Till Nighttime End
"The Coyote will be my friend.
I'll stay up late and howl,
At the moon, till nighttime end,
Before going on the prowl.” ~ Bill Watterson....
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"The Coyote will be my friend.
I'll stay up late and howl,
At the moon, till nighttime end,
Before going on the prowl.” ~ Bill Watterson.
&bt; http:--johnmoreyphotography.com-coyotes-h44952094
Read less
I'll stay up late and howl,
At the moon, till nighttime end,
Before going on the prowl.” ~ Bill Watterson.
&bt; http:--johnmoreyphotography.com-coyotes-h44952094
Read less
May, 2014Views
540
Likes
Awards
2020 Choice Award
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Jaw Dropping
Top Choice
All Star
Exceptional Contrast
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank
Top 30 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 30 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Categories
1Ernesto
May 15, 2014
Great photo! This will be another goal for me to hopefully capture this same composition for my gallery.
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adavies
May 02, 2016
Great capture! Love it! If you haven't done so already, please consider joining my Animal Antics challenge:)
viewbug.com/challenge/animal-antics-epic-or-fail-photo-challenge-by-adavies
viewbug.com/challenge/animal-antics-epic-or-fail-photo-challenge-by-adavies
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
Spring in Northern Arizona, within the Navajo Nation back country near Monument Valley, on a guided photo shoot. I was fortunate enough to watch this coyote walking along the ridge of this raised boulder outcropping, behind the landscape scene I was photographing, which had just been dusted with snow from a Spring storm that rolled through overnight into the morning. He was sniffing around and hunting for something, and seemed to care little about us. I've encountered enough in my lifetime to know that they have learned to co-exist with humanity enough, scavenging for their remnants, to have caution of humans while still going about their business. I've also known them to be interactive under certain conditions, so I yipped at it, then howled at it, making a fool of myself to those around me, who knew me well enough to not be surprised. The coyote snapped its attention at me, pausing, then yipping back before starting to go back to its previous attention. I quickly enrolled the rest of my group to start howling, getting most of them to be as foolish as me, and sure enough it paused and studied us for a few moments while I kept encouraging the howling of my group. Suddenly it snaps its head back, caught up in the high pitched energy, and vocalized a few times...leaving us laughing and causing it to stop and finally move along. Due to poor lighting from our perspective, no one was else was really trying to photograph it beyond a snapshot, except for me.Time
It was a rare treat during the late afternoon, after a sudden Spring storm had left a nice dusting of snow from the previous night and that morning. The sky was partly cloudy and wispy, crispy really, and stormy remnants played well with light against the landscape we were shooting.Lighting
The lighting to capture the coyote in any kind of meaningful detail and exposure did not exist, so most didn't try because it was above us on a ridged rise with sky background, between us and the sun - plus we were mostly geared up for landscape photography so very few had the right lens ready for the moment. I however often shoot landscapes with 2 rigs, one with a telephoto that I use to dice out pieces of distant landscapes, and it was already in my hands. I considered switching to spot metering to nail the exposure on the animal, and blowing out the sky in another boring photo. I did switch to spot metering, however I did not meter on the subject, but instead metered on the bright cloudy sky behind it and locked it in, then recomposed with auto-focus on the beast to capture its silhouette in detail and meaningful composition. To the rest of the group, the lighting was bad, and just a fun moment...to me, the lighting is just the lighting, nether good nor bad, and it can always to be worked with, with imagination - and a fun moment can also be a satisfied moment.Equipment
Canon 60D, with an f/2 70-200 with 2x extender, handheld. 1/6400 at f/6.3, ISO100 spot-meter in full manualInspiration
My individual style, both as a landscape and wildlife shooter, is to capture images and scenes of iconic subjects in imaginative unique ways with a graphic quality that tells a simple story, transferring palpable feelings, memories, and urges - Stirring a primal connection of the senses with the subject matter. To that end, I am a natural sucker for taking silhouette shots for the pure graphic quality and minimal color palette, greatly simplifying the image to the viewer's eye to get to the essence of it. These kinds of shots take the viewer's focus off of the distracting traditional color, exposure, and texture; and by simplifying the image, it allows all of the energy and feeling of the moment to shine through, allowing the imagination and the viewer's experience to fill in the blanks. My eye naturally looks for them, often times trying to make the best of non-optimal light, such as with this moment.Editing
Another thing I love about shooting silhouettes is that processing is so minimal and easy, I don't have to do much and the recipe edit to one will usually copy over very well to the rest with only minimal tweaks when processing a series from a scene. Some sharpening, punch up the contrast, shadows, and highlights, and if there is any color work to be done its purely about the sky without worry to the rest of the image. Specific to the color work, because I am only working with one element in the image where tonal range is important, the sky, due to the rest of the image being purposefully blacked out, I have a very simple color edit if I am going with what auto-white balance provides. In this case however I shot it as a black and white, further simplifying things, so I just need to make sure the tone of the sky is correct. The result, it doesn't matter that it was shot at 4pm, it tells a story of a coyote, presumably at night. Bonus processing nugget...This image exists in my collection in 4 distinct versions...each relaying to the viewer's imagination something different. The original color version, which is very nice. The black and white for the pure graphics punch of it. And 2 other color versions, where the ONLY color edit is to slide the white balance all the way to 10000 Kelvins for an orange sky like it was shot at sunset, or down to 2500 Kelvin for deep blue night sky affect. Because the only tonal color texture is in the sky and clouds is mostly of all the same whitish color with little contrast, that is the only part of the silhouette that is effected by changing white balance to one extreme or the other. AND just so you know, assuming you are shooting RAW, if you have the time and foresight, you can set your camera to capture it this way, rather than adjusting in post.In my camera bag
You will always find me with a Think Tank harness and belt system on, with two large holster bags one on each hip. Each holster bag holds a different setup rig ready to go with lens mounted and lens hood already deployed. On my right hip is Canon 5D with an f/2.8 24-70. On my left hip is a Canon 70D with f/2.8 70-200 and 2x extender. Other bags and accessories line the rest of the belt giving me even more quick options. My day pack, if I need lots more gear for an extended open shoot is MindShift rotation pack, otherwise a simple day pack with some water, food, additional clothing layers and my tripods. Whether I am scouting over the next ridge real quick before driving up there, or packing heavy for a 5 day Sierras backpack, The idea behind this setup is I am always ready for a moment. If I had to stop and fumble with switching out a lens or fetching other rig from my backpack, then this shot would not have happened.Feedback
Always be ready before the moment for anything. Practice shooting on nearly anything at home where the subject is between you and the light source...get comfortable changing to spot-metering, pointing at the bright, locking in exposure, recomposing with auto focus on the subject and shooting. If you want to take to an advance creative level, put into that work flow getting out of AWB and setting custom Kelvin temp to make out at 10k, or go low to 2500, or shoot it in Black and White...regardless of how you shoot it with BW or modified WB, all of these can also be corrected in post if you are shooting RAW. Practice. Also about being ready I never scout anywhere, even for a few moments, without all my belt/harness gear. You just never know what you will come across that you may never be able to recreate again. By being ready for anything I was able to have this shot in moments. If you would like to know more about my rigs and the Think Tank setup, I am an affiliate partner and I can happily advise you in a similar setup. Please feel free to contact me.
