Tank on the move

[Shreyas Mantri]

Hello all,

This is a shot made while attempting to catch an in-motion pose of this Rhino. Not the best techs, and in hindsight I could've done better with the panning - but it's amazing how fast these bulks can move. Between the excitement of seeing the Rhino and setting up the camera, he was already in my face, and hence the closeup :S3:....not that I'm complaining!

Canon 7D, 300mm II + 2.0 III, f/5.6, @ 1/160s, EC +1/3, ISO 200; shot at first light!

Comments welcome!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Shreyas - always exciting to see one of these on the move. Nice job on the exp. While I like fill the frame shots, I would prefer a little more room all around on this one.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sheryas, certainly a frame filler and this is why fixed lens can be your best friend, or your worst enemy :S3:, certainly removing the 2x would have been ideal, but in the 'heat of the moment...'. I do feel the image is light, with no real tone or contrast (no real blacks or whites for tonal range), but am away so it could well be the fact I'm viewing on the laptop? Although to me it has the same 'qualities' as per the Lion pride, but I could well be wrong, I just wonder if there is anything in the PP you are doing that may create this, just a thought? Perhaps a little NR to the top part of the BKD?
On a positive note you have a nice shot of a Rhino and it looks sharp, any image of a Rhino is a good one. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[Nancy Bell]

Magnificent Rhino! It must have been super thrilling to see this. I really like the slight turn of the head and that you can easily see the eye. I also like the uplifted moving foot. I think a bit more "pop" on the rhino, as Steve suggested, would be nice. If you do anything with the contrast you may want to reduce the brightness of that white spot to the right of the horn. Also a bit more room all around, to give this beast somewhere to go :S3:.

[Marina Scarr]

While I agree with a little more room, I feel as though you did a great job under the circumstances. The sharpness looks good, and I like the pose. Steve K can probably help you tweak the processing a little.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Shreyas.
This image excites me for the following reasons:
1. it's a black rhino
2. it's alive :Whoa!:
3. it's still got its horn :eek3:
4. it was taken in a magical place and I will be there for the first time end of May :bg3:

I do find it a bit tight but it does work for me.
I agree with Steve on it lacking some punch so I did a quick job here, adding LCE and some burning/dodging. I also had to remove some magenta from the rhino...
WDYT?

[Shreyas Mantri]

Thanks for your input, all!
Here's a repost based on all your suggestions. Sorry for a long turnaround time as life's a bit hectic these days.

@Morkel, thanks for the quick repost. Mine is a bit mellowed down version of that but I get the idea of what's needed to be achieved.
@ Steve, maybe you're right regarding the contrast issue in my PP for the early morning light shots. Let me know what you think of this repost!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Shreyas, I could be way off on this one and if I am will delete, but how does this look to you? Will expand if you think it is more inline.

cheers
Steve

[Shreyas Mantri]

Hi Steve, thanks for the RP. It however is a bit more harsh for me with the grays standing out rather unnaturally IMO.
Apart from this light situation for this particular shot, I compared it with the ones shot later (with brighter light) - and they have grayish-blue tone on the Rhino, rather than a prominent gray. Will post one of those in a separate thread and see what you think.

Shreyas