Elephant seal scape

[Andreas Liedmann]

Image taken on a wonderful morning in St. Andrews Bay on South Georgia.A rare occasion on our trip that we had that beautiful light ….

Canon EOS 1D MK IV
Ef 24-105 IS L at 24 mm
HH

Processed in CC and used LAB for pushing the colors on a layer with reduced opacity.
Slight crop after canvas rotation.

C&C as always welcome.

Cheers and Happy New Year to all you guys out there. Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, like the setting and composition on this one, it captures nicely the vast expanse and diverse population on the island. Can't comment too much on colour as I'm away, interesting you chose Lab. Exposure looks good likewise the PP.If you go back then a Pod may help.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Steve will not go back in the near future, so i have to take the frame as is, HH, not sharp enough?
Had the 500 on the pod……..
From time to time i use Lab on a copy of the image and make the adjustments , then copy the image on top of the RGB file , then modify the intensity with a mask and/ or opacity.

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Andreas.

How do you copy the Lab layer as it's not RGB, I thought you had to convert the Mode before bringing back in to RGB?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Nope, straight copy the Lab image on top of the layer stack of the RGB image, set the blend mode to color , so you have no luminance shift.You loose a tiny bit of saturation on the way, but for me unimportant because i never use the layer with a 100%.

You can test that there is no obvious shift in colors when you convert a RGB file into LAB and back. Make a copy of your RGB file convert it to LAB and straight back into RGB and then watch side by side , you will see no difference.

I know a way of separating the colors in LAB , the goal is to get the different shades of , for example greens, i do not know a way in RGB to do it, in the way i can do it in LAB.The problem is that you have to be very careful not to overdo things .

By copying the LAB layer onto the RGB layer stack it becomes automatically RGB.

Hope that helps, if not just go for Dan Margulis on google, the so called LAB half god.I own one of his books on color correction, difficult stuff even in german, to keep this all in mind.

Cheers Andreas

[GertOoms]

Hi Andreas,

Beautiful image which gives a great overview of the scene. The only problem I have is that my eye is driven more to the bright mountains (and its reflection in the lake) in the background than the foreground if the image.

[Steve Kaluski]

Interesting Andreas, I've always swopped Modes when I've used Lab so I never have had the need to drag and drop, thanks for the info.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - nice seal scape. I like the scene and the placement of the seal in the llc. Too bad that the other seal had to interrupt the reflection. Interesting discussion about the LAB layer.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

Love this animalscape here Andreas, the crisp detail in this winter sky and reflection really shine through here, nicely processed.:w3

[Martin Dunn]

Lovely light Andreas, a neat combination of animals and landscape.
As Rachel mentioned, only slightly marred by the seal spoiling the reflection.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Gert,Rachel,Marc and Martin for your comments , kind words and suggestions , i appreciate them all.

Cheers Andreas

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Stunning image Andreas, I like it as is and the other seal in the reflection does not bother me. Superb light and fascinating landscape/animalscape! Well done!

[dankearl]

I like it all, great Landscape, the penguins add a lot and I like the seal placement.

[edwardselfe]

This is an interesting idea and I see why you did it. But sadly for me, there's too much conflict between the large seal in the FG and the beautiful details in the BG. Perhaps there's too much space in between them and my eye is drawn backwards and forwards between them. I would actually prefer the image with the FG seal cut out and leaving a beautiful panorama with the wallowing seal as the FG interest. Yes it would have been great if that seal in the water had looked towards you, but that would have been a lot to ask.
Sorry Andreas, the composition's not working for me on this one, but I think you could still work out a beautiful landscape from the same image. Your colours and processing are spot on, and I think the lighting is gorgeous.
All the best and HNY.

Ed

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lots to take in here, great depth and light and I like it a lot Andreas! :5
Thanks for expanding on your use of LAB colour...will have to play around some...

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Andreas,

not much to add to this one, all said. For me it is a touch to below, but maybe just because I need a bit sun :bg3:

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Sanjeev, Dan ,Ed i will not remove the seal :w3 :t3 ,Morkel and Anette for stopping by and leave comment and /or suggestion. All is very much appreciated.

Cheers Andreas

[Loi Nguyen]

Andreas, it is a beautiful scene and image. Love the seal on the LHC and I think the seal in the middle added, not subtracted from the image despite the fact that it cuts into the reflection. For me the shadow on the left hand upper corner is a pity as my eye gets drawn to it, but I can't really see the herds in the BG. TFS. Loi