Hunter's Gait

[Morkel Erasmus]

I haven't posted an addition to my new monochrome collection of late...

...this is from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa...

I posted the colour version a long time ago here on the forum - I know some will prefer it :S3: - http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/92458-Cheetah-in-Gold
I like both.
Some will also dislike the vignette, and that's okay, this vignette is mostly due to the tonal differences in conversion due to the fall of the light, and I liked how it turned out naturally (I did burn it a bit in places to enhance it).




Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II + 1.4xTC @ 700mm
f5.6 @ 1/640 SS @ ISO-1400


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[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel,
like the image as stated in the color thread, and will for sure stick with color version.
like the tonality in the subject , but not in the surrounding.
on the other hand it leads the viewers eye to the subject.

So not sure , what to think.

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - without seeing the color version I would really like the b&w. The conversion is nice and there's a 3D feel to the image. Techs are great. However, for me it is a shame to convert that awesome golden light on the color version.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, colour for me. :bg3:

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks guys.
Luckily doing a conversion doesn't mean you have to bin/delete the colour version :w3.

[Gen Benjamin]

This is such a lovely image in both B&W and color. I am not always a fan of B&W but with this image I am. The soft background, vignetting and slight blur in the tail give this image a dream like quality that i enjoy immensly
Gemn

[Janet Heintz]

Hi Morkel,
For me it's the black and white version. I went back and forth several times and I think the eyes seem to really pop on the black and white. Just my opinion.
I have always been a big fan of desaturated and black & white images. As you can see in my
digital art. http://jheintzphotography.zenfolio.com/p446932426.
Beautiful image either way.
Janet

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the colour and the monochrome, I must admit through the monochrome holds my attention 100% - excellent shot. The more I look the more I like!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thank you for your honest feedback, everyone. I'm glad that some of you like both :bg3:

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mork, great shooting angle, and walking angle of the cheetah. I like the intense stare, and that he is out in the open. Both versions look good, and since Ive been experimenting with B&W on the quiet, Im going for this version. :w3

[Carole Deschuymere]

Hi Morkel, I prefer the colour version, because I love the golden light. the BW version is nice, but I'm a big fan of Nick Brandt's work, so it's a tad too soft for me. but that's personal. anyway it's a nice picture!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Stu, thanks - good to hear you are tinkling with monochrome :w3

Carole - I too am a fan of Nick Brandt, but obviously don't want to outright imitate his style. By "soft" do you mean sharpness or contrast??

[Carole Deschuymere]

I mean contrast. about the vignetting: sometimes it works, and it works for this picture, but did you blur it in circles or something? I see some kind of stripes in the upper vignetting. What I really like is the eyes, they seem to have a slightly browner colour, did you change the colour? I'm not being critical, I'm just curious! :bg3:

[Roger Clark]

Hi Morkel,

I just had an interesting experience viewing your image on my laptop: the eyes look pale yellow. Have you thought about a color/monochrome version, keeping the eyes yellow? I think that would be intriguing. If you like that, then experiment with the intensity of the yellow. If subtle, it will grab people's attention without being obvious at first. I do like both the color and B&W versions.

Roger

[Roger Clark]

Interesting, I'm now viewing the image on my calibrated monitor, and I still get the impression of faint yellow in the eyes. I do like the effect and think a touch of yellow would add intrigue.
Roger

[Morkel Erasmus]

I actually didn't do anything to the eyes, except dodging them after conversion to accentuate them.

Roger - I'm normally not a fan of the "coloured eyes, monochrome rest" approach, but heck it's almost Christmas so I thought I'd try it :w3.
Is this what you had in mind? Overlayed the colour version and carefully and subtly painted through the eyes using a mask.

[Roger Clark]

Hi Morkel,
I agree. I'm also not a fan of one part colored and the rest B&W. I like B&W (I used to do 4x5 B&W and develop and print myself).
But in this case I like it. Nice and subtle, but there just enough to grab the viewer saying something intriguing about the image.

Roger

[Tom Graham]

FWIW, I took image into PS and eyedropper measured (3x3 sample) and find throughout the image red being slightly more that green, and green being slightly more than blue. Typical numbers like for BG being 135, 130, 126. The eyes (iris) being 111,108,105. Flipping into B&W mode, the slight color becomes obvious. But, anyway, really, toning B&W has been long practiced.
Tom

[Stan Cunningham]

Nice that you can do both to the same image. Think I prefer the B and W but barely, I'll be in Kgalagadi on my own the 3rd week of June and already can't stand the wait.