A Moment of Tranquility

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Everyone!

Not sure you will like this, in fact I am not sure whether I like it myself:bugeyed:. The strange thing is, every time I redo it I come up with the same version, meaning I really cannot help it - this is how I see things and that's that...The simplicity of this does not even allow for a technical critique:2eyes2: so - as I said above - it's more a matter of "like it or not".

For those who cannot figure out what this image is about ( it is indeed very dark and barely allows for a silhouette), you are looking at the outline of a Vervet monkey, subject is resting on a fallen tree by the edge of the river and looking up at her baby who made it to the top of a nearby tree. The baby is jumping somewhat recklessly from one branch to another, some branches stretch above the water's edge. Her moment of tranquility disrupted, every now and then the subject emitted a sound that (to my mind) sounded like a warning, or rather something along the lines of "...get down there you naughty little monkey!". As we departed, I remember looking back, watching the mother climbing up the tree - my guess is she gave the baby a well-deserved hiding:bg3:

Image taken in the Kruger Park recently and this is a rather extreme attempt to rescue it. I would like to have your opinions and please don't be shy, I take criticism well and in this particular instance I really don't mind if you told me to dump it:w3. Been pondering for some time now whether I'd be wasting your time with this post but decided to give it a try.

Nikon D3S
Nikon 500 F4
F5
ISO 640
1/1250s

Have a great week-end,

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - Good for you for stepping out of your comfort zone. I like the golden rim light, the comp and the overall image. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell the story which you relayed above but it still works for me.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Rachel,

When I was thinking of processing this I kind of envisaged my subject looking up at the sky instead of checking on its baby...since the little one was not in the picture anyway. I did not have a silhouette image for the theme this month so I made one:tinysmile_shy_t:. The stars in the sky are missing, if I were to post this in OOTB I would have painted some:w3

Hope you have a wonderful week-end, we are still at work till h13:00 today, afterwards we are off to explore a place we have never seen before, taking the cameras with in case a leopard crosses our path...

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, glad you posted it at last, you need to get more of this stuff out and posted!!!!

Images like this, IMHO are all about the look & feel, conveying 'atmosphere' and allowing the viewer to read into things more. I agree with Rachel, the image perhaps does not convey the full picture, but it's a nice standalone image. Brendon I think is you best best to get more info on this technique, perhaps even meet up with him as we did with Hilton by chance. As presented, I feel moving the whole crop up would have helped, less above more below, not by much, likewise the rim light line RHS could go, as it adds nothing or is part of the subject.

TFS
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Steve,

There was nothing unusual about the Vervet when I saw it and the light was not favourable either - I had this image in my mind with the subject looking at the sky and its shape just a silhouette. For that reason only I took a few frames and hoped I could do something with them when I got home. Cannot believe I cropped it so wrong, I only noticed after I read your comment! The rim light on the RHS I liked at the time of processing, it gave me reason to give the subject more space but I guess for someone who has not seen the original it does not make sense, it looks more like a distracting scratch and I agree with you, it does not convey what I had in mind. I shall make the changes you suggested, thank you very much.

Would like to have the opportunity to learn from Brendon, and did I ever mention I have a large print of one of his lovely leopard images on my study wall?:S3:

Busy looking through my recent folders to find something new to share with you, really appreciate your comments, thank you again!

[Steve Canuel]

Definitely not one for the bin Gabriela. Just need a little more space below and less breaks in the edge lighting for me. Even so, you've got the rim light on the most important part (the face.)

[nick clayton]

I love the simplicity of the image and pose of the monkey, I must agree with Rachel though that it doesn't convey the story you have told.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Nick,

Thank you so much for your comments, I guess I created some confusion above (my apologies) and I would like to correct that: I gave some background with my OP as to what really happened, which is- I saw the Vervet on the fallen tree and watched her for some time as she was checking on her young. What I saw with my mind's eye was rather different, I wanted a Silhouette of the Vervet Monkey looking up into the dark skies... to achieve that, I had to play with exposure etc and darken everything around the subject. Not too difficult a task, since she was back lit and the golden outline was already there.

Kind regards,

[Arthur Morris]

I like it a lot for many reasons. I think that I would like it better with the rim light brighter... Serenity.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela just looking at the image and find i love what it stands for ,forget about the intro.
Great rim light , i agree with Artie about a brighter rim light might work better.
I would loose the rim on RHS.

Great work Gabriela , love it.

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Sir Arthur - this is quite a compliment, coming from you. I gather you figured out what I wanted to do here, despite the fact that I did not quite succeed to portray exactly what I had in mind. Needs a few tweaks but I shall start from the beginning... I know I am supposed to let go of that glowing edge on the RHS but I find it difficult to do so - while I was processing this I decided I was going to make the viewer "see" the missing bits with his/her mind's eye. I wanted just an outline, I wanted "interruptions", wanted a sketch that left a bit to one's imagination. I probably went too far:tinysmile_shy_t:...

Many thanks for your comments Andreas, I really appreciate you took the time to view - will be in touch soon, had a busy two weeks with Andre's little ones coming for the holidays but the good news is, it looks like his 11 year old daughter has taken a special interest in photography! His thirteen year old son has already made a short video while they were visiting us, so it looks like we've got a film maker in the family too... Trying to budget for Christmas now (ouch!), and I can only foresee the chaos in Andre's 4x4 with all the equipment and the passionate people in it...Imagine three cameras and one videocamera sticking out through all windows at a sighting in the Umfolozi??? Kids are not ready for the Kalahari yet but the Umfolozi is just around of corner, plenty of photographic opportunities and we look forward to their next visit...

Will be back with more images, thanks everyone for looking and for comments - much appreciated!

Kind regards,

[Morkel Erasmus]

Gabriela, no need for a story here (though I do love reading what went down in the field)...the story isn't that evident to begin with, and there's a story everyone can derive from moody pics like this..."what was it thinking?" - even "was it thinking?" ;)

I agree more space below would have been nice. And if it's the tail on the left edge - all of it would have been nice.
Keep experimenting! :cheers:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Morkel,

I wrote about what happened because I wished to inform you all about what I had seen. Also to show how I "changed" the image without altering it by means of cloning etc., into what I wanted you to see. It was never my intention to portray a Vervet sitting on a log looking at its baby, the baby was not included in the image anyway, my plan was to present this solitary creature looking at the sky:w3 The tail by the way is in front of the Vervet, slightly wrapped around the log. I will certainly add more space below and try to brighten the rim light. Glad no one asked me to dump it, I thought no one would bother open a thumbnail that is so dark. This image is a bit too thin I think, I shall try to bring more life into it.

Love experimenting and found great encouragement in your comments-thank you again!

Warmest regards,