Ant Take Over (C)

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Friends!

I have not posted for some time and thought I'd do so tonight, something different and not sure you'll like this but I am open to your critique and opinions. However I look at this image, I know this is not a great shot from a technical POV. My subject was moving and I was moving with him, also, I had no support whatsoever. Nevertheless, I am hoping you will find this interesting enough to view.

Some time ago I spent a morning with Andre's kids at Dumazulu Reptile Centre, where our friend Gareth (who takes care of reptiles) showed us around. Among all the creatures we've been introduced to, there was this cute baby crocodile we were allowed to touch and hold - the kids loved him and I had to convince them to let go, eventually we placed him on the grass near his little water pool and watched him walk around. Although it was a cloudy day, I saw an opportunity to capture this little one as the sun peeked through the clouds for a few moments. When I got closer I noticed these ants suddenly walking all over his head and trying to get to the eyes - they were in fact searching for moisture, and despite their number he did not seem to be bothered by the intruders. I managed a few shots before the sun went behind the clouds again, at the following settings:

Nikon D3S
Nikon 105mm/F2.8
ISO 1000
F9
1/500s

Wishing you a wonderful evening,

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like this, Gabriela! Well seen and taken. Placement of the eye in the frame works for me - I just wish the pupil was a tad sharper (perfectly understand the challenge of shooting a moving subject with a macro lens, though).
The large specular catchlight is a bit bothersome though - can be cloned out?

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Morkel!!! Yep I can clone it out easily. Thought of some changes but wanted to hear your opinions first...I have another image portraying the whole head of the croc with those ants reaching for the eye, but this was more dramatic.

Glad you like it a bit:tinysmile_shy_t:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, away so can't give too much as you know, but I really like this, a nice perspective and I love what's going on.

I would look at just perhaps (?) toning down that highlight in the eye, but I still question that. The sharpening is looking a little crunchy IMHO and you are getting some colour effects look at the emerald green in parts, you can adjust this, basically lose it, will come back to you, just need to remember. Do you think a little NR would help? BTW was this on a tripod, as personally I find a Macro/short lens amplifies any hand/movement shake.

Nice to have you two back.

TFS
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Steve,

I made a few changes, see if it works?

No tripod here, little croc walking towards the water and me crawling next to him to get the shot. Lots of movement...Ants got to me too...I knew I was not going to get much IQ there but it was too unusual to pass the opportunity. Took a chance anyway.

Will get in touch at some stage, if you have the time perhaps you can give me a few extra pointers on this one.

Enjoy the rest of your evening,

[Steve Kaluski]

Gabriela, yes it parts it's better, but I like the OP, if you want, fire off the RAW I will try and take a look, but not on a calibrated monitor, however there maybe a few pointers, as the weather maybe changing so I might get a lie-in and take a look over the next few days. Re the green, I need to think where it is to adjust it in the RAW, as it's not something I have had to do, however it's simple.


Enjoy the rest of your evening,

First/second round of editing & back-up. :w3

[Gabriela Plesea]

Great, thank you Steve, sent the file, hope the weather holds though!

Here winter is on its way, windy and cold - meaning lots of "first/second round of editing and backup". Err..., in my case it's more like "first/second and then third round of editing and back-up":bg3:

Good night, have a great day tomorrow!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - Something different, I too like it. For some reason the op has more life to me, perhaps it is the catchlight. I'll be interested to see what magic Mr. Detail can work. You might want to consider posting it in Macro too to get the thoughts of the regulars there too.

TFS,
Rachel


[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Rachel,

And thank you so much for your thoughts here!
Mr. Detail has shared his magic thoughts in an email the other day and now it's up to me to do an RP. I shall try to maintain that which you all liked in the OP and lose the unwanted bits, let's see if I can do it - will post the RP later today:w3

Have a wonderful day,

[Andreas Liedmann]

hi Gabriela , bit late but not too late.
I like it all around as far as i can tell.The ants are great and makes this working well.
Cannot comment honestly on technical details because i am away from home , judging with my eyes on a laptop............I do not mind about the catchlight.

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Another try with help from Mr. Detail:w3

[Steve Kaluski]

I think Gabriela the difficulty is going tight in, means a crop and this is at least 50% I think. I do feel that if you go for something like this you really want it almost FF with some space/lattitude for the final crop so you retain the detail & information within the original capture, but that is just my take. Also what was the metering, spot????? As this for me is all about detail, then the ants also need to be pin sharp, so again 'lock down' on that tripod may have help too?

It's difficult to tell re colour etc on the laptop and I think perhaps going for a more 'vibrant, richness' would help, but I have kept it to the basics. I do think if you get another chance, take it, even, and providing it's ok to do so, may be some fill in flash to see if that helps? Even bracket some shots and try different DoF''s too. I really like your thinking on this, but I do feel it's a tough one to crack.

The crop was just a thought, however...

All the best.

Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Steve,

I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to look at this image again. I kick myself for not taking a tripod along, since I knew the place had small reptiles and crocs. I grabbed the camera and lens as I rushed from work to home and picked up Andre's kids, they visit for two weeks at a time and tend to get bored while with us at work, so this was a "spur of the moment" decision and I did not prepare at all in terms of photography. I have hundreds of images of crocs, big and small. But none like this. I have seen many crocs but never noticed ants crawling on their face, this is a first. I do have images of this croc, taken at higher F-stop and the ants are sharper but not walking on the eye. Spot metering? Cannot remember Steve, the camera must have been in spot from the previous session:tinysmile_shy_t:

Your RP is closer to real colours I think, in real life this croc's skin is rather greenish and lacks the warmth I have added during processing. Also, your ants are sharper than mine:w3. Crop and all, I really like what you did, and I know you did not have much to work with from the beginning. I have learnt another lesson though, and it's tough to swallow but I shall go back there and try the same exercise again with the keeper's help and let's hope the ants will come back:w3. I will take my tripod with and even try fill flash. Perhaps I should take some ants along too:tinysmile_shy_t:, I would do anything to have another chance at this...

Thank you Steve, your help and advice is priceless, really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience!

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, yes it was Spot. :w3 I'm just trying to think of various options for next time. Just a thought, but big fix lens also can be just as effective at times I have found, so from a comfort zone for both you & the subject might also work. Perhaps Morkel has some options too, being a Nikon bod???

[Gabriela Plesea]

Err...looks like I am in a "spot" of trouble:bg3:...Steve, when I go to the Kalahari I take every piece of equipment with me and explore all I can think of, at times because I am unsure of what works best - I often get lucky because of my experiments:S3:. The Pelikan box (Andre calls it a "coffin" because it is big and black and occupies more than half the back seat) has another two bodies and four lenses, flash and converter etc. I wish I had the box nearby when I saw the croc, I might have thought about using the 300...
Anyway, good idea, thank you again, maybe a bit of sunshine at the weekend and we'll go back there and I shall give it another try! The place is only a few km away, who knows, maybe I can surprise you this time:tinysmile_shy_t: Will drop a line to Morkel too for some extra pointers:5

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

OK folks, still unhappy about RP another thought especially when I'm away, but Gabriela thought this is more 'reflective' and 'perhaps' closer? All I did with the previous RP image was to add some warmth & enhanced the saturation aspect.

Here you go Gabriela.

Steve :S3:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Steve and BPN Friends,

This is the best RP of them all in my opinion, and for the following reasons:

1. The colour of the subject is as close as it can be to the natural colours yet it has some of that warmth I wanted to achieve
2. The crop allows a viewer to identify the subject and not have to guess what it is
3. No unnatural blur of the unsharp areas but not much noise either
4. Image has more context than my OP as well as RP's and thus - I believe - more expression here and consequently more impact on the viewer who now can see the "bigger picture".

...writing my thoughts on the above feels like doing a critique on a novel, Steve! I like this best, and I thank you for taking so much of your time to help, there's so much to learn from this:the importance of thoughtful composition ( so effective in creating an image that is "reflective", or "thought provoking" ), keeping in with the natural colours (for a more realistic image that records animal/insect behaviour), and yes, correcting to a great extent those undesired effects caused by either photographer's errors or factors beyond his/her control (weather conditions, camera performance, lack of the right equipment, etc...).

Brilliant stuff, I am really excited to see your post here, which I consider the final version of this image - Thank You Steve!

Warmest regards and a great evening to you all,

[edwardselfe]

I never saw this post but I've really enjoyed reading! Great image and final result.
Ed