Polar Bear Profile

[Manta]

One from our visit to Seaworld today. I know it's a bit soft around the muzzle but he was jumping around so much I was just happy to get the shot. The backlighting is from the dipping afternoon sun. Comments appreciated.

[Manta]

Okay - 55 views and not one reply. Even for me that's something of a record. I know it's not a good shot but it would be great if I could get some ideas as to how I could either fix it or get it right next time.

[johndec]

Gee Simon, you only gave us 15 minutes to digest it Maybe the 5 guests online looked at 11 times each

Critique: I can appreciate how hard it was to get the pic, but the end result (to me) doesn't quite reflect that effort.

[Big Red]

i have no idea how to fix it

[but i did reply ]

[marcotrov]

Simon IMO the image lacks critical sharpness. Secondly it seems a little dull and lack 'punch'/contrast. Thirdly, I'd be tempted to try spot metering off the bear's coat to obtain an exposure i imagine might be closer to the real thing(could be wrong here though as I'm imaging the polar bear to be a little whiter, and I know their coat does go yellowish). Fourthly I think the image as in most animal portraits with impact there is good eye contact. The portrait composition doesn't seem to work in this case, unlike say a lion or lioness focussed on its quarry say Hope this is helpful
cheers
marco

[Manta]

Gee Simon, you only gave us 15 minutes to digest it Maybe the 5 guests online looked at 11 times each

Critique: I can appreciate how hard it was to get the pic, but the end result (to me) doesn't quite reflect that effort.

Thanks John - but it was actually 2 days and 15 minutes before I decided to bump it. Image first posted Jan 7.

i have no idea how to fix it Laughing

[but i did reply ]

Thanks Shane - appreciate you stopping by anyway!

Simon IMO the image lacks critical sharpness. Secondly it seems a little dull and lack 'punch'/contrast. Thirdly, I'd be tempted to try spot metering off the bear's coat to obtain an exposure i imagine might be closer to the real thing(could be wrong here though as I'm imaging the polar bear to be a little whiter, and I know their coat does go yellowish). Fourthly I think the image as in most animal portraits with impact there is good eye contact. The portrait composition doesn't seem to work in this case, unlike say a lion or lioness focussed on its quarry say Smile Hope this is helpful

Thanks Marco - it is helpful. I did try to spot metre but I may have missed the mark. The bears are very rarely white in these situations because they reflect the light that's around them. In pristine arctic wilderness they show up all bright and white but when they have grey walls and dark water around them then their coats look really washed out. This is also due to the fact that their skin is actually black and their fur is clear. Colour is always a hassle with them!

[johndec]

[DionM]

Hi Simon,

Knowing how hard it is to get any shot of a Polar Bear at Seaworld (due to their enclosure, their habits and a million other things) I can appreciate the effort to get it, but the photo just comes across as a snapshot really, rather than really grabbing me.

(And there's nothing wrong with those images, but I can't find anything to really critique if you get my drift).

[Killakoala]

Just give it a contrast boost and a bit more brightness and you'll have a winner.

[gstark]

Simon,

If you're using spot metering here, rem,ember to take into account the fact that the subject appears to be white, and that your camera's meter will be seeing something that it's trying to assess as being overly bright.

As such, the standard meter reading will tend to underexpose, and you will need to compensate for this before making the exposure.

Add 0.7 - 1.0 stops of exposure compensation, and then play with your contrast and brightness settings and see what happens.

[the foto fanatic]

Nothing like coming along after everyone else has had their say.

I see two problems with the image:

- it doesn't engage the viewer enough. Others have mentioned wanting to see the bear's eyes, or wanting it to be looking at the lens. Whatever, I think it needs a tad more interest.

- I agree with Gary in that it looks underexposed, and I think if you reprocess with more light and contrast you would see an improvement.

Must be the dickens to capture these things while they are roaring around!

[blacknstormy]

I stopped
Rel

[Manta]

Thanks everyone for some very helpful comments. I've got some other shots of this fellow that have him looking into the lens so I'll play with the exposures on those and see if I can make a more interesting image.

Thanks again!