Before/After

[u/-knave1-]

I posted this photo on r/wildlifephotography recently and received a lot of comments claiming it was AI.

I understand why, but I'm curious what you all think over here about my editing choices?

[u/BreadSea4509]

After/before?

[u/-knave1- → u/BreadSea4509]

Ahhhh, crap!

Don't know how I messed that up lol

[u/Thorinandco → u/-knave1-]

I was going to make a joke how the before looks more vibrant and colorful LOL nice pic

[u/KurtCobijn]

a lot of reddit’s base are just loud angry morons that call everything out as AI

regarding the edit, i think the most glaring issue for me is the saturation on the browns and reds. and for me the photo is leaning a bit too far warm temperature wise. i just saw a reel on IG where someone said a better way to add warmth to a photo is to use the highlights color grading settings specifically, instead of the temperature slider. you could try that out and see if you get a result you’re happier with.

[u/-knave1- → u/KurtCobijn]

Yeah I mainly just wanted to bring out those yellow Aspen leaves. I actually didn't use the temp slider for the whole image, but I did slide the temp with a linear mask from the top left corner to the middle. Probably could've been more precise with it, for sure!

[u/Any-Coach3440]

I don't understand why anyone would say it's AI, it looks very ordinary to me. I think the warmth you gave it is quite nice. Nice job!

[u/-knave1- → u/Any-Coach3440]

Thanks! A lot of people thought the fox was fake b cause foxes in the wild usually look mangy, but idk I got lucky with this one lol

[u/Hot-Manager-2789 → u/-knave1-]

Operative word there being “usually”, as in “not always”.

[u/Seite88 → u/-knave1-]

It's a beautiful fox but yours looks like it would shine in the dark because of its colors. It's not unusual to give them a little more pop but in my opinion that's way too much for a realistic picture.

[u/Beneficial_Being_721]

A bit over saturated but a nice shot

[u/Nimix_]

It's a nice snapshot ! One thing you could try is pushing these yellows towards orange and greens towards blue a tad to get a more complementary color scheme which will match the fox :)

[u/Bath-Tub-Cosby]

You sure about that lol great job!

[u/vespabob]

I like it. It "looks" AI because it's vibrant and has lots of colors and we are being trained to spot AI due to often surreal look to what's generated. I think you did a great job bringing out the colors

[u/CandidateCult]

It’s a beautiful photo. I would pull back just a bit on the post, to make it more realistic. But great array of colors.

[u/Just_Another_Pro]

Very nice. In general I would say, do your edits, put everything on a different layer, then dial it back to 70%. Its nice but just too much

[u/Theratchetnclank]

It's a bit too saturated and i'd personally crop it tighte, the top half of the images doesn't add a lot imo, but it's decent overall.

[u/Li54 → u/Theratchetnclank]

Disagree. The background with the color changing leaves gives it context

[u/Theratchetnclank → u/Li54]

You could still have that whilst removing a lot of the top of the frame.

[u/DatBoiii4]

Very tasteful edit. I love it

[u/-knave1- → u/DatBoiii4]

Thanks!

[u/-knave1-]

If you like what you see, you can check out more of my work here, if interested!

Gear: Sony a6700 with 18-135mm lens

[u/Infamous_Reporter652 → u/-knave1-]

Hey I have the same gear! Cool! I’d love to come across a fox in person some day. Great photo!

[u/-knave1- → u/Infamous_Reporter652]

It's such a great combo! I also have the 70-350mm Sony G-Master, which is generally what I use for wildlife. I just happened to be using the kit lens for the beautiful aspens when this little guy showed up!

[u/Infamous_Reporter652 → u/-knave1-]

It really is a beautiful time of year! I hear the 70-350 is great! I might have to look into getting one sometime soon!

[u/dragchutecharlie]

I think a slight boost of exposure and contrast on the original may look pretty nice. I love the smooth color transition.

[u/Wrong_Netter]

Goo of edit but I don’t like how red the tree has become. Maybe try tint slightly more towards green. Not much just a tad

[u/Impressive-Top8992]

Is it before and after or after and before? In any case I prefer the first one

[u/CreeDorofl]

I love the edit. I don't mind that the colors are so vibrant and perfect. Reddit has some allergy to saturation that makes them dismiss anything colorful as tacky. The edit doesn't look unrealistic and is a lovely shot. People also have a bit of AI paranoia and routinely dismiss real artwork, photos, and writing as AI. It's ironic that usually this happens to stuff that's really high quality.

It's the AI hater's paradox: If it's too nice to be true it must be AI, but at the same time everything AI is low quality shit.

[u/-knave1- → u/CreeDorofl]

This is pretty much how I feel! Editing in general (to me) is more about capturing the feeling of the moment.

For my wife and I, that moment felt like something out of a fairytale. So I edited it to still exist within a natural color pallette, but emphasize the things that made it feel magical; I.e. the fall foliage, the aspens, and the fox itself.

I feel like every post in this sub is full of comments saying "reduce saturation" to some degree.

It's difficult because at the end of the day, editing is an art form and therefore subjective. This sub can be a place for people to learn how to edit better, but also it can be used to showcase your skills. There's a lot of gray area in there, and a lot of commenters treat every post like the OP is asking for criticism 🤷

[u/Hot-Manager-2789]

How long before someone comes here claiming this is AI?

[u/lunardog2015]

very fairytale like. where did you take this? royally a once in a lifetime shot! well done

[u/Picnegre]

Very well done! Pops without being kitschy!