Etosha Bull Elephant

[Rachel Hollander]

This bull had just finished his mud and dust bath and finally turned towards us. Taken in Etosha National Park, Namibia during the late afternoon.

Canon 7D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/1250
f7.1
ISO400
EC +.33
HH from safari vehicle, slight crop for comp, luminosity mask, levels, curves adjustment, selective dodging and burning, sharpened in CS5.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Stan Cunningham]

You obviously had a great trip there Rachel. I look forward to visiting Namibia in a few months myself.
I like the way the colors on the elephant almost blend with the colors in the background and that the elephant is offset from center.
I usually could care less about stuff like this but I might clean up some of the dung. I realize that's what the waterholes look like, like a barnyard but I found it a little distracting.
Just a small thing though and I really like the colors you were able to get.

[Jamie Douglas]

Processing looks good Rachel and I haven’t ever flipped the canvas before but can't help but think that in this case I would.

TFS

Jamie</SPAN>

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel,
think you had a great trip, Etosha is a wonderful place to be.
Like the composition and the colors in here.The elephant himself is just really nice in terms of texture and detail, others will ask to open the shadows under the breast , i do not think so.Maybe cloning out the Springbok in the upper right corner , can help ?
Do not mind about the dung in the image , this is how it was.

What looks kind of "unnatural" is your way you processed this one, to me. The elephant has lots of contrast compared to the rest , sharpness as well.From my understanding the sharpness should be the same over the whole focal plane,not only selectively on the subject itself.In here the subject looks like standing out , too much for my taste, likewise the contrast.
The colors on the subject are excellent, the rest of the image looks flat color wise (compared to the elephant).
Lets see, if others agree or disagree , or even have other thoughts.

TFS Andreas

[Kiran Khanzode]

Love the colors in the image, Etosha is a unique place. The funny thing about these eles is that they barely move an inch and stand there like a statue after the mud bath/drink. Reminds me of the people at the Venetian in Vegas....the street artists :-)

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, these animals do look like statues as Kiran mentioned, with paint daubed all over them. As it stands, the image doesn't grab me sadly, I feel I want to get closer and either head on or side profile, but hopefully that might come? However, I really like the trunk just resting on the ground.

I guess we have had only PD to compare to, so I was expecting a more whiter, powdery landscape, but again that might be time of year? The Springbok/dung really are not a factor certainly for me, so including or deleting isn't a deal breaker. Perhaps if IQ allows, a vertical crop might be another option? Sorry to sound so negative on this one.

TFS
Steve

[Steve Kaluski]

From my understanding the sharpness should be the same over the whole focal plane,not only selectively on the subject itself.I

Are you saying Andreas that in fact the BKG should be sharp too, however you are agreed that the subject should also have a hint more sharpening applied to it as normal? Personally I think the BKG/FG looks OK to me, with perhaps the added heat haze to soften the top half of the image. Looking at the image in PS, I might even suggest another round of USM to the subject, albeit as usual, very slight. Just try to follow you train of thought on this one Andreas.

I guess it's my turn to ask, please explain. :bg3:

Thanks
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

If i start to explain , what i mean exactly , we will end up going off topic , i think.

Will drop you a line , and when we are finished will explain it here again , OK ?

[Rachel Hollander]

Actually Andreas, I am curious to the answer to because I think the image is sharp in the focal plane. The dirt, pebbles, grass and dung by the feet of the elephant and in the fg are all sharp. There is also the expected fall-off in sharpness in the bg.

Thanks everyone for the comments. Steve - no problem, you don't have to like every image.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Rachel , for my eyes the sharpness and visible detail , is more obvious in the elephant than in the area left to the elephant . The shadow is in the same focal plane as the subject, so it should have the same sharpness and clarity., but it has not , for me.
You are right by saying the pebbles etc are sharp, but they do not have the same amount of clarity and strong contrast as the subject.

My thinking is by selectivly sharpening the elephant plus your dodging and burning , makes the elephant stand out , a tad too much.To me looks a bit like the elephant was copied in there.

Andreas

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel just trying to illustrate what i mean.
Pushed the contrast and the sharpness in the area what i was talking about.

[Dumay de Boulle]

I quite like it, the detail looks good and the colors are great. I would think the only way to improve it was to get a lower angle so the BG blurred more making the Ellie stand out more....Nice one Rachel!

[Steve Kaluski]

OK lets just clarify and hopefully I can answer Andreas's PM.

Andreas the content & questions you raised as a PM I think would not have taken it 'off topic' as such, but more appropriate as a PM.

Regarding any burning and dogging that might have only been applied to the elephant I think not to the BKG, Rachel could you expand please?


To me looks a bit like the elephant was copied in there.

I think this is perhaps down to DOF, some contrast applied, plus if any NR has been applied, however I can see what you mean, but it's not the case and quite often you can see many images that have this effect. :S3:

Rachel just a thought, if you have applied any NR then I guess this was in PS not at the RAW stage before exporting to PS? If yes then just export another file from ACR with no sharpening or luminosity adjustments in that section applied, then align it under the sharpened Elephant layer, then flatten & post. This might get to Andreas's thinking I think, but creates a bit more work for you and therefore we might all agree to leave as is, and agree we think differently on this one. Personally I feel the contrast looks OK and I know Rachel you have had previous comments requesting your images need more contrast, so it's quite often a fine balance we tread/personal taste, but going the other way, and as I said earlier, it could stand a fraction more USM.

So I guess folks this goes to show, three people have different views. :S3:




Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks, I don't recall applying any NR so don't think that comes into play here. I selectively burned the highlights on the ele at 6% and dodged the shadows at 8%. I did apply more contrast to the ele than I normally would through a curves mask/adjustment due to comments that my recent images needed more pop.

Here's the straight ooc RAW file converted in ACR with only +30 points of clarity (my standard clarity setting) and ACR default settings of +50 brightness, +5 blacks and +25 contrast applied. White balance was kept "as shot" which was AWB. I did convert the color profile to sRGB from Adobe RGB. Hope this helps.

Thanks again for the thought provoking and interesting discussion,

Rachel

[Rachel Hollander]

Dumay - thanks to you too.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Rachel.

Personally I might ease on the Clarity perhaps 25, maybe less if you are using CS6, likewise contrast, as I have found it chokes the darker shadow areas, I tend to prefer Curves if that helps.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Late to this one, Rachel...sorry :e3
Love the look of these ellies. Still need to visit myself, as you well know.
I can see what Andreas is talking about and where he's coming from. I think it pertains to how you apply contrast etc. Often I select a rough band in the plane of focus along with the subject to avoid it looking like that. That being said I don't find it overly strong even in your OP. Maybe my eyes are just tired :bg3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Morkel - thanks for the tip and the comments.:cheers: