A goat in La Pedriza mountains

[Tony M]

This was taken on a cloudy day in La Pedriza mountains near Madrid. During post-processing, I increased contrast to emphasise the shape of the granite rock and the goat, portraying it in silhouette form. I also changed the hue of the sky to make it more interesting. I'd be interested in knowing people's views on altering the hue; do you do it, or is it too much of an alteration to the image? I went with a group of photographers - some were pros - and some of their PP were far more liberal than mine.


Canon 40D, 1/100s at f/8, ISO 100, 85mm, Canon EF-S 15-85mm lens

All comments are welcome.

Tony

[pnodrog]

A bold simple composition and I like the gradation in the sky. I think silhouettes work best on intricate delicate objects like tall grass, trees, fences etc and even your goat but does not work so well on big simple shapes. It looks as if you have increased the contrast to the extent you have lost even a hint of detail in the shadow area. I would prefer to see a bit of detail rather than a solid very dark shape.

The goat is in a very good position and I think the photo could work pretty well.

[GrahamS]

Nice image, but I would prefer a tighter crop.

[Tony M]

Thanks for your comments, and sorry for not replying earlier; I haven't had much time.

I especially wanted to increase the contrast to obtain a silhouette, although it may not be to everybody's taste. Think of it as artistic licence.

Here's the unadulterated version, with some "normal" PP. I kept the crop the same, as I didn't much like the tighter crop. (And my camera is quite pixel-challenged.) The rock texture is interesting, but the sky isn't.



Tony