Kgalagadi Cheatahs, B&W 1/2

[hennieloots]

Hi Folks

My 1st post in B&W. I captured a few frames of a mother and her 2 young ones standing on a ridge (the 2nd youngster was too shy to ever come close enough to get the 3 together), near Samevloeiing in Kgalagadi Transfrontier park. It was with great anticipation that I downloaded the images, but was not impressed with images of them moving down - grasses in the faces, etc, etc. I few of the poses on the ridge I was happy with, except for the very dull, almost white sky. I have been enjoying many very cool B&W images posted here and thought I would venture there and see how it would turn out. I am please with two I came up with, I will post the 2nd in a day or 2, and would appreciate all comments, critiques and advice and look forward to your views.

Techs: Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM– 1/1250s @ F/8.0 & ISO: 400 |EB: 0 EV| HH from SUV |
PP:
Crop – 70% of original
LR – B&W on Basic Panel, Exposure +0.7, Shadows +50, Whites 0, Blacks +25, Contrast +15, Clarity +15 only to cheetahs, Sharpened 30/1.0/25/0
PS6 –Selective sharpening - USM 160/0.3/0, D&B to lighten the eyes, face; darkened the FG grasses

Regards
Hennie

[Gregor Bergquist]

Hi Hennie

Beautiful pose here! They have the exact same facial expression.Love that. I think you handle the cheetahs very well. I also agree that the sky is a problem. And now i´m out of suggestions. Well, I would start fiddling with adding some color (like in LRs split toning, on the highlights choose hue 62 and saturation 12) and just a bit vignette. But just having talked about that in another post, I know vignette is something many will be cautious with. Well, wait for the B/W conversion pros, like Morkel.

TFS / Gregor

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hennie, as I mention in an earlier thread, converting to B/W means you have to think differently compared to colour, with B/W you need to think 'tone' and ideally have a scale of white to black, like the calibrate strip at the foot of this site. Mid tone is where you have all your detail so a good exposure will set you up nicely. It's great to see you and other members exploring different routes, well done.

I like the way the subjects are slightly elevated to you, but would like a little more image below. Camera techs look good, but I would suggest you go easy on Contrast, likewise with LR 5 (or now 5.2) going beyond 10-12 in Clarity may be too much? What prompted you to lift the shadows and how did you know how far to take it, the reason I ask is sometimes you can loose form within the subject. As a result, I feel the LH cheetah looks too even with little or no shadow, but I could be wrong? :bg3: Now I am flying by the seat of my pants working on the laptop, but just making two Curves adjustments for both Lights & Darks may help give you that tonal contrast. Hope it helps, however there are others who might be better placed to give you more detailed feedback on B/W conversion.

TFS
Steve

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Hennie,

very nice first B&W. I like it, but must agree with Steve. I might would push the black spots a bit more darker in this, selective applied!
I do not see any prob within the sky, but if you like, get a graduate filter in LR pull it down from the upper right side corner as far you like. Careful when it hits the Cheetah. Than one from the left side upper corner to the middle, again careful with the Cheetah. Maybe one more from the middle top going down straight a bit. Set your exposure between -25 - -50, depends on you.
I do not see any prob with the sky. If the sky is in your color version blue and not blown out, why not try the red slider or orange!! :w3.


Have a great week

Ciao
Anette

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Hennie - nice pose and I like the comp except it needs more space at the bottom. Excellent suggestions above about the tones. I would particularly like to see what happens if you add some color toning along the lines of Gregor's suggestion. No one else has mentioned it but on the lhs there is a slightly darker area around some of the grasses. It doesn't look like mountains in the bg as it does on the rhs due to its shape (too round around the tallest stalk). Perhaps a selection issue? Keep experimenting with your images, it's a great way to learn and expand our photographic vision.

TFS,
Rachel

[hennieloots]

Hi Gregor, Steve, Anette and Rachel

Thank you so much for having a look and the advice. I have applied a curves adjustment masked to affect the cheetahs only, boosted the whites and the blacks to achieve more tonal range (?? Am I on the right track)?. I hope this is closer to what you meant..to me it looks like the cheetahs pop more, but I am a bit concerned that the blacks are too dark; that said, nothing clipping on my histogram.

Unfortunately I do not have any space at the bottom.:2eyes2:
I am fine with the sky in the B&W, My issue with the sky was in the color version.
Anette, I played a bit with the gradients and pulled down as suggested, decided against it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers
Hennie

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hennie it certainly for me, is going in the right direction with more tonal range, but I'm viewing on the laptop, so not ideal. :2eyes2:

The main issue with the RP is your masking, there are large areas where you have not been so precise with the brush, especially around the two Cheetahs. It is quite noticeable in parts so you may want to take a closer view. If you are still unsure send me your email address and I will forward the image to illustrate the areas.

Well done for going back and taking time to revisit the image, it can only bolster your learning curve. :cheers:

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hennie, nice POV on these youngsters. For me, the conversion is neither here nor there in terms of tonal range and look&feel, though the last RP is better (some photos just don't work with monochrome). Would you mind posting the colour version? I'd like to tinker with it myself...

[TimothyGriesel]

I like the image, but to me it feels like they are leaning to left, it feels like they are going to fall off the frame? maybe try straightening the horizon? I also think you could punch up the contrast in the image just to create a stark in your face view.

Just my thoughts
Nice Image though

[edwardselfe]

Nice angle and great that they are looking in the same direction. I would reduce the clarity considerably on the grass foreground and then apply Steve's ideas and you'll be onto a good one.
Ed

[hennieloots]

Morkel, Timothy and Edward - Sorry for the late reponse, it has been a while since I check on the thread. Morkel I will send you a pm with a link to the .dng if you wish. Thanks to all for looking and the comments.
Cheers
Hennie