Elephant gives a push

[Anette Mossbacher]

Being in the car in Etosha at a waterhole. The right elephant pushing the left elephant. They had fun with that :)
The elephants have been wet from the mud & water.

MKIV
lens 70-200mm L IS II & 1.4x ext.
ISO400 f/7.1
1/4000sec
It was shot at 3:02:03PM, when the clock in the camera works correct :w3
ACR - not much, in PS - Curves, Mid-tone contrast, tonal contrast a bit, selective color a bit for the whites and blacks, sharpen. Finished :S3:

Everything on critic is welcome, thanks a lot

Have a great weekend Ciao Anette

[Andrew Merwin]

Ciao Anette,
I like the action portrayed here, the curved trunks, the raised feet of the right elephant & the hint of clouds in the sky. The light seems harsh to my eye. I also think the elephants are over sharpened & I see a halo across the backs of both elephants.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Andrew, thank you very much.

I went over the layers and found the halo. Fixed it, went with the brush to far :tinysmile_shy_t:
If you still see a halo please let me know where on the elephants.
Sharpening was selective only on the elephants, you are right, I even have reduced it down to 50% in Opacity. Was not sure with it!!
The RP has no sharpening applied. I took down the tonal contrast in the FG, for me that was to harsh too. As well I took down the light in the elephants a bit.
Anything else, please do let me know :bg3:

Ciao
Anette

PS. The Springbuck on the LHS elephant's trunk. For me it is a bit disturbing!!!!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Anette - fun behavior. I do wish the lead ele had turned toward you rather than away but these things are out of our control. The white elephants of Etosha comes through here though I might still apply a luminosity mask to burn the highlights a bit more. I think the sharpening needs to be somewhere between the two or selectively applied to the head of the pushing elephant.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

I have yet to see these "white elephants" Anette...nice moment here.
The creases and textures of their wet and muddy skins makes sharpening challenging here. I too feel it could be a bit more than in the RP, but it's certainly going to be easy to overcook in this case and the RP doesn't look "unsharp" to me so I might leave it.

I agree on toning down the brights a bit more...

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Anette ,
love those Etosha colors, with the "white ele`s".
You captured a funny behavior of the big boys.

I personally find it a bit distracting that the horizon is running through their heads , but at that waterhole you need to get out of the vehicle to get low perspective:w3.I think , pretty sure image from Nebrowni ?
Like the overall tonality and sharpness in RP,but maybe still toning down the whites gives the ele`s a bit more depth.

TFS Andreas

[Shreyas Mantri]

Anette, a fun moment captured here....I got some funny ones from these guys too. Certainly the light is too harsh and your repost is better but would go with a little more toning down the brights. I personally do not mind the springboks in the background; maybe you could add some background blur to separate the elephants, if you really wanted to!?
TFS

[Anette Mossbacher]

Thank you, Rachel, Morkel, Andreas & Shreyas for your suggestions :bg3:

Will tone down the highlights in the elephants.
Andreas, you are right, Newbroni, only place to find those big guys, when lucky somewhere in the bush. Well with the Horizon I was as low I could. Might should have opened the door to get lower, but I assume I would have been reported to the National Park by someone!! :w3 never know.

Have a fantastic week

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Anette, I love these animals, it's as if they have been cast in plaster of Paris. :bg3:

Have you tried adjusting the Exposure in the Adjustments layer, say -1.10 1, 0.95 and applying a mask to see what happens? From my recollection, shooting here is tough & bright, but you might like to try a tweak?

TFS
Steve