Black Rhino

[Anette Mossbacher]

Black Rhino, yeah you all know that :t3
Shot in Etosha last Oct.

Canon MK IV
lens: EF 300mm f/2.8 & 2x ext
f/5.6 1/3200
ISO 400

Most was done in ACR, PS - curves ( as far I get around with that! ) Shadow/Highlights > selective
Vivezia to get a bit structure out of the background and rocks. Especially the rocks more behind the Rhino.
C&C welcome :bg3:



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[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette and a happy New Year. :cheers:

I like the composition, but surprised about IQ, is this a largish crop and or, using the old 2x? To me if this is almost FF then you should have better detail & clarity in the Rhino. Having a hint of FG gives a layering effect to the image which is nice. I like the inclusion of a bit of blue, it breaks up the overall colour of the composition. I think you can tonally just soften the stones down a little bit, but without loosing detail and would also look at the brighter ones towards the bottom LHC. Do you know what is at the foot of the Rhinos rear leg, and don't say toes :bg3:

Hope to see more soon.

TFS
Steve

PS - Mika Bars are still wrapped up :tinysmile_shy_t:

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Steve,

you can take one Milka Bar and eat it with your coffee or tea, now :t3

I did not crop that image at all. The 2x is the older one 2x ext II, sadly. Just sold my 2 old ones and got new ones the 2x III, just before Christmas.
What is FF ? If there is anywhere a list of all shortcut letters, like FF,BG ....etc. would be great to get the link of them. Sorry for that, I live high up in the mountains. Sometimes I see Heidi and Peter :e3

The thing at the FOOT of the Rhino is a long leaf, not a ring/bracelet like the marked birds have :tinysmile_shy_t: I can take that away, no prob.

Thanks a lot Steve :bg3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette, sorry get used to using shortcuts, saves breaking another nail whilst typing. :bg3:

FG - foreground, BKG - background, FF Full frame, not sure if there is a link to these, although I'm sure I have seen one somewhere.

I think the issue for me then is the old 2x, not a patch on the new one. thanks for the clarification re the 'leaf', your call on how you deal with that, or leave it?

The Milka bars are teasing me, but I need to get back into training and work off Xmas before Canada next month. Will keep you posted re Swizzyland in September, just waiting for dates and to confirmation.

Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Anette - A very nice scene with the black rhino out in the open and the layers of water, rocks, grass, trees and sky. As always, Steve has nailed the issues.

TFS,
Rachel

[Robert Amoruso]

Anette,

I think Steve is objecting to the Structure (local contrast enhancement) introduced using Vivezia. At first I was not sure I liked it but it grows on me - the look is interesting in a kind of harsh way whcih matches the look of the rhino.

I would suggest cropping into a pano just below where the bright line of tan grass starts. The darker brush and blue sky diminishes the presence of the rhino in the image IMO.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Robert,

thank you very much Robert. I did by now an action on the Rhino, which brings out quite some detail with Surface blur! It did quite a good job on the Rhino. Will try the Structure of Vivezia as well for a comparison.
With taking out the dark bushes and blue sky, that really brings out the Rhino more, in my eyes ! :S3:

Thanks so much Robert

Ciao
Anette

[Morkel Erasmus]

Always nice to see them, Anette.
I agree with the assessments above, wish for higher IQ but given what you were using I think it's acceptable :e3.
Robert's crop is exactly what I would have suggested (sorry Steve:S3:).
I think I would have gone the other way with the structure in the rocks. Toning them down while keeping the effect on the rhino's skin would help him stand out a bit more?

[Anette Mossbacher]

The Rhino was taken into my workshop again ( office > Photoshop ) I did more detail and cropped it. The Pano crop looked sort of squished for the Rhino, so I left it to a "normal" crop.
What do you think?
I sort of like the wider space around the Rhino, like the first image in this thread with the blue sky! Hmm...
Curious what you all think

Ciao
Anette :eek3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette, certainly I feel you are going in the right direction, although personally I'm not too keen on the re crop. Although I'm looking at this on the laptop, I do feel it still needs some 'tone' on the Rhino, plus I also feel you can apply some more selective sharpening. This might be pushed a little more, but hopefully you will get the idea, as it adds more form & structure to the body. When I say structure, it's figurative, nothing to do with processing.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Anette ,
ver late on this one.
Like this Etosha scene, with an always good and interesting subject.
Nice colors and composition, would keep the OP , maybe getting rid of the blue sky, while still having a nice layers BG:
Tonality of FG and BG i find pleasing for the shooting conditions, but the rhino is not working for me.
It has kind of HDR look , too heavy for my taste, i think the shadows should be deeper, because they usually not lit under this shooting conditions.

I would reduce the blur filter by half the way.

TFS Andreas

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Annette,
Great discussion here! As usual......Robert and I are on the same page for crop. I really feel Steve's repost is the way to go.....just a few ticks down more crop on the top to eliminate the greyish band and then you have a winner!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Andreas, HDR!!! I got HDR thing from NIK for free, but so far never have opened it. No idea how it works, as well I am not quite a fan of HDR look :bg3: I certainly do not have the feeling that the Rhino has a HDR look, but for sure will try now out my NIK HDR how that look will be :w3

Thanks a lot Roman, sorry that I am not quite on your s & Roberts page with the crop. There I certainly feel that the Rhino needs more space, not only in this image !!

For that oh so wonderful sky, I just took out the blue, cropped it a bit more down to the bushes. The OP is on top FF post, this now just a tiny bit cropped.

Thanks so much for all your input & help.

Ciao
Anette

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like what Steve did ito crop.
I'd take some off the LHS too to remove that OOF stump...
:S3:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette here you go. I've not added any saturation, just left the WB at Auto, as that seem to, IMHO give the best looking result, warming/cooling is all personal taste. I also dropped the Red by 100% and the Blue to -30 and added another Levels adjustment with the RH slider at 222. I think this now has a bit more structure & form to the Rhino without going over the top, but again you may wish more. You can, if you wish straighten the tree line so you do not have a sloping element to the BKG, but again, all personal taste & how far you wish to take things. Hope this helps.

cheers
Steve

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Steve,
thaaaanks so much. I opened my ORG ACR, I have set it to As Shot, that gives a bit warmth, due it was around 6pm. ( should have add that, sorry )
The RED and BLUE I left alone, I took blue off in PS selective. Clarity I had up to +7 in ACR.
For the Details I used Smart filter, Blur...etc in an action for the Rhino only. Color wise I did not add anything, not even vibrance.

This helps much more. Thanks so much Steve :5:wave:

Ciao
Anette :eek3: :w3 love the smilies

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette, setting the WB to 'As shot' is fine, you were there and can remember approximately how it looked, so no issues there, it took to Auto just for, if you like, a 'happy balance' to start with.

The Red/Blue is just me, working on the file I just thought it needed adjusting. Clarity is fine, with the new versions of LR & CS6 you really do not need to crank it up unlike the older versions. If you adjust the new TIFF file with the Blue, Red & Levels adjustment you should be there, but apply the Blue adjustment with a white mask and paint back in the sky & water otherwise is looks a little washed out IMHO.

Not sure what the route you choose for getting more detail out does, or include, but I just keep it simple. You could, if you wish add some NIK Tonal Contrast, but again, just with a sensitive touch. :S3:

BTW M3 isn't going out today, 5-10cm of snow and she dances too much in these conditions, unlike Nürburgring. :w3