Cindy Marple
September 2023 - Lemur
Original
About the Image(s)
On my trip to Madagascar, we visited a preserve called Lemur Island. The lemurs were free to roam, but confined to the island. They were habituated to feeding stations where they would get bananas, and were accustomed to being close to people. In other locations, they were up high and distant, requiring long lenses for photos. So I took advantage of this opportunity and put on my short zoom for this visit, which also happened to have very few people around, so I could stay close and not be in the way of others. I wanted to capture a different perspective, with the distortion of the wide angle, and including the habitat. It’s challenging in the dark, dappled light of a forest though. I had auto-iso engaged and didn’t realize how high it’d gone, but Topaz did a decent job of cleaning it up.
Very little else done in post-processing, mainly increasing the contrast a bit.
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur
Nikon Z9, 24mm, ISO16,000(!), 1/250, f/9
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
Cindy,
Those golden colored eyes just draw you in! The pose of the lemur on the branch is terrific! Hard to believe that you took this at night. You might reduce teh highlights and exposure on the sky that is peeking through the trees at the top, but otherwide this looks great! Posted: 09/08/2023 14:15:45
Those golden colored eyes just draw you in! The pose of the lemur on the branch is terrific! Hard to believe that you took this at night. You might reduce teh highlights and exposure on the sky that is peeking through the trees at the top, but otherwide this looks great! Posted: 09/08/2023 14:15:45
Hi Dave,
I guess I wasn't very clear in my description, this was taken mid-afternoon. It's just that the dense forest was quite dark, but as you can see from the sky it was dappled. The bit of contrast enhancement I did made the bright sky stand out even more. Would you just take a brush with a slight minus exposure adjustment to that area? When I've tried highlight reduction on something like that it can get a little weird looking. I'll play with it a little too. Thanks for your feedback! Posted: 09/08/2023 17:06:33
I guess I wasn't very clear in my description, this was taken mid-afternoon. It's just that the dense forest was quite dark, but as you can see from the sky it was dappled. The bit of contrast enhancement I did made the bright sky stand out even more. Would you just take a brush with a slight minus exposure adjustment to that area? When I've tried highlight reduction on something like that it can get a little weird looking. I'll play with it a little too. Thanks for your feedback! Posted: 09/08/2023 17:06:33
You might try selecting the background and assuming it did it ok, then reduce the highlights. Another option is to use a radial filter, invert the selection and the try the highlight slider. Failing that use the brush! Posted: 09/08/2023 18:56:05
What Impact!!! The black and white plus the eyes are amazing. I even like the leaf at the bottom acting like a stand for the tree. The eye really steal the show.
I wish you luck with that dappled sunlight--when the area is blown out you can't bring back what is not there. Sometimes you can use the color grading panel in Lightroom and add a tint to the area and that will get rid of the pure white or the strange gray that appears when you start editing.
If this were mine I would approach this issue first by cropping, you can lose some area off the top and try to limit as much as possible that way. The alternative would be that since as a nature image it will not score high due to the lack of a nature story then I would just clone it out and not say a word to anyone. This is an image that I know you will treasure as it is so captivating. Everything does not have to be entered in competition so make it look good for yourself.
I really like this as it brings a smile to my face. Posted: 09/10/2023 13:15:13
I wish you luck with that dappled sunlight--when the area is blown out you can't bring back what is not there. Sometimes you can use the color grading panel in Lightroom and add a tint to the area and that will get rid of the pure white or the strange gray that appears when you start editing.
If this were mine I would approach this issue first by cropping, you can lose some area off the top and try to limit as much as possible that way. The alternative would be that since as a nature image it will not score high due to the lack of a nature story then I would just clone it out and not say a word to anyone. This is an image that I know you will treasure as it is so captivating. Everything does not have to be entered in competition so make it look good for yourself.
I really like this as it brings a smile to my face. Posted: 09/10/2023 13:15:13
The face and eyes really steal the show on this one, IMO. Face and eyes are super sharp! So I would consider a tighter crop, maybe in an 8x10 format and you can still show the habitat. I like David's idea to try lowering highlights a bit in the background. And (get ready I'm about to use the "V" word) try using a slight vignette. Posted: 09/10/2023 19:18:59
Oh I hadn't thought of that V word- good idea! Thanks for the inputs. Posted: 09/10/2023 19:24:34
So cropping it seemed the best result, along with brushing in some highlight reduction at what's left of the top. I tried the vignette, but it didn't really need to be darkened on the other edges and I didn't like the result. Posted: 09/12/2023 15:28:05
What a fantastic looking animal. I agree with everyone else those eyes and the clean white and black coat it is waring really jumps off the screen at you. That face and the eyes are tack sharp. With contrasting black and white it is hard to see anything else on the page. I enjoy seeing the dappled sunlight in the forest until I try and make a picture of it. That's when my love affair with it starts to wane really fast. Sence this is not a competition I would agree with Larry. You have done about as much as you can with the crop, now grab the clone tool and move some if those leaves around. Beautiful Animal Cindy, good work. Posted: 09/13/2023 16:39:52
Cindy, I think you've been leading us all on. You're really a pro and on this site for fun, aren't you?
Animal = Perfect!
Background = Too busy (gradient darken?) Posted: 09/24/2023 12:13:00
Animal = Perfect!
Background = Too busy (gradient darken?) Posted: 09/24/2023 12:13:00