About the Image(s)
This picture was taken in Masai Mara a fortnight ago. We had gone to see the migration, and had plenty of action to photograph, but I wanted to also get some "different" images. I took this one of a Toupi standing on a little hillock in the grassland, intending to do a mono conversion later. I deliberately shot wide open to get a shallow depth of field, thinking that the attention should be on the animal with the gradation of grey tones on its body being the point of interest. The image after cropping and mono conversion looked rather flat. So I added a linear gradient mask and reduced the exposure of the lower part of the image and pushed the contrast in the masked area as well. Still not happy, I showed it on the WhatsApp group of my local camera club. A member suggested that I take it into Photoshop, add a duplicate layer and apply a high pass filter at +3 to it, then play with the blend modes so see what I liked. So I did that and finally got something I liked. I do most of my editing in Lightroom and venture into Photoshop only occasionally, so I learned something whilst working on this image.
There are so many different approaches to doing things, but in this instance I think the advise I got helped. What do you think of the final output.
Stephen Levitas
Som,
I quite liked your Tiger shot recently, and although I like this shot for many of the same reasons, I am not sure about the blurring of the distance. I understand it was you deliberate approach. I think this is strictly a case of personal preference. If I were taking this, I would have shot with greater depth of field solely because the antelope is looking into that very distance. Posted: 09/08/2023 22:15:25
Somdutt Prasad
Stephen,
I appreciate your POV, I just like the idea of using a shallow depth of field to make the antelope stand out. But as you say, it is personal preference. A shot at f 9.0 or thereabouts would have given an entirely different effect. Posted: 09/09/2023 02:49:07
Wes Odell
I must bring up the contentous issue of "Which is better?" B&W or Color. IMO your B&W rendition is much better than your color capture. Nice work. Agree with Stephen's comment on DOF. I've hunted Pronghorn Antelope in Wyoming and Utah. They are a wily animal, smarter in the ways of the prairie than us humans. Posted: 09/09/2023 19:02:55
Somdutt Prasad
Wes, thanks, I had shot this already knowing that I would probably use a 16:9 crop (enhances the idea of the animal looking into the distasnce) and use it as a mono. I was looking at some images on insta before going to Kenya and some of the work of David Lloyd were really inspiring. So as I was shooting, I was thinking of what would make a good mono shot, something I have not done usually on wildlife trips.
Although, I have later converted some wildlife images to mono. So to me both approaches work. Posted: 09/09/2023 20:48:47
Diana Magor
I like the narrow DOF so that only the animal is sharp as it really makes one look at it and imagine the wide-open spaces of the habitat. The low viewpoint means there is quite a lot of white sky at the top and I experimented with cropping some off but decided it was better as it is. I liked the balance point of the out of focus tree on the right -without that, one's eye would drift out of the frame. Whatever processing you used in Ps has worked a treat. What blend mode did you use? Posted: 09/10/2023 10:04:31
Somdutt Prasad
I think I used "soft light" Posted: 09/10/2023 10:34:44
Wes Odell
Soft light is the one I think is the most flexible and the one I use almost exclusively. Posted: 09/14/2023 17:17:02
Somdutt Prasad
Soft light and Pin light are the only two I use, very occasionally hard light mybe useful. The rest are for people who do extreme edits, I like to stick to a realistic image! Posted: 09/14/2023 17:41:39
Somdutt Prasad
Posted: 09/10/2023 10:34:46
Your title says, this is the one who is surveying the countryside. So my attention is drawn to the animal, not what it is surveying. I think your emphasis on him (or her) is just right! DOF is very appropriate, I think! Well done! Posted: 09/10/2023 15:51:27
Tom McCreary
I like your choice to go to monochrome, and the conversion and the crop. Very well done. I think that your depth of field is perfect. The animal and the grass close to it is sharp, and he stands out very well from the background. I also like that the hills in the distance are blurred, it gives me the effect of wondering what he is looking at. Posted: 09/10/2023 17:04:05
Jennifer Doerrie
Like Diana, I initially found the bright sky overwhelming, but then decided that cropping any of it out changed the feeling of the image too drastically. So perhaps you should take a ladder next time you go on safari. (Ha!) It sounds like the monochrome conversion posed something of a challenge, but I do like the choice of monochrome for this image and think you handled the conversion well.
Posted: 09/26/2023 00:09:53
Somdutt Prasad
Jennifer, Thanks. Unfortunately on most safaris you cannot get out of the vehicle, you can climb on the seat and gain some hieght, but it does limit shooting angles! No w getting a ladder into the vehicle is something I have not thought of or seen someone do <grin>. To me all post processing is a challenge, but usually I have a pre-concieved idea of what I want. Often I can get the software to get me there (or close), often it is a fight to try to get the sofware to do what I want, but that maybe a reflection of my limited skills with Photoshop! Regards
Posted: 09/26/2023 11:35:03
