The Bachelor

[Gabriela Plesea]

I feel at ease with the title I have chosen, even though you will probably question my decision...What is the definition of a bachelor, according to the dictionary? a) an unmarried male adult b) a young knight in the service of another c) a person that has obtained his first degree and d) a male seal who has not yet managed to mate during the mating season...

In other words, a bachelor has not yet achieved a state of maturity... This young male lion is not yet a "husband" or fathered cubs, he simply accompanies his brother and stands by his side, at times witnessing the drama of a pride take-over but not playing a part... if he can help it.

He is still a very handsome male, in my opinion...he is also the brother of Charlie - Ash, and his gracious presence gave me great delight because he is one very awesome character and one who knows precisely what to do...his body language exudes confidence but he is happy to live in his sibling's shadow: " I shall join you when you need me but for now I just chill under a tree..."

Don't know if I managed to charm you with this image, it is almost full frame and nothing I can do about the crop - I wanted to get as close I could, and this is the result. There's something majestic and beautiful about my subject, and even though the light had an awkward angle I still wanted to capture this and show it to you.

Nikon D4
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 3200
F6.3
1/2000s
+0.03 EV

[Gabriela Plesea]

...​and here's the same image with a bit more "pop"...

Have a super week-end!

Kind regards,

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Gabriela, oh yeah, he is one fine looking make lion in his prime! I am sure it won't be long be fore he finds his partner! I like the composition as it showcases the masculine beauty, the eye gazing at a distance and the fine detail of the face. Nice colours and sharpness too. The RP certainly has more 'pop'! Well done. TFS.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Sanjeev:w3 I would have liked more space below but did not want to trim his mane at the top. I probably have some more frames taken with the 300 lens but happened to came across this one as I was looking for some other images and thought I'd give it a try.

The green bit on the mane (below) is from algae and I did not enhance or desaturate. There was not much water where this lion drank, just so much algae and I wondered what it tasted like to the poor animals.

I am also not too fond of that orange light behind him, it looks a bit like a halo but not much I could do about it.

Thank you so much for you comments and for looking:cheers:

Kind regards,

[Eric Dienesch]

Hello and i want to say:
wow a great portrait of the lion king !!!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Lovely portrait in the right kind of light for it, Gabriela.
In both versions I feel the midtones are a bit light and thin - could do with some midtone contrast and darkening the upper mids?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela very nice and simple portrait of this nice looking male , i specially like this look into the virtual distance . I am fine with the overall comp/crop .
Nice realistic color and tone in the 2nd version, if wished as per Morkel you can go for more depth in the mid tones , but think the 2nd version is already looking great .
Lovely detail and sharpness , but guess you can go finer with the D4 in the detail/sharpness , but this is really picky :w3.

Very well done Gabriela and TFS Andreas

[Andre Pretorius]

My Version

No Resharpening.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Morkel and Andreas,

Here's an RP with a quick adjustment, WDYT?

Andreas, you think perhaps lifting the shadows in LR might have something to do with the lack of that clarity/detail you mentioned above?

I might have to go back to this and start afresh, for now - let me know what you think:) Made adjustment in the Jpeg file.

...and I see Andre here next to me is also doing his RP on my lion- err...I am not looking! :t3

Chat soon:w3

[Andreas Liedmann]

Gabriela i did not say i am missing clarity and sharpness , my feeling is you can extract the detail/sharpness at a finer degree with this D4 , but i could be well wrong .

Your last RP is very nice in terms of color and tone with a nice depth in the tones :wave:.

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - What a regal and handsome looking lion! I like the slightly up tilted pose and his gaze. Fantastic detail and sharpness. Your last rp has brought out nice rich tones befitting of this king but it has also augmented the halo around the head.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

I'm liking this Gabriela, both your image AND story, I can see the passion you have for this place and it really shows here, this upcomer has a real presence about him.

I took the liberty of a RP here.




I am also not too fond of that orange light behind him, it looks a bit like a halo but not much I could do about it.



You can fix* this "halo" to a certain extent, using the healing brush tool set to a blending mode of either lighten or darken depending on the whether it's a dark or light halo and then sampling close to your subject.
I reduced most of the light halo around the top mane section and also the darker patches around the muzzle.

*Much of this can be attributed to Rachel who has constantly been on my back (in a good way of course :bg3:) about my slight halo's in my previous work and I decided to investigate this further and found this workaround.



Lovely portrait in the right kind of light for it, Gabriela.
In both versions I feel the midtones are a bit light and thin - could do with some midtone contrast and darkening the upper mids?

I tried Morkel's good midtone/contrast suggestions using TK lumo masking variations. Probably more could be done, perhaps? depends on personal taste.

More could be achieved with a full size file of course.:w3

Let me know what you think.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Andreas, Rachel and Marc,

Andreas, the more I look at this lion the more I love him:tinysmile_shy_t:...

The best thing to do is I go back to the RAW file and start afresh - indeed Rachel, my RP with changes performed overall has enhanced the orange halo. I was in a hurry because I am working on some little foxes at the same time:bg3: Those Sundays fly too fast!

Marc, I see your point and I like your RP -THANK YOU:5 I will try the healing brush and see whether I can reduce the halo to an acceptable level. I do not have TK. Will show you the result as soon as those little foxes stop running about my screen (more harsh light, too much grass, subjects too quick to follow...bust I still want to share those with you, will let you know when ready).





Thanks so much dear friends for your input, and for taking the time to RP, I so appreciate it. New members viewing can learn a lot from our debates and discussions, I am certainly learning something new with every post:cheers:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Gabriela you can loose the halo without loosing the fine hair with the right tools , even on a low res file :w3. But i would stick with the halo gives a bit of difference on the very uniform BG
Cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

I see you did not trim the hairs:) very nice, Mr. B.E. - love it! I am going to look for some tools in my tool box, RP to follow after the foxes go back to the den:bg3:

I am enjoying everyone's RP's and what a great exercise it is to compare images:) I guess this is what I liked most about BPN Wildlife when I joined (2013), the opportunity to learn from others and just everyone chipping in with solutions and ideas - thank you again, appreciate it:cheers:

[Marc Mol]

Gabriela you can loose the halo without loosing the fine hair with the right tools

Andreas & Gabriela
The fine hair loss was just my sloppy work, but I can assure you the healing brush set to lighten /darken blending mode does work, my RP was a rush job.:w3

[Andreas Liedmann]

my RP was a rush job.:w3
mine too !

[Gabriela Plesea]

Mine also:bg3::t3:w3

I hope you two gentlemen must give me a chance to go to the RAW and see what I can produce, trying all things suggested and let us see what works?

And hopefully you can find some more story sequences for the new Forum, I am busy working on one right now...

Have a fabulous Sunday evening:cheers:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Yes Gabriela always good to have options and there are many ways to skin this cat , you have now two ways to see what works best for you .

You should have a fab evening too , cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello everyone:wave:

I was busy with another RP and had a look at various images taken at the time...as much as I like the tonality in those RP's above (mine included) I think it does not reflect the true look of this KTP lion. He was in fact paler than we want him to be. Went back to the RAW and reprocessed but stayed away from those rich browns and reds, tried to deal with the halo to some extent without affecting the tips of those hairs belonging to his mane. I took out some of the reds as well, not sure you'll like it but here it is...

Hope you all have a fabulous week, thanks for looking and comments as well as RP's :5

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - The most important thing is which do you prefer? While some tend to process close to what was seen in the field, others process for what they find most aesthetically pleasing. There's no right or wrong answer just different approaches. Sometimes preference can also depend on mood. I do think there is still a halo present in the rp though not as pronounced as in the earlier version.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, a very powerful & imposing portrait of very regal beast.

For me it's interesting to see how both you & Andre tackle your images and this is why I'm questioning his Cheetah image, as it has almost identical techs to this image, but somehow hasn't the finer look & feel I would have expected, hence my feedback. Looking back at past images and with your better understanding of PP I think now in parts you are a little 'conservative' in 'pushing' the image, nothing wrong in that, but you now have a good platform, so it is time to start to be a bit more 'artistic' in your creations and believe in yourself, just step back occasionally and revisit the image later. You can always delete a new layer if it's not working or add, that's the beauty, just keep in mind what you want to achieve.

I do like the side profile and soft BKG colours, is the BKG as is, or has it been modified? The colour palette works and I love the light, sharpening looks bang on. I feel you do have a lovely image which makes it often harder to process, as some of the work required is often quite subtle. If it was me, I might leave it and work on a totally different image and revisit in a few weeks time where your might is clearer and your vision is not clouded. :S3:

Overall and excellent image. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel and Steve,

Your words were quite a wake up call for me, and - prompted by your replies - I decided to show you what this lion looked like, with the sky "on fire" behind him. His mane was lit up by the rising sun. The only PP work here consists of sharpening lightly in LR and then Brightness, D/B, Levels and Curves and Exposure in PP. Sharpening for web after resizing.

Steve - you know very well I tend to set aside what I want because I want to please my audience...What looks like a halo is in fact a beautiful rising sun - I now left it in. I did only minimal adjustments on the lion remembering your words " less is more". I will revisit this image, for now kindly take a look and tell me what you think...

Myself and Andre work side by side but have very different approach to PP work, although we do take a look at each other's images from time to time and comment on colour casts or suggest a different crop. We both use LR and PP, Andre still uses CS6 and I have CC. In the field Andre only employs manual mode with Auto ISO, I play around in Aperture Priority and obsessively check my histogram:) Manual Mode only when lighting conditions allow...Our images hardly ever look the same, even though we shoot from the same vehicle/POV. We see things differently, compose according to how we feel/observe things, Andre likes to keep his subject in the centre of the frame while I compose while shooting - makes things interesting and the end result is a challenge between the technical versus the emotional...we have our own interpretation of any given scene and therefore it's never boring...

My mind is clearer now...But I shall give it a week or so and revisit this lovely lion...meanwhile, if you have a moment, have a look at my Cape Fox babies in Story Sequences:w3

Thank you from the heart for your thoughtful comments, as well as taking the time to view - I so appreciate it:cheers:

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

WOW! :Whoa!:, yes you now have it in writing :bg3:. The image (viewing on the laptop) has taken one GIANT leap forward and is now in the 'awesome' circle IMHO, one of the best Lion portraits I've seen here.

You know, like a few others, why I say, do and push things and for me, this image has really developed into a stunner. I'm not sure if you perhaps should take the tact of trying to please 'an audience' (that's a tough call) rather than doing it for yourself, but it's your choice. I also feel that it is healthy for the two of you to work independently, not only in shooting, but also in PP, otherwise images may become to samey/stale and will not have your own 'personal' presence/style/finger print which is key. Yes, feed off each other for advice and thinking, but stay individual.

You've raise the bar on this one. :cheers:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela , this looks way better than all the stuff above your latest RP .:cheers:.
With hindsight i have no idea why you have treated the BG in the OP and RP the way you did it , i wanted to ask you what you straight away if you have done something to it , but i skipped the question .

Anyway if this is the original BG it is great , if you made the BG then you have done a great job .

You have done a great job with this . And i also like the detail/sharpness more in this one , to me you have a achieved finer detail with your last post .

Very well done my little sister

[Gabriela Plesea]

I knew it, Steve....but only tonight, after reading your comments...the penny dropped - THANK YOU!!!

I almost killed this lion, took him out of his "environment", changed his background, his world, his colours, everything. Went back to the RAW tonight and in just 5 minutes I brought him back. With less effort...

Feels almost like a revelation, having done so little and achieved more. You were right all along.

Thank you so much, I am extatic to have your approval, and at the same time - so happy to find the right path on my own:5 ...but with a little help:w3

Warmest regards,

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Andreas - this is the real thing, minute changes only in PP, really basic...the sun was rising across the riverbed, over the dunes, and created this bright orange and fire-like BG...did not quite know what to do with it and feared it would look unnatural. But it was there, as you see it in my last RP.

I am happy now. Thinking it must be the reason I shot this in the first place - I must have loved the scene at the time:)

Happy evening to you... we have a new baby tonight, found him under a tree in the garden - a White Eared Barbet, hope we can save him and release him back into nature, where he belongs...

Kind regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - I looked quickly at work but wanted to look again on calibrated screen. I agree your last rp is a huge improvement and on another level. Colors and processing look great and no halo which now it turns out was artificial and created as a result of the pp/changes to the color. Well done on the fresh start.

TFS,
Rachel

[Dumay de Boulle]

Your final repost is probably the best of all the repost's. Lovely details and the textures and tones are fantastic! Lovely image that really tells a story....Thanks for this one Gabriela!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Rachel and Dumay:cheers:

Warmest regards,

[David Salem]

I don't by stop here too often but I did have to stop and say that I really like this Frame. Your final repost is definitely one with nice mid tones, Great detail and Beautiful color. Well done Gabriella

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear David,

Thank you so much for taking the time to view and for your kind comments, I cannot say how much I appreciate it.

Warmest regards,