Gorilla Portrait with 300 II and 2x III (C)

[Rachel Hollander]

We finally had some warmer weather so I went back to the Bronx Zoo with my new toys, including a monopod, to practice. Shot through glass. I should have gone for a bit more dof but was worried about ss and am still resistant to cranking up the ISO higher than 1600 even with the 5D3.

Canon 5D3
300 II + 2.0x III
1/800
f6.3
ISO 1600
Cropped from horizontal, levels, curves, selective dodging, burning and color adjustments, sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

P.S. Before Morkel asks, yes I converted it to b&w too and will post that in the next post.

[Rachel Hollander]

Converted in CS6.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Quite a face :S3:...
In this case the colour works best for me - I think it's the eyes that have distinct colour over the mostly monochromatic look of everything else even in colour. Might tone down the OP a bit with luminosity adjustments?
I too wish for more DOF, Rachel...particularly to get the nose/mouth sharp.
Looks like this combo works, though - would be interesting to compare with the real 600mm :t3.

PS: Crank that ISO! :w3

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Morkel, I should have said I already ran luminosity masks but can perhaps run another. I'm sure the IQ is better with the 600 but I can carry the 300 around all day and would need a sherpa for the 600 :S3:.

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel, I prefer the colour as well as the mouth& eyes looks more 'natural', or more to the point, the b&W looks a little less natural.... This is an awesome image though, very intense stare... Seems fuzzy noses are in at the moment huh? DON PS am I the only one having the text editing difficulty..? ie the 'return' key does not work?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Don. I am not having any difficulties with the
...
...
return key.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Don Railton]

Hmm, Thank Rachel.. My 'return' worked in a word document Ok, maybe I just need to reboot my machine, possibly with a much larger boot...DON

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, quite a powerful looking portrait and I think you did well shooting through glass, not the ideal way, so think what you might have achieved in the open :Whoa!: Not sure if the glass would cut down any light, but agree with Morkel, crank up that ISO, you saw my Blackbird and having that extra DOF really would have made a difference. I like the pose and the eyes looking away, less confrontational.

Looking at both postings I think there is some merit in a combo, plus really pushing things in the darks to give a bit of 'grit', Morkel I think you should have a play, be nice to see some options perhaps with your B/W hat on? Trying to avoid 'gimmicks or over processing', but sometimes you have to get your thinking out of the system to know if it works, or not. :bg3: Seems you are really happy with the combo and it's really paying off. :cheers:

Rachel here's my take on the above:
Duplicated the layer
Col Efex applied Tonal & detail
SilverEfex to get a B/W add added a 'Coffee tone' set to a low % (yes occasionally I do use it)
Applied one of my Tonal/Channel curves
Upped tha saturation on the colour version
Exposure adjustment to darken the BKD
Masked and brought through the respective layers
Flattened, sharpened.

Not sure, but thought it might be worth a punt. :w3

cheers
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, I think it does have merit and for some reason (totally my own weird thinking) I am more willing to play around with my "practice" images of captive animals than with those shot out in the field. I took advantage of the recent offer and now have the whole suite of Nik software so will have to play a bit.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, if it only makes you go and explore then I'm happy. I think you are right about Captive & Wild.

[Diane Miller]

I love the B/W with color left in the eyes! It seems to make the OOF areas less noticeable.

I'm with you, Rachel, with not wanting to go above 1600 on the 5D3. But with bracketing so easy, I'm now trying to go higher with more DOF for a second shot if I have time. Too little DOF can be a problem.

The amount of degradation from high ISO really bugs me when I look at things at 100%. It limits the ability to crop and also to recover shadow detail. (I try to expose to the right, but sometimes you can't go far enough without blowing highlights beyond recovery.)

On lenses: I've been using the 300 f/2.8 IS for several years, often with a 2X. I recently got the 600 "II" and still use the 300 when weight is a factor and 600 is enough. The closer MFD makes it a keeper. I haven't done careful IQ comparisons but I'm still very pleased with the IQ of the 300 + 2X.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Diane. It would be great if you posted some of your wildlife shots too.

Rachel

[Diane Miller]

I've just recently had time to be active here; have posted some birds in the last few months but no other wildlife. I'll branch out eventually... Often don't past the Avian forum before getting interrupted.

[Andrew Merwin]

Hi Rachel, I prefer the OP. I like the hint of brown hair on the face, the color of the all-too-human eyes & the hint of color in the ape's mouth. In spite of the DOF, I think this is an arresting image as the image is about the eyes & they are sharp. TFS.

[Diane Miller]

Rachel, I just posted one, but had to put it in Out of the Box.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel,

great portrait of this proud Gorilla. I like your OP best. The RP of Steve is great with the bit more darker 'vignette' applied. Not sure if that is a vignette! Anyway, I like the brown hair coming through Rachel's OP, but I assume that is more of personal taste :S3:

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Uffman]

I love the B/W with color left in the eyes! It seems to make the OOF areas less noticeable.


On lenses: I've been using the 300 f/2.8 IS for several years, often with a 2X. I recently got the 600 "II" and still use the 300 when weight is a factor and 600 is enough. The closer MFD makes it a keeper. I haven't done careful IQ comparisons but I'm still very pleased with the IQ of the 300 + 2X.


I'm with you, Rachel, with not wanting to go above 1600 on the 5D3. But with bracketing so easy, I'm now trying to go higher with more DOF for a second shot if I have time. Too little DOF can be a problem.

The amount of degradation from high ISO really bugs me when I look at things at 100%. It limits the ability to crop and also to recover shadow detail. (I try to expose to the right, but sometimes you can't go far enough without blowing highlights beyond recovery.)


My 2 cents...I hear both you and Rachel on the ISO 1600 but there is an every increasing cadre that are going up to 3200 and beyond. Its a bit out of the box for some. Chas is going higher on his 1dx as well.....I have both the 5dIII and the 1dx and their low light capabilities are pretty good.


Now a request for feedback on the 300II vs the 600II....I am debating what to do. I have the 500 f/4 but not the II. I have the 70-300....have the latest 2x and 1.4x converters. Thinking of what I should get for her.....300 II with the 2x for reach (reasons Rachal discussed) or keep the 500 for her and get the 600II for me:bg3:

[Steve Uffman]

Rachal, and BTW, I meant to say how much I like the gorilla....OP and Steve's....I think you will like the Nik Collection....I use Define selectively now for noise reduction and am real pleased. On Color Efex Pro 4, I suggest downloading the additional recipes they have available. Sometimes I will scan through them on an image and frequently get some ideas. Actually have sold some images using some recipes that were Out of the Box for me but produced some dramatic effects that caused somebody to want to write a check

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve, there was a thread all about the 300f/2.8, 500 & 600 I think recently, not sure if this helps?
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/108187-Major-lens-dilemma

You might also want to check this out too?
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/108132-Canon-500-and-600mm-F4-II-pros-and-cons

If anyone else has questions as per Steve's Uffman's reply, please can you start a new thread as this will otherwise go off topic. Thanks :wave:

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew, Anette and Steve. Steve - thanks for the tip about the additional recipes. I'll look for them. Btw so far I like the flexibility of the 300 and the t/cs as well as the lighter weight but I tend to shoot larger mammals rather than birds most of the time. What does your wife shoot mostly?

Thanks again,
Rachel

Sorry Steve K. - we posted at the same time.

[Shreyas Mantri]

Nice shots from the combo, Rachel. Sure you're loving the lens, it's quiet a piece of glass :w3
For this one, I like the tonality of Steve's PP.
TFS

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Shreyas

[Morkel Erasmus]

mmmm....will take Steve up on his offer...
watch this space...:w3

[Morkel Erasmus]

Here's my take, Rachel and Steve.
Tried to enhance the eyes through dodging and burning and added some more contrast to the face through more dodging and burning...:t3...I'm old school that way these days. Doing all my conversions in PS. Slightly toned with a sepia tint (2%).

WDYT? :e3

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - Thanks for the rp. The additional contrast has made him look a bit more menacing. Interesting how the changes can have different effects. I generally use PS for my conversions as well.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Indeed. Perhaps I pushed it a bit...

I meant that where I used to do many of my conversions in Silver Efex, I'm now doing it all in PS B&Wmodule and enhancing with dodge/burn and luminosity and curves adjustments...

[Grady Weed]

Hi Rachel, I prefer the OP. I like the hint of brown hair on the face, the color of the all-too-human eyes & the hint of color in the ape's mouth. In spite of the DOF, I think this is an arresting image as the image is about the eyes & they are sharp. TFS.

I'm with Andrew! Nice one Rachel. I love the eyes and the turned away look. Very nice indeed.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Grady

[peter delaney]

Hi Rachel

I hope u don't mind me playing with image... this is just my vision of a you're lovely image.....

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Awesome expression you've captured and I soo wish you had more dof on the mouth area. I prefer the OP colors but Steve definately created a winner too. Funny how we all have our own ideas and visions of what works and that's a good thing. I would have never guessed you shot this thru glass either.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Peter and Cheryl, much appreciate the comments. Peter -your rp looks the most sinister yet.

[John Ippolito]

A riveting image, Rachel. There are now so many excellent versions in the reposts, that it's difficult to decide which is now the best. Visage very nicely expressed.