What are ya doing? (brown hare uk)

[Stuart Philpott]

• Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
• ƒ/7.1
• 420mm
• 1/1600s
• ISO 1600
• Flash not fired
• Mon, 23 May 2016 7:40 PM

Said in my best Geoffrey Rush voice:bg3:

I have been putting some effort of late into trying to make the most of our hares and this incredible chance I have been given to spend time with them. The stalking primarily is me lying prone and trying to get close with little to no cover,so POV is somewhat limited. This particular evening say 2 hours before sunset I was gifted a chance to sneak up behind a dock no more than 8inches high. Once there and with my hare not spooked I simply waited and try to hold back fatigue. Finally lady luck smiled on me she slowly approached and for once I hopefully made the right moves as a photographer,it got better with the arrival of a second hare probably male who chased her about and then also came back to try and work out what that clicking thing was lying on the ground,this is the shot i'm showing you today. I have so much from that evening i'm struggling to work through things. There is no denying that this is hard core physically,but that is easily overridden when one thinks how fortunate I am ,it's such a joy being with them ! So I guess hares will be my focus shooting wise for a little while,I suspect this will be transient so am really trying to grab as much as I can of them,while I have this wonderful opportunity. Words fail for me to describe how much I love these magical creatures.

Guys some thoughts on colour.i've pulled back the yellows slightly,the spring green here is so vibrant everything is growing full bore so i've just tried to tame this slightly. Keith if you see this,we live on very heavy clay. Our hares have this really orange hue especially towards their chest area,some late evening sun on them and they just glow orange. I wanted to draw your attention to this re your other post ,but also it effects my processing of this image. I've very aware of overdoing this and making my hares look artificial,but they really do have this colour,whether I am depicting it well or not I am unsure,but I feel it's worth drawing attention too. With the vibrancy of the greens here at this time of year they obviously permeate everything,I am unsure if I still have a green cast showing on him

Sadly processed in DPP4 I have downloaded a trial of PS (painful) and found out after much digging that I'm going to have to grab a new graphics card,which will slow progress,**** frustrating,but, hey ho!! Shot taken HH lying prone off my elbow,uncropped /as framed. Maybe I should have increased dof more I had done this though as they got closer so even if I didn't quite measure up this time ,the thought processes are slowly starting to be put to use in the field in the heat of the moment,which I feel is a huge step forwards for me. Two focus points active based from the tip of nose running upwards to the base of the eye,hopes where to get the head at least sharp,but maybe I should have been smack on the eyes and this might have allowed a bit more of the body to be within the plane of focus.

Cheers for all the provocative thoughts and help on my previous posts here THANK YOU !!:5

Canon 1Div 300f2.8is extiii
TV1600
f7.1
ISO1600

take care all

Stu

 

[keith mitchell]

Hi Stu,given your Hare a really good look and this is the way I see it.The colour of the Hare itself looks right to me I have also seen this orange hue on that soft fur on the front it's interesting that it could be the type of soil or just the location.I am ok with the colour of the grass but think I might see a bit of noise in the bg. Do like the alert upright pose,did he see you?.Very nice job and you have done very well getting this with a 300mm lens.

Keith.

 

[Rachel Hollander]

• Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
• EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
• ƒ/7.1
• 420mm
• 1/1600s
• ISO 1600
• S.M.Philpott
• Flash not fired
• Mon, 23 May 2016 7:40 PM
• S.M.Philpott
• Digital Photo Professional

Hi Stu - One of your better hare images but I am going to disagree and say the color and white balance is off. IMHO this is much too warm and yellow for two hours before sunset. I used the eye dropper to find a mid grey and adjust the wb. It immediately looked better to me and no need to adjust the color afterwards. Still has a bit of orange look to the hare and the bright spring greens that you described in your intro but the whites look much better. I also cropped some from the rhs because even though I like my negative space with the hare looking back to the left it was a bit too much. I also applied another round of sharpening. Field techs look spot on here btw.

TFS,
Rachel

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

• S.M.Philpott
• S.M.Philpott
• Digital Photo Professional

Dear Stu,

Your efforts truly pay and I like this a lot, save for a couple of things: this frame needs more space on the bottom and less on the right, it is a tad too warm, I think you did not sharpen the subject enough Apart from the lack of space for the virtual feet, you can change just about everything with some more PP work

Pose is superb (subject looks puzzled and so cute), nice colours/tonality on the subject and no colour casts whatsoever, super techs, nice DOF, lovely BG! Whew, great improvement and I am excited about your progress (by leaps and bounds, mate!)

I took the liberty to play with your frame, sharpened a tad more, my crop looks just like Rachel's above Reduced saturation, but only a tad - I do like that bit of warmth. Very briefly due to time constraints, but just to give you an idea of how I see this. You really don't have to like my version - I wasn't there and in terms of colour I am really guessing

I do believe you are going to produce some stunners very soon. Just be patient, take from us what you think works for you and keep painting with light - I see clearly you enjoy your photography, very well done, keep posting please, I am following your work with much interest:5

Kind regards,

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Hiya Keith how are ya mate?

Thanks for the kind appraisal ahh buddy my leveret is back:cheers: I saw her tonight,sorry mate but I'm so thrilled I thought she was gone until she caught me out tonight,back to topic:w3!!

Keith i'll talk about colour with the good ladies whom have also posted,I'm chuffed to bits with the feedback but the colour is still not quite there for me I think,(I'm really unsure Keith),but I need to absorb those reposts so kindly given. and want to have a play inspired by them and your words I can't figure it yet but something is not quite there. Keith this orange how much is summer coat?

Keith after hours today spent looking through these shots,my post above has errors. Yes this hare did know I was there,but it's my first hare not the second,so I believe female not male. My male has a torn ear. So this is the original I stalked whom worked her way around me and after being chased a bit by the other one actually came back again for another look,curiosity?? I don't know??? Distance is above 6.4m to infinity (min focal dist of lens set) ,about 10m I guess. She got too big to fit in frame Keith ,she got closer than this which was near to the last shot taken.

Ahh thanks buddy ,there is a real humble joy spending time with these guys,isn;t there:w3


Rachel, Gabriela,thank you so much for your time and wisdom,i'll come back shortly the reposts are SO helpful for me,please forgive must sleep, but I need to say thanks now.I want to try and study these colours a bit.
take care thanks all so much

Stu

 

[Marc Mol]

You've done quite well here Stu, with overall good quality & techs. :5

I agree on the lack of lower leg room and for me see a RP (WB colour temp) somewhere between Rachel & Gabriela's submissions.

TFS

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

No problem Stu - have some well deserved rest, shall see you on this Forum during the week

All coming together nicely as far as I am concerned, just have fun and enjoy the ride... after all, we're all here to learn:w3

Kind regards, have a great week,

 

[keith mitchell]

Hi Stu,I think both Rachel's and Gabriela repost have improved the image quality a lot,on the colour front I am working on my monitor and having the colours sorted because I am not confident that what I am seeing is right.pleased your leveret is back should make it a lot easier to get a shot of mum when she returns.

Keith

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Rachel, Gabriela thanks so much for the reposts and your thoughts on colour.I have a huge number of images from this night,sure the hares were moving around me so angle to sun varies,but I really need to address what i've done,so I can edit the others to a higher level. My post I now feel is not right. Rachel the confirmation that my field techs were in the ball park is so helpful for me at this stage,thanks for that.

I'm not completely happy with the reposts colour wise either,do be aware though, how grateful I am,I've been using all three posts as a comparative tool to try and get nearer to what I saw,they have been a huge help. Rachel I tried repeatedly with the eye dropper tool on many images from this night,I got similar results to your repost which I feel is a bit cold. I have made another attempt using the colour temperature. As this site is basically here, I have shot repeatedly in these last hours before the sunsets these last weeks,I feel happier now with this WB which is 4600kelvin,I am very curious as to everyones' thoughts though,I am still a bit unsure. this is actually an ajoining frame as i've been using my first effort as a comparative tool.


To all thanks for the words on crop,I was utterly focused on her head and trying to keep her in frame as she moved around me,to an onlooker me scrabbling around at the center of the circle must have looked hilarious,it's something to take with me next time though.
Gabriela I didn't sharpen the image ,since I can only work globally at the momentI felt it might be better to present without any extra steps in dpp that I won't actually do later when I have PS sorted. Ahh kiddo thanks for the lovely words, you are very kind to me there is a real joy in this although I struggle at times. Gabby what's happening with these hares really special,i've never had access to leverets before let alone the adults right here . So just that sheer joy of being with them is incredible. As a guy trying to take pictures this night was head and shoulders above any previous perfomance i have yet managed,coupled with a huge amount of luck from the subjects being so curious. I hope I'll share a few more from this evening. I don't know whether i'll ever produce stunners Gabriela,but the help given is finding it way into my pictures,because I'm starting to get familiar with my tools in the field. So really I can't ask for more . I do like your repost mate,it's just the greens are too olive in colour for what i'm seeing here,this new leaf green that is here now is probably the most intense it will be for the year. Thanks so much for the positivity in your response:cheers:

Take care all I hope my repost works out
ps Keith thanks for the extra reply i've just seen,i'm not completely confident here myself,but I think with all your good folks help i'm getting nearer to what I am seeing,ha ha so thrilled on my little ones:S3:

Stu

• Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
• ƒ/7.1
• 420mm
• 1/1600s
• ISO 1600
• Flash not fired
• Mon, 23 May 2016 7:40 PM

 

[Gabriela Plesea]

Stu, I like your last image in terms of colour, all it needs is that bit of sharpening.

And yes you will soon produce those stunners, I just know it:w3

Have a super evening,

 

[haseeb badar]

Hi Stu -- A great improvement ! I really liked the low POV and the subject is nicely standing out against the lovely green Backdrop . Yes the RP's have sorted out the colour issue as well as it looks nice and sharp . But overall I think you are going strong . Well done and TFS !

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Why thank you kind sir,we'll see Haseeb,it won't be for lack of trying though Ahh buddy,it's so fascinating to watch these guys as well as trying to capture their essense, I'm really lucky. his will be a game where one never stops learning.
Thanks for the thoughts on colour,I 'm happier now

take care my friend

Stu

 

[D. Robert Franz]

Very nice light, love the low angle you chose. Well done!