Cubitje Magic

[Andre Pretorius]

The first image of our recent Kalahari venture. Not any cats, but we tried to compensate by spending time with the smaller creatures and the often overlooked subjects.
This image was captured just north of Nossob at Cubitje Quap waterhole. The Badger ( Tom, we called him) came to drink around 4 pm. He was harassed on two days by the resident cunning pair of Blackbacked Jackals.
More images of their intolerance to each other will follow.

I have never in 20years had the oppertunity to photograph Badger this close and for such an extended time- Cubitje Magic!

Nikon D3S with 600F4
ISO 500
1/640@ 5,6 (bit slow, was overcast, afraid of noise on blacks)

50% crop.
LR5 then major cloning in CS6 to remove rocks in front of him. Luminosity masks, lum layer to light up dark areas around face, selective sharpening for web.

[hennieloots]

Hi Andre - Amazing image. Great that you dad the opportunity to capture this great animal in open view - I have not been able too, yet. I think the "foot-up" and pink tongue out adds great interest to the image. The color and tone look great to me. Teh BG compliments the subject and image. great PS work in removingthe rocks, I tried to spot the diff, but coud not!
TFS, Cheers
Hennie

[Gregor Bergquist]

Very very nice one! Spot on. Agree with Hennie. Maybe you could just do one more cloning action. I´m thinking of that fly on the right.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Andre,

oh I really like this one. I only had once the opportunity to capture 2 coming to a waterhole, but to far away and than they drank behind a bush!!!! they just did not consider me in their doing :eek3:

This is very well captured and I do love the BG. Don't know how you did the sharpening, for me it looks that it's back is more sharpen than it's face. I would do here selective sharpen, maybe you did, than I would add a tad more to the face and eye :w3

Love this image, you lucky duck :tinysmile_shy_t:

Have a great week

Ciao
Anette

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andre, great to see another great species we don't often see here.

Well done for getting the angle, albeit that you got a little dusty, LOL. Personally I would have liked to see more of a side on so you get to see more of the species, however you may not have managed to capture it drinking so perhaps a compromise? Could you have added an extender to get closer and avoid a hefty crop, as IQ would have been oh so better? With the D3s why are you afraid of noise, I thought this wasn't an issue with Nikon, curious. Just my take on the laptop, but adding a Graduate adjustment to the water and top quarter of the image helps, likewise some clarity in the waterhole surround, brings out more detail and it could stand some more selective sharpening(?). Your call, but I might evict the large bug. :w3

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andre - nice to see a badger. The low pov, comp and tongue out all combine to make a really nice image. Did you blur the water after cloning? A couple of things not mentioned above is that there is a slight halo below the chin/neck and my eye gets drawn to the area of dark fur on the far side of the back. It looks slightly blurred like it was part of the area that NR was applied to. I do think you and Gabriela made the best out of your cat-less trip.

TFS,
Rachel

[BenBotha]

You lucky fish-an animal not often seen while it is drinking. I agree that the crop made and impact on the IQ. The dark area at the back must be the tail that is partially visible.
Ben

[Andre Pretorius]

Thank you Hennie for comments!
Gregor, this time when it is dry, the bees are everywhere where there is water, there are millions of them around- you can not open a soda-can - it gets covered with bees in minutes! I have used insecticide on the one in image:2eyes2:

Anette, sorry you were not there, maybe it is time you visit... the focal point was behind ear, do not know why the face was not sharp, maybe movement? Sharpened face more.

Steve, we sat there for hours over midday heat, the badger came to drink, other cars arrived, one can not move and drive forward/backward to block other photographers/tourists; it is pretty much you take was dealt to you. We try and position ourselves to get the best light, and there you have to stay, hoping your subject considers you, as Anette said. Will attach original in next post. Was afraid of noise in blacks, as I do not do NR on subject and with sharpening any noise get noisier, maybe I am mistaken (the words of Mark Drysdale rings in my ears "High ISO is NEVER your friend"). Applied your advice to image- WDYT? The bug was dealt with, severely:bugeyed:

Rachel, no masking/selection was done, worked only with Luminosity Masks to avoid halos. The BG was brushed with blur tool to eliminate the little noise present, no other NR was done. The black patch bothered me too, I think it must have been an OOF rock on BG, decided not to clone it out- the fur made it almost impossible. We had to shoot SOMETHING for the lack of cats!!

Thank you Ben for kind comments! His tail was down, soon to be bitten by Pretzel the Jackal!

[Andre Pretorius]

The Original image. Steve the 600 is a monster @ at 6,3kg and difficult to get action shots and just to find the movement in the view finder. With a 1.4 converter closer than 30meters it is a no-no. I am saving for a new 500 VR2, the 600 out performs the 500 on still images, but is to heavy for action shots, Gabriela always gets more with the smaller 500. It takes me about 30 sec to unzip the 900mm bag next to me on passenger seat, swing lens to sit on Gimbal/Beanbag and not bump it on the car's roof/steering wheel/gear **** etc..- by that time she shot 50 images?!
Rachel I forgot to mention- did use Spot Healing Brush on water after cloning.

Can anyone point me to a good tutorial on getting detail in blacks ( except using those darn curves?):e3

[Steve Kaluski]

If you have a good exposure why would the blacks have more noise in them, unless you open the shadows & or a hefty crop??? :w3


"High ISO is NEVER your friend"
With Nikon? You have two A3 prints at around 1600-2000 ISO I think, no NR applied, WDYT? Obviously lower ISO is better, but depending on your SS & DOF, it may mean a higher ISO, so... :S3:

I think you still need to push the water (darken), likewise there is more detail & definition in the surrounding mud of the waterhole, but you may prefer a softer look, but you do have a comparison to compare too.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Andre,
great sighting of this really not very often shown animal.
I would take the original tweak it the right way and leave the FG as is, just my take.And would love to have it in my collection.

Regarding the blacks , first i would shoot ETTR then you will have more details in the blacks under these lighting conditions.Looked at your histogram of the original and found a big gap on the RHS side, so a lot room for overexposing and less noise in the shadows.

TFS Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Special sighting, Cubitje Quap waterhole is a gem...
A lot has been said already. I am surprised by your lack of big cats on this trip...hope they return in time for our trip early December! :eek3:


Was afraid of noise in blacks, as I do not do NR on subject and with sharpening any noise get noisier, maybe I am mistaken (the words of Mark Drysdale rings in my ears "High ISO is NEVER your friend"). Applied your advice to image- WDYT? The bug was dealt with, severely:bugeyed:


I'm surprised "Dryzie" said that, being a D3s user himself. For me, "high ISO" with my Nikons means anything above 6400 :bg3: