Black wolf with frost portrait
A bad flu I have been struggling with for the past 3 weeks seems to be finally dissipating and allow me to work on more fun things than trying to cough up a lung. Since I haven’t been out shooting much this winter, I felt well enough to browse through some older pictures in my Lightroom catalog today. I stopped on a folder of wolf pictures I have from February 2009 from a preserve I visited then. You never know what you might think of after some images have been left to simmer in the back of your mind for awhile. With that simmering and also trying to flush cough syrup out of my system, it is an interesting combo to say the least!
After combing through some that I wanted to edit, I stopped on this particular one of a black wolf with frost covered fur. I remember this day in particular because it was -10 deg F (-23 deg C), and was thinking I probably looked the same after an hour outside photographing. Well, I loved the contrast of the frost on a black wolf. It was graphically strong and suggests a lot about the conditions these wonderful animals endure. I already had one shot in my gallery and wanted to try something different. I wanted to play with this contrast a bit more, and what better way than to move the image to black and white.
I had some exposure challenges with this shot, bright white frost on a black wolf – go figure. Well, I originally passed over this shot before because I wasn’t trilled with the background. It was bright due to wanting to keep detail in the black fur. I didn’t think of trying to darken the background when I was originally editing these two years ago.
Well, since I am using Nik Silver Efex for many black and white shots now, I thought this would be a perfect application for the control points Nik is so popular for. These allow for very localized tonal adjustments that are sometimes simpler to use than masks in Photoshop. So bright background – not so bright anymore. The adjustments were just like the darkening of bright skies that helps strengthen so many black and white landscapes.
That idea was enough to spark the visualization of the final shot I envisioned, two years after the original exposure. I finished it off with leaving color in the eye because I liked the added touch it gave to the final look. Sometimes it is worthwhile keeping those images around that you pass over on the first edit. You never know what ideas the future may hold.
You can see more of my images in my gallery at this link: wolf pictures.
Mark, this is one of my favorite images of all time! Amazing. I love it.
Wow – that’a brilliant image! I love the details and textures a lot and the processing is excellent. Turning the image into black and white except the eye works here very well. Very impressive work! I hope you are feeling better very soon!
Hope you recover the rest of the way quickly. I would love to see the raw file to perhaps understand why you passed it by and how much it has transformed. The final product we see here is stunning.
Thanks David. As Anita mentioned, I finally picked up on what this image wanted to be.
Mark I think this is great! Though I don’t know for sure what the original looks like from your description you utilized your tools very well to create this final result. I love going through older files and finding new inspiration in images once passed by, must be the reason I need another external hd for more backups. Nice job, glad to hear your feeling better.
Thanks Brad.
Thanks all for the well wishes, I am feeling a bit better.
Helder, Minna, Roberta, thank you very much.
Roberta – couldn’t agree more. But I can tell you the original raw shot with the brighter background does not have as much impact, especially in color since the background is an off-white/tan.
Earl, thanks a lot. I became quite excited about this one myself when it started to come together the way I had hoped. The control points do take some getting used to, I am learning more each time I use them. Thanks again.
I’m glad your recovering and I know how hard it is to motivate yourself towards any activity, even photography, when you feel terrible. May your recovery continue.
I have to tell you this may be one of my favorites of yours — at least until you post the next one. 😉
The choice to keep the color in the eyes definitely works for me. I’ve also found NIK’s control points in it’s plug-ins to be a handy tool once you become comfortable with them. They certainly were well used by you in this example. Excellent!
That is so awesome I can’t believe you passed it by the first time! But I do that a lot too. I think as my processing skills and knowledge evolve I’m able to see possibilities I could see earlier.
That is intense! I really love it, one of best wolf portraits I’ve seen for sure. I’m always amazed how b&w pictures can blow me away when I normally don’t like them at all. Just goes to prove that when it’s done right, even a colour enthusiast like myself will be won over. 🙂
Hope you get well Mark. 🙂
Great photo of the wolf!
Awesome image, Mark! The contrast between nearly true black and white for the subject is really striking, and I love your choice to keep the eye color there. This is a powerful image for sure.
Really great illustration of the value of looking through older files with new tools as well. My approach to the digital darkroom now is much different than a few years ago, and its worth looking for images that didn’t make the cut the first time that could be improved with better processing.
Thanks Pat. For sure new tools enable new possibilities. Just look at how much noise reduction tools have improved over the years. That in itself can salvage many shots.
To begin with, I hope you truly are at the very end of your flu and will soon be back to full “fighting” strength.
There you go again, discouraging me from cleaning up old hard drives.:) You sum up beautifully, both with text and image, why it matters that we keep those files around. We never know when our processing skills will catch up with an earlier vision. Or, when we will be able to see the image for what it wants to be, rather than what we once tried to make it be.
This seems to be the ideal treatment for this photograph. I even like the select color in the black and white—something I am ordinarily excited about. But, here, it feels right. Gorgeous texture—it seems almost three-dimensional—and the expression is compelling.
What you said sums it up perfectly in fewer words Anita – ” Or, when we will be able to see the image for what it wants to be, rather than what we once tried to make it be.”
thanks.