plane from the buffalo's face to his hind quarters and letting it taper off from there. Easier said than done In the heat of the moment I am sure. Also, maybe adding some light to the darker fur areas could have brought out some detail in the eye. Additional light could have been added in post with adjustment layers and masking or by having your assistant get up close and personal with the reflector. ( I kid! I kid!)
Overall I feel the shot is a good one due to the strong compositional elements and the cons are not strong enough to take away from that.
Oh it's a Wendy shot...Well It's beautiful, stunning, great.. LOL
Ok so I'm gonna grow a pair and really tell you my opinion...
The blurr on the near side of the buffalo really bugs me, it's the first thing my eyes grab and that and the clarity of the birds and the grass make my eyes pull in diff directions (like one of those you look into it shots and it goes 3D)
The subject is soo unique and I love that! I would've scored this a 5
Commenting for the critique thread... It's an interesting scene, with all the little birds, and I like the movement in the bird on the far left. I think the cows head being down at the ground is not very engaging. I would feel more of a connection with the shot if the cow was looking at you. It also feels as though some definition has been lost - i.e. is it a really tight crop of a much larger image? Or maybe heavy noise reduction? I'm not clever enough to understand what processing may have been done on this, but it feels a little overdone somehow.
Amazing catch but I am not keen on the underside of the cow like creature being out of focus. Also feel the photo is a bit washed out. Not really that keen on the photo itself apart from the fact you have captured a very unusual moment.
Btw my laptop is a bit ill and defaulting to 16 bit colour so apologies if this has damaged my opinion of the photo. I commented on a photo the other day saying it had banding in the sky and have since realised this laptop is ill and needs reformatting and refuses to stay in 32 bit colour.
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