How to salvage this

[chauncey]

I followed these twins around a mountain in the fog/clouds until growing weary of the game. I tried all the normal PS tricks, cloning/fill/and whatnot, without much success. The best of the series is this one...suggestions on a "fix" would be appreciated.


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[Geoff F]

I think the only option would be to crop tighter. Maybe something like a 5 x 4 ratio to lose a bit from the right side. Possibly a very slight amount from the bottom as well.

That way you will reduce the amount of foliage and produce a 'closer' scene where the branches which are obscuring your subjects won't be so noticeable. In fact a little bit of foliage in front of them looks natural; as though they are hiding from you.

[Mike Buckley]

I think you would be better off preserving the image as is as a reminder of a superb memory of seeing such magnificent animals in the wild. The time that you would spend salvaging it would be better used making other photos.

[Glenn NK]

I agree with Geoff and Mike.

There is a very well known wildlife painter in Canada (Robert Bateman); some of his best images are of animals in their natural habitat - often hiding behind the foliage.

By cropping the right off a bit, the blurry leaves won't distract. I'd crop so that the heads were at about a third point.

Glenn

[IzzieK]

Frank...lose a little bit of the purple...is that purple or is it my eyes? been doing a bit of designing in photoshop, everything looks purple to me at the moment. I need a rest I think...

[Manfred M]

This is one of those nice memory shots; I would take a lot of PP work to remove all the foliage in front. That much "surgery" rarely creates a "realistic" looking image.

Keep the snapshot; not every image is the winner we would love to have.

[Richard Lundberg]

You say you used all the PS tricks and that was the end product? Could we see the original? I used some of the basic ones like auto levels and exposure and it looked better. I won't bother posting it until I ( guess what).

[Walshy]

I agree with Mike on this one. I think the harsh reality is that you are not going to be able to fix this image.
John

[Downrigger]

A beautiful pair and almost a beautiful capture. I'm with Geoff and Glen that this could be improved with some cropping, and then would go with Mike on moving on with fond memories. Wildlife does this a lot, eh?

[MrB]

I agree with a crop, particularly to remove the big OOF leaves on the right. The image also looks better to me after an adjustment to raise the mid tones.

Philip

[Cantab]

I agree with Geoff and Mike.

There is a very well known wildlife painter in Canada (Robert Bateman); some of his best images are of animals in their natural habitat - often hiding behind the foliage.

By cropping the right off a bit, the blurry leaves won't distract. I'd crop so that the heads were at about a third point.

Glenn

I agree with Glenn on his comment about Robert Bateman as well as some judicious cropping.

[Brev00]

I don't know if this is any better but an effort:

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[HenkB]

My wife's dear mother used to confabulate, much to her daughter's distress. When challenged she would admit she had extended the truth but insisted she only did so to improve a story she felt was otherwise threadbare and plain. In the instance of your deer, unfortunately you don't have the shot of the deer you wanted but you do have the story (of frustration rather than success), one which will resonate with most photogs, who have a wholly different definition of "clear shot" than any hunter. One such approach to emphasizing the frustration you feel would be by doing the opposite of your first instincts: for example, crop on the left and bottom to bring the heads and racks to the lower left corner, then add mood by modifying the surroundings, perhaps making them darker and accentuating the bluish cast. Some motion blur, as well? As they say, if you don't insist on the facts, you just may have a political career.

[JJvanDelft]

I like the crop by Larry. I only would place the animals a little more to the left to enhance the composition. But still a memorable picture.

[Geoff F]

Larry's crop works for me, particularly when viewed at full screen size.

[chauncey]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I gonna work on it...maybe cut and paste part from other images in the series. Might just get lucky.

[FrankMi]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I gonna work on it...maybe cut and paste part from other images in the series. Might just get lucky.

This is a difficult image to improve in post processing Chauncey, but by all means go for it! You'll find that you will get two valuable benefits. It will improve your post processing skills and it will help you 'see' compositions better when you are out shooting.

A smooth sea, a skillful mariner, never made.

[lukaswerth]

Reading the original post, I was wondering what you meant by "salvaging", in other words, which aspects you want to have salvaged. I was first thinking about sharpness or so. For as far as I am concerned, I actually quite liked the first version you posted, and I think all this cropping just so much deteriorates the picture, I do not mind at all the asymmetrical framing, and the foliage in fronds of the animals adds another dimension and just that little bit of secret to these beautiful creatures (seeing such an image, I always feel it a pity that we hunt and eat them - or others do, at least). This is what you would with humans call an environmental portrait, and I think it's far more interesting than if the whole frame would be taken by the animals.

My two pennies,
Lukas

[lukaswerth]

Reading the original post, I was wondering what you meant by "salvaging", in other words, which aspects you want to have salvaged. I was first thinking about sharpness or so. For as far as I am concerned, I actually quite liked the first version you posted, and I think all this cropping just so much deteriorates the picture, I do not mind at all the asymmetrical framing, and the foliage in fronds of the animals adds another dimension and just that little bit of secret to these beautiful creatures (seeing such an image, I always feel it a pity that we hunt and eat them - or others do, at least). This is what you would with humans call an environmental portrait, and I think it's far more interesting than if the whole frame would be taken by the animals.
I anything, I'd clone away the two or three very out-of-focus leaves at the right fringe.

My two pennies,
Lukas