Postcard from the Kalahari

[Gabriela Plesea]

This postcard is for all BPN members and moderators-thank you for your warm welcome and for your comments and critique-I really appreciate it!

My heartfelt thanks to my partner Andre who had the patience to teach me how to work with the camera (and couches me with CS6:w3), and special thanks to Steve Kaluski for his guidance and advice along the way:5


Warmest regards,

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gaby, great 3D effect in this, and love the intense stare of the big fellow. The wind swept grasses add interest, and if this were mine, I would take about a third off the top. :w3

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Stu, maybe you are right about the crop, I am curious if others think the same, I was so taken with the dark skies after the storm I had not thought about this:w3!

Warmest regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

I love the images from this scene, Gabriela! The wider view (compared to the previous posting) works better for me...and I would leave the sky/land ratio as is (it's a taste thing so I don't think there's a right or wrong here).
I felt it could use a tweak or 2, so in this repost I opened up shadows and midtones on the lion a wee bit, added a hint of sharpening and some midtone contrast. What do you think?

PS: so glad you're enjoying it here and learning! :5

[Diane Miller]

Morkel did give more life to the lion -- beautiful guy!!

Although it would place the horizon in the middle, I think I'd go with the sky crop here. Or, lighten the blues and add a gradient to darken the sky a little from the top. Just not enough going on up there for me, but that's just me. You'll probably get a 50-50 split of opinions on this.

I'm really enjoying your posts and look forward to more! Glad to have you here!

[Tom Graham]

Agree with Diane about gradient the sky slightly so darker at top.
Sky typically not consistently same blue hue top to bottom. Unless - a very long lens was used so that a very narrow portion of sky is in image.
What focal length was this shot at?
Tom

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, new one to me, although we have seen more of the series with this guy, loving it.

I can't remember if you said that there was a storm brewing at the time, if so then I like the overall colour. I also like the off set placement of the subject, however no so on the large expanse of sky, just feel it's a tad excessive? I agree with Morkel on opening it up a tad, this is with Curves adjustment and additionally dropping the yellow a fraction, WDYT? I also agree that it does need some more USM selectively applied to the subject.

Love the diffused FG/BKG that the 500 fixed lens produces, it creates a lovely effect, techs look good, however personally I might have dropped the ISO.

Techs: D3s 500f/4 lens, f/6.3 1/3200 ISO1000

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - I really like the placement of the lion in the frame and the wind-swept feel that the blowing grasses convey. I agree with Morkel and Steve about opening up the midtones a bit and sharpening. The amount of sky is all down to personal taste and for me might even come down to different amounts based on what size/proportion print I was making.

TFS,
Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Gabriela,

for me, I do like this series as well. Looks really great. Suggestions for to put it up the notch you got already. I like the crop from Steve very much. It suits better :bg3:

Have a great evening

Ciao
Anette

[Nancy Bell]

Interesting following the thoughts of all above. The image has been tweaked very effectively. The fabulous intensity of the lion is the main attention-grabber and the simplicity of the rest of the image really allows the lion to take center stage. I very much like the flowing grasses just grazing his chin.

[Brendon Cremer]

Really lovely image Gabriela, im a little late to this so not much to add, some great suggestions offered, with regards to crop i really like the space but also feel there may be a little too much sky, i am a fan of the 16:9 crop so steve RP works for me too, very subjective i suppose.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Brendon, you are never too late:w3, I always appreciate your input-and I entirely agree with Steve's crop (I wish I had asked his opinion before I printed postcards with this lion image!)
And thank you all for your contribution, the harsher your critique the better my processing gets - I love reading your suggestions and questions. Allow me to give you a bit more background regarding this image (besides, I love telling a story:bg3:), this might help you judge the image and understand my settings/thinking at the time. This sighting occurred one afternoon after a heavy rainstorm, we were camping in the Kalahari-Botswana side (Polentswa). The storm was very heavy, the skies dark, the wind incredible-table and chairs flying from under the A-frame (will provide some images of the place in the appropriate forum). When it all ended we went for a drive. It was amazing-the grass on both sides of the road was shining like gold as the sun was penetrating the dark clouds behind us. Looking ahead, the sky was dark but cloudless. Then we saw the lions...A male, his female and two subadults. The young were walking with mom in the middle of the road, the male went off the road and kept walking in our direction, his face and lovely mane just visible in the high grass. I started shooting with the 500 but had my 300 ready in case they came closer. Young lions are playful and we were anticipating some play, but it did not happen. I looked briefly at my images and they were rather dark, pushed the ISO up but left the F-stop at 6.3, the lions were getting closer (the female and her boys were walking almost shoulder to shoulder). When the male was barely few meters away he lifted his head and looked right at me-I could barely fit him in the frame. Nevertheless, I tried to capture him in all his beauty, frame after frame, until he disappeared from view. I know my photographs do not give him justice, but in my mind this is still the best lion encounter I have had.

I must mention here that I did not resharpen after converting in Jpeg, perhaps that is why some of you felt my image needs another round of sharpening.

Hope this answers some of your questions,

Warmest regards,

[Girish Prahalad]

very beautiful image! lovely comp & eye contact. The windswept grass & the lion's mane makes the image special.
I personally prefer Morkel's repost.

[edwardselfe]

I like Steve's RP and I wonder if the sky is a bit too saturated. I think it might look a little more natural to back off a bit on that. But I do like it as it is and the image as a whole is spectacular.
Ed

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Edward, and I agree with you-Steve's RP does so much for this image! Regarding the sky-this is how it was, the sighting happened after a heavy storm...

Kind regards,