[tweet25]

Hi - I have a 2 part question. (yesterday was my first day of trying to shoot a bear) I found 4 - 2 blacks, 1 brown and a baby - the 2 black bears I got many shots of their bums.

What can I do for the brown bear photo to easy the brightness of the light on the green, and his nose, but still be able to see the fur clear?

And on the Baby Bear shot, what did my camera do? there was no fog, what is that grey fog like stuff in the photo? and I have both photo's in raw, is there anything I can do to fix the fog?

also (ok 3 part question now) is there a better setting for the camera to get crisper photos? I had to have it preset and ready, but after I stopped to shoot a waterfall I really didn't know what it should be at.

thank you

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Last edited by tweet25; 05-28-2012 at 06:12 PM. Reason: typo

[weakhead]

First shot is almost snapshot-like. Not much of a value.
Second one, however, has something in it. Interesting lightning, decent sharpness and the fact that the bear is looking at you makes it worthy some more work during post-processing. Framing could be better, mostly the fact that bear nose is behind leaves spoils some charm.

As for your questions...
1) What RAW development tool do you use? More advanced apps will allow you to specify hue, brightness and saturation for each color - that's one of the options that can help you calm the greens. Highlight reconstruction will allow handle the nose, but it depends on what application will you use and mostly - on how much information is left in blown out lights there, which depends on your exposure settings. Heh, simple lowering exposure value may even help, but the whole image will get darker. Luminosity curve can also help you. Lots of options, huh?

2) That "fog" looks like aggressive sunlight effect. You didn't used lens hood, did you? When strong light source (that means Sun in most situations) is present, it can kill some contrast in entire picture or part of it - it will get this weird (but quite cool IMO) effect. If the Sun would be behind or above you, no such thing would've happened. To protect yourself from it (and from flares when framing toward sun), use proper lens hood.

3) Sharpness depends on many factors. If your subject is moving, make sure your shutter speed will be fast enough to reduce motion blur. Maybe 1/320s for the first picture could be enough, but 1/500s would be safer bet.
Another thing - aperture value used. Stop down to value between F8 and F11 - that's where most lenses offer best possible sharpness. You will loose quite amount of light though - use with care.
And third part - zoom lenses doesn't perform evenly well at every focal length. Most cheap telephoto zooms offers best quality when used in the middle range, and worst at the extremes.
Shaking hands are also your enemy. Tripod gives you more chances of truly sharp photo... if you have the time and patience to use it (I don't). Monopod may be better alternative, but it can also be cumbersome.

So you do have RAW of second shot? Make it your exercise subject to train RAW developement. There's lots of light and darks to work on, you can also get rid of most of this "fog" effect by working on contrast! Giving it nicer color balance is also good idea (warmer a bit?). There's lots of ways of doing various things during RAW development. Read tutorials on how to do different tasks and experiment yourself, after some practice you will know how to develop picture as soon as you look at it.

Have fun!

[tweet25]

First shot is almost snapshot-like. Not much of a value.
Second one, however, has something in it. Interesting lightning, decent sharpness and the fact that the bear is looking at you makes it worthy some more work during post-processing. Framing could be better, mostly the fact that bear nose is behind leaves spoils some charm.

Have fun!

Hi weakhead -

Yes, I guess the first one, as a matter of fact, both were 'snap shots' since there is no fence between me and the bears, and I only have a 300mm lens.
(one never knows where the mama bear is) I had a few shots of the brown one as it came back around and towards me, I guess a shot with his body turned may have been a better one to post?

Since this was my first time trying to get a 'bear' shot, and the time is limited until they get spooked and take off, or charge, I tried my best. I hope to stay calmer and have better opportuntiy for framing in the future.
Thank you for confirming it was a light flare due to no hood that caused the 'fog'. (I did have it on, but is was backwards as I just unpacked my lens from my pack)
thank you for you tips on repairing the cub photo and on the speed the camera should be set at. I am struggling with watching those things prior to shooting.

thanks again
Jeanette

[luftfluss]

Hi Jeanette,

I disagree with weakhead's assessment of the 1st photo. It has the potential to be an outstanding photo. It's an excellent perspective of the bear, he's coming right at you (and the viewer) and the fact that you cannot see his/her feet because they don't fit in the frame adds immediacy.

With your Tamron 70-300 lens at 240mm, you are near maximum sharpness @ f/5.6, so there's not much of a reason to stop down further unless you need more DOF. AT 300mm, f/8 is the best, but even then f/5.6 isn't bad.

What program(s) do you use for RAW conversion & editing? Some allow for fairly granular adjustments, and you could tone down the bright highlights of the leaves while maintaining the overall exposure of the image. You'll have to do some work on both shots to really bring out the best in them. Enthusiasts and professionals alike often have to retouch manually in specific areas of the image, and also learn the ins and outs of various sharpening methods.

[tweet25]

Hi Jeanette,


What program(s) do you use for RAW conversion & editing? Some allow for fairly granular adjustments, and you could tone down the bright highlights of the leaves while maintaining the overall exposure of the image. You'll have to do some work on both shots to really bring out the best in them. Enthusiasts and professionals alike often have to retouch manually in specific areas of the image, and also learn the ins and outs of various sharpening methods.

hi luftfluss,

Thank you

I have several programs for editing, (gimp/photoscape/and the Pentax one that came with my camera) I am using PS10 right now. I have only had PS10 for a few weeks and I am tring to learn how it works. Would Lightroom be a better program?

thanks again

[luftfluss]

Well, I use Photoshop, and have zero experience with the other programs, outside of a little with GIMP. To ease "the brightness of the light on the green" you would tone down the highlights, but I don't know how that is done with the programs you use. I'd suggest posting your question here: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing - PentaxForums.com

[MSL]

I'm still feeling my way around post processing. I can use GIMP, but use FastStone (free) for a lot of quick and dirty work. The two things I would try are tweaking the highlights and shadows, and then playing with the green levels. Probably a little sharpening as a last step after any resizing, but that should be able to do a lot for the first image, working from the RAW starting file.