Marakele Aardvark

[Rudi van den Heever]

I have been privileged to photograph this very shy and skittish nocturnal mammal in the golden last light of the day in Marakele National Park, South Africa.

I have posted the image before, but decided to reprocess it. You can read the all about my processing workflow on the image on my blog at http://linruphotography.blogspot.com/2013/08/wildlife-image-processing-reprocessing.html, so no secrets with this one!:e3

All crits and comments welcome as usual...:2eyes2:

Canon 7D and 100-400mm L lens at 300mm, 1/800s at F5.6 and ISO 400.

[Andre Pretorius]

Stunning capture of this rare nocturnal mammal. Last time I saw one, he was running through ankle deep water on Mabua pan, some 7 years ago! Love the golden light, the Aardvark crisp with just enough DOF. IMHO I would crop a sliver of bottom, there
is too much OOF FG.

[Gabriela Plesea]

What a beauty, Rudi! Stunning light and detail! Thank you for sharing your processing workflow, much appreciated:5

Kind regards,

[Markus Jais]

Cool shot. Great warm light and colors. I like the composition. Probably hard to get close to this species.

Markus

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rudi, I like the comp & warm colours and nice to see what is, or can be, an elusive fellow.

Looking at the image the arch of the back looks a little odd, lacking detail compared to the side, perhaps too much masking in the initial processing, likewise the back leg looks a little crunchy, but that might be the 7D?

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

I'm still green about this special sighting, my friend. Nice read on the blog too.
I do think the yellows may be a bit overcooked here? Did not check in PS, but perhaps backing down a wee fraction on the saturation of yellows will bring out more detail?

I do think you can make this special creature stand out more by selectively and slightly desaturating the surrounding grasses as well - but not to the point where it looks unnatural...:t3

[Russell Johnson]

A nice capture of an elusive animal here, Rudi.

I would agree with Morkel, and think that the yellows are too strong across the image. Personally, I prefer the original image on your blog, though with a few tweaks (dodge/burn) and a touch of vibrance to take it to the next level.

[Jamie Douglas]

A fine image Rudi and thanks for producing a great blog. Cheers for the chat on twitter re lumo masks.

[Brendon Cremer]

Indeed a stunning image in great light. I agree with Steve and Morkel, the back definitely looks a little softer detail wise than the rest of the body, not seeing any issue detail wise anywhere else. Colour wise, for me this is quite subjective, personally i would do just as morkel suggested, drop the yellow just a tad and then drop the saturation in the surroundings a little to help the animal pop a little more.

[edwardselfe]

Looking at your blog entry, I think I prefer the beautiful soft colours of the original RAW.....I wonder if we could see a version of that with normal sharpening etc. I think you nailed it the first time....
Just my tuppence!
ED