African Wild Dogs Relaxing Before a Hunt, Laikipia, Kenya

[Loi Nguyen]

We went searching for the endangered African Wild Dogs at Laikipia, Kenya. Two of the dogs had collar, but we searched in vain the first day with no success. On our last evening, we gave it another try and after crashing thru the bush, we were rewarded with meeting this 16-member pack. The sun had faded and hidden behind a cloud before sunset.

1DX
500mm f4 II
1/160
f8
ISO-800
AV Mode
Bean bag on the ground

I'm still in Nairobi waiting for a flight home and would like to share this image. Hope you like it.

Thank you!

Loi

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi ,
always great to see these great hunters , lucky you guy.

I like the three dogs watching you or us.Nice details in the black !!! fur . I hope this is not FF , otherwise i think you have gone really too tight with this one.The image needs some room on top , bottom and LHS.

Besides the one head in the BG , which kind of disturbing, if it is fitting your ethics try to remove the head.
I would try to tone down the FG , to give it a bit more depth, try multiply selectively in layer.
Biggest issue for me is the blue fur,easy to solve.

Really like the three dogs facing the viewer, do not mind about the one turned away from cam.

TFS Andreas

[Don Railton]

Hello Loi

I like the intense stare of the three dogs and the ears. Its a pity about the OOF dog. I agree with Andreas, the blue tinge is spoiling the image but an easy fix. Also agree it too tight on top, and there is also an OOf blob on the lower edge LHS that may be softened or 'adjusted' with the clone brush if you do that..

DON

[Ken Hadfield]

Terrific image of a great subject. Love the dogs in the foreground and wish the little chap to the right had moved away for a second. There's always one isn't there! Love the crisp image of the dogs. I need to get back over there!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi -always a treat to see wild dogs. Good observations above especially about the tightness and the blue cast to the fur. The intersecting head of the dog behind the three is unfortunate but part of nature. I think the image also needs a bit of cw rotation. Looking forward to your return and to you sharing more images from your trip as well as participating in others' threads.

TFS,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Thnak you everyone for your helpful comments. I see the blue color cast now. Here is a version with hopefully improved color balance. I used the eye drop to sample the black in DPP to get the color temperature. Not sure if it works or not, but this looks better. Sorry for not active participating in this forum as I just started to learn about wildlife now. I do participate often in the Avian forum with other treads and will look forward to do the same here.

thank you.

Loi

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - I think you've now gone too yellow in the rp. I took the op into CS6 and dropped the blues in a saturation adjustment layer by -50. You didn't answer whether this is ff or if you have more room all around. If it is ff then you cannot straighten it either without clipping more of the dogs. Here's my adjustment to the color. WDYT? I would also apply some NR to the bg.

Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Rachael, your RP looks great. Side by side, I can see I went way over to Yellow. This is almost a FF and I don't have room at the top. I was shooting with all 3 dogs lying down and the next thing I knew the middle one stood up and I was focusing on the one on the right. It's a learning experience for me to pay attention to the full frame composition. I will rework the image later to learn how to get the colors. Thanks a lot.

Loi

[John Ippolito]

Loi, what a great sighting, and posing as well. Very nice. I like Rachel's version with regard to color, and am not that troubled with the ears close to the frame. More top room would be nice, but not a deal killer. I notice painters like Bateman frequently crowd the frame and they start with a blank canvas.
I'd be happy to have this sighting, and happier to have the image. My wild dog sightings have all been single dogs, but any sighting is a gift. TFS this.