orange

[Giovanni Frescura]

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 500 f.4 Is + extender 1,4
f.10
1/1250
iso 1000

[Gerald Kelberg]

Ciao Gio!
I think that the aperture of f/10 (and ISO 1000) was probably way more than you needed in this bright light situation. The result is that all the shrubs around the animal are too sharp and fight for attention against the deer. Perhaps you could try adding blur selectively in the background to isolate the subject.

Regards,

Gerald

[Giovanni Frescura]

Thanks
I used more aperture to try no lose the color of the flowers and put them more in focus (the orange flower are particular of Namaqua n.p.) and contextualize the siatuation.
Off course if I will work about blur I could reduce it...but is it right ?
My shoot was'nt for steenbok but for the global situation.
What you think about ?
Thanks

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Giovanni,
like this "animal in landscape shot.
Love the color of the flowers and the greens as contrast.
Bit i think the major issue for me is the IQ , which is not really there. Think it is a question of processing, looks like heavy local contrast enhancement (have done that too in the past) and wrong sharpening.

I would try to rework from raw , with other settings .

TFS Andreas

[Giovanni Frescura]

Hi Giovanni,
like this "animal in landscape shot.
Love the color of the flowers and the greens as contrast.
Bit i think the major issue for me is the IQ , which is not really there. Think it is a question of processing, looks like heavy local contrast enhancement (have done that too in the past) and wrong sharpening.

I would try to rework from raw , with other settings .

TFS Andreas

Thanks Andreas
I think it is very important to share ideas about the shoots because , sometimes, the owner not see the right situation.
Other problem, for me, and understand which is the right proces to avoid the mistakes.
For example I made my normal workflow for this file but it wasn't (as you saw) right.
Now if I will start again from raw I think I not am sure about what change...and this is for me sometimes a big problem

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Giovanni, I like the thinking behind the image, shooting wider and showing the subject in the habitat/environment.

Firstly I think you need to look at the Colour balance of the image, however I'm a little unclear on which way to go, Blue or Yellow, or a bit of both? I also think dropping the exposure a little helps, as more comes back into the image giving/adding depth for me, but still retaining the sweet light on the subject. I also feel Gerald is right about the settings and shooting wider (less DOF) might have been better. The high ISO & sharpening may also be clashing to give an almost 'grainy' look to the image.


Other problem, for me, and understand which is the right proces to avoid the mistakes.

I think it is difficult without seeing the RAW file sadly.


Now if I will start again from raw I think I not am sure about what change...and this is for me sometimes a big problem

Get the Exposure/Temperature right, the rest will fall into place, even try changing the WB to see what effect that has and remember, only sharpen the subject.

Good luck, ciao

Steve

[Giovanni Frescura]

Thanks your patience is very BIG!
I will try

[Giovanni Frescura]

Steve
normally in acr I change only the temperrature and if necessary white balance..no more
then I select the main subject and apply with topaz Noise noise reduction limited.
Invert the selection and apply more noise reduction on the rest.
Still on the subject selected apply brightness correction 'and curves.
Then take off selection, use blue control (if necessary) saturation control, apply a little sharpening and use Color Efex 4 (tonal control and, if Necessary, detail exteactor) If there is a black point I use Viveza.
About Iso I think 1000 Iso aren't too much for 1D MarkIV because for mammals I think could better use more depth of field to avoid problem with focus when shoots with long lens.
But it is only a my idea off course you have more experience for the right shoot!
Thanks

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Giovanni,
i would as start adjust WB in ACR and adjust exposure without blowing highlights and plugging the shadows.If necessary lift the shadows and tone down the highlights.

Noise reduction is fine at the start in PS.

I would get away , at first from NIK, not that it is not good , but if you do the work in Photoshop you learn better what is going on , and what needs to be done.
If you use NIK , try to start with lower settings , specially with the Detail Extractor., less is sometimes more.
In PS try to make the same stuff with curves and/or levels, you do not get straight away the same results.Use luminosity masks to work only on parts in the image , not globally for strong contrast changes.
Keep the contrast adjustment layers in luminance blend mode,otherwise you will have little or little bigger color shifts.
When finished with the contrast you can adjust the colors, saturate or desaturate , what you like .
Last step is sharpening , depending on the image different settings in USM or Smart Sharpen filter.There are many other ways, try to explore.

At last step, comes the downsampling for (in this case) web or screen.
I would recommend Hougaard Malaan`s action for web resize.

Look here on BPN for the link , or just google him, on his webpage you find the action and a short tutorial.
Well worth a visit with some really nice landscape images.

Good luck Andreas

[Gerald Kelberg]

Thanks
I used more aperture to try no lose the color of the flowers and put them more in focus (the orange flower are particular of Namaqua n.p.) and contextualize the siatuation.
Off course if I will work about blur I could reduce it...but is it right ?
My shoot was'nt for steenbok but for the global situation.
What you think about ?
Thanks

Gio, I understand what you say, about the overall environment shot. I think you want to see the colour of the flowers more than the detail.
I agree with Andreas that you should step back from using NIK too much - it is very powerful, but dangerous! Certainly would not want to use Detail Extractor on the environment here.
Still, I feel you need to soften the environment overall.

Ciao!

Gerald

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Giovanni, both Andreas and Gerald have made some very valid/good points in their replies. The more you can do 'in camera' the less you will spend adjusting and the image will be 'cleaner' and all the better for it. I think it is good to explore and learn what each software does, but use it sparingly and, 'use it as a tool, not a crutch' (I hope this translate well). :S3:

Gerald great to see you bolstering the threads with your thoughts, look forward to your participation more, thank you.

Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Some very good points raised here. I like the "steenbokscape" here, and the flowers are a nice touch.
Perhaps this is a good thread to supply the RAW file for, so we can all try and process it in our own way and so help Giovanni understand workflow a bit better?
Would you be willing to supply the RAW file, Giovanni?

[Steve Kaluski]

Might then be best to go into Eager to Learn Morkel, as a previous post?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Good suggestions by Morkel, to share the raw and see what different people have different aspects .

Cheers Andreas

[Giovanni Frescura]

Hello guys...
I could be honored to share my rawfile with so very big Photographers.
Please say me how I could send you it ..No problem ..I will be happy!
As I wrote some other times my problem is language so sometimes, if possible I like more to Known the actions directly oabout the photo instead off a general discussion
I wait your notice about raw.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Dear Giovanni,
just google "Dropbox", one option to share large files .


Andreas

[Giovanni Frescura]

Off course..no problem about ( I normally use we tranfer) ..but which are the address to send file to share it between you ?
Thanks
Gio

[Giovanni Frescura]

Might then be best to go into Eager to Learn Morkel, as a previous post?

No problem Steve if you say me how I can post raw file in that forum
Ciao
Gio

[Giovanni Frescura]

No problem Steve if you say me how I can post raw file in that forum
Ciao
Gio
Ok

I will post in Eager to Learn

[Morkel Erasmus]

Giovanni send it via wetransfer or yousendit or dropbox to my email address (morkel-at-morkelerasmus-dot-com) and I will start a thread in Eager-to-Learn and make sure the RAW file is uploaded there for all to play with.
:5

[Giovanni Frescura]

Giovanni send it via wetransfer or yousendit or dropbox to my email address (morkel-at-morkelerasmus-dot-com) and I will start a thread in Eager-to-Learn and make sure the RAW file is uploaded there for all to play with.
:5

Hello
Morkel
I just started...but I sent you the raw
Thanks