The Eyes Have It (C)

[Rachel Hollander]

Playing around again at the Bronx Zoo with the 300 2.8 II this time with my 7D. Composed in camera with a crop to 16x9 (Steve K.'s favorite) to get rid of the nostrils.

Canon 7D
300 2.8 II
1/200
f3.2
ISO 1600
Shot through glass, monopod, levels, curves, luminosity masks, selective color adjustments and sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Brendon Cremer]

Hi Rachel, a great idea here and a very striking image. Nicely exposed and highlights we handled. Just a few adjustments i would make, try opening up the eyes a little regarding light and colour, the focus unfortunately is just before the eyes on the bridge of the nose, this the eyes a little soft, you may be able to selectively sharpen them to help, a slightly larger DOF would have helped this, otherwise you have to be so sure the focus is on the actual eye with a shallow DOF. Lastly perhaps rotate a little clock wise to level out the eyes.

Have you tried this in a B&W by any chance?

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Brendon - thanks for the comment and suggestions. Of course I have a b&w version of this, converted in CS6. I did straighten this slightly and apply another round of USM to the eyes.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Brendon Cremer]

Very nice Rachel I hope you dont mind i played a bit with both the colour and the B&W, i imported into LR added a little clarity,contrast using the tone curve and then selectively worked on the eyes, a little exposure, clarity saturation and a round of NR on eyes only.

The eyes may be a little over done in my attempt to make them pop, personally i really like the B&W

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[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Brendon. I like the additional sharpness and clarity but prefer the richer color of the eyes in the op. I like the eyes in your b&w better.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

Cool shot Rachel, feels like I'm looking through the door of a speakeasy. I prefer the subtle color and it's contrast with the mostly B/W of the OP.

[hirandesilva]

Hi Rachel, Like the eyes looking hard at the camera. IMO the eyes in color creates an impact. Wonder from the OP if toning down slightly the brightness on the nose area would make it better to view.

Hiran

[Anette Mossbacher]

Yikes, nearly fall of my chair Rachel. Fantastic shot and no I did not fall backwards I pushed the chair on the wheels backwards :bg3:

I actually like all the post in this thread yours and from Brendon. Very well done in all versions :S3:
The most I like the B&W with the colored eyes

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, Hiran and Anette, much appreciated. Anette - there is no b&w version with the eyes in color, that's a color version.:w3 This gorilla is one of the older ones and most of her hair is silver. You can see a little bit of her red hair from the top of her head just above the brow.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

There you see Rachel, I am way to much sitting on the PC and do not even see anymore the difference, lololol. To much rain here and it won't stop as it looks, bummer :Whoa!:

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like your crop and presentation here, Rachel.
I do also feel the eyes are a tad too soft, critical focus seems to be the bridge of the nose, and f3.2 is pretty shallow on that lens... :e3
I like Brendon's B&W version the most.

I bet you can't wait to lug that baby all the way to Svalbard and Africa!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, like your thinking, but the DOF is the killer on this image for me. The eyes have to be pin sharp, now they could be and perhaps with some more selective PP you could bring out more, but as presented it's not up to the mark, or more importantly you benchmark, but good, work in progress. Having the contrast of the rich blacks juxtapose to the warm oranges is nice and i like the crop, but sadly cannot classify that as my own :bg3:

You will need to work more with the 2x & 300, plus the 70-200 for Svalbard and I think we have everything sorted for your trip, as you have already got a lot under your belt for Africa and know the score.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Morkel and Steve. Now I just have to hope the polar bears cooperate. :cheers:

[Dperkell]

Love it Rachel, I have never done the Bronx zoo with gear but what a great idea. Always escape the city to shoot.