Cheeky Warthog

[edwardselfe]

I took this image of an inquisitive male Warthog right at the beginning of the rains. The air is clear, there's short grass everywhere, and the detail available in images is astonishing. He kept approaching me so this is almost FF (just straightened). My composition options were therefore a bit limited. I do have some other shots with him further away but there's no connection with the viewer.

Be very interested in feedback and comments. Thanks.

1D4, 500mm f4 + 1.4x, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/800s.

Ed

[Russell Johnson]

Very good intimate portrait.

You have a lot of information on the RHS of the histogram, a levels adjusment to around 231 helps it all pop a bit more.

Personally I would look to work out the classic canon color cast to make the colours sing a little more.

Have a RP, let me know if you want to, lets see what the others think.

[vishaljadhav]

Ed
i am a bit new to PP and may not understand the language of PP very well as written by Russell

About the image , i like it for a few things
1) the eye level is nice
2) good details on the animal
3) the front on pose

The bright space at the bottom can be toned down a bit on the right of the subject.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ed, I think Russell has picked up most of my initial thoughts, although I might have only gone to 243, otherwise you will start to pick up blown white hotspots in the image. But what I would do is add a Curves Mid tone adjustment to lift the subject. If you are happy then I would also suggest applying some brush strokes of various greens & %'s to mask the black parts in the BKG. Just watch the colouration on the back/rump. I like the low POV, however I do think you are on the limit of space from feet to trim, it's a wee bit neat for me, just a sliver more would be ideal IMHO. The addition of the mud is a nice touch, likewise the hint of colour in the eyes.

TFS
Steve

[Loi Nguyen]

Ed, this is a cool image with great details, tack sharp, nice BG. I realize you are looking at a straight shot and for this species, it is hard to see the eyes with such a shot. I wonder if you have shots that show a slightly turned head angle to show more of the eye? Loi

[edwardselfe]

Thanks for all your comments.

Steve - I agree, it was a bit tight at the bottom, but I didn't have much space to play with. Not too sure how to go about painting green over the background, but I'm not so bothered by the darker patches. It would be a good skill to learn though, so will give it a shot later. Thanks for info.

Russell - that's a good idea, and it does make an improvement. Thanks.

Loi - I took a series of shots, but I didn't feel that the more side-on ones had the same impact. Anyway, here's one of them, with all the suggestions that you guys made, and a little more space underneath. Perhaps you like it better....I'm not sure it's so imposing.

Cheers.

Ed

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ed, something like this, you have the ability and knowhow, give it a whirl when you have time as I think it does make a difference. Personally I feel the OP is the better of the two and links more with the viewer.

Let me know how you get on.

Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Ed - I agree with your own self-assessment and Steve's that the image in your op is better due to the eye contact and pose. Nice light, color and low pov. Steve's tweaks take it up a notch and bring out more detail.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Ed, OP is better and Steve's RP takes it up a notch. Very cool image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

My first thought was to have a sliver more space at the bottom.
Some good suggestions otherwise. Apparent contrast here is fine. If you do need a new trick to play around with to add that contrast oomph to your images, have a look at the sticky thread at the top of the Wildlife forum that takes you to Robert Amoruso's tutorial on LCE (Local Contrast Enhancement). I've taken that and tweaked it a bit for my own workflow, but it's a good place to start.

I'd be interested to hear more about the "Canon colour cast" as per Russel - in my experience Nikon has a distincitve cast when using auto WB?

[hirandesilva]

The low angle, sharpness and green BG makes this a wonderful image.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Beautiful pose,BG and great details.

[Brendon Cremer]

A little late to this, but a great image with some great potential, steves RP looks great and is achieved witha few minor adjustments, otherwise great image with lovely colours and detail, the POV is also very nice with a great BG.