Water Wars

[Andre Pretorius]

The Aggressor, the Defender and the On-Looker..

Although the waterhole is big enough for everyone, elephants want the fresh water, at the source...There, only one can drink at a time.
This is an artificial waterhole in Tembi, Northern Zululand, next to Mozambique. During the drought water is pumped from a bore hole, exiting at a thick concrete guarded point,
then running into the waterhole. It is the only water for miles around. The most dominant present at the time drinks here, as the fresh, cool water comes from up from Mother Earth.

This is the place where tempers rise, everyone is thirsty, everyone must bow to the new arrival of a more dominant bull, and wait...

Full Frame, only slither cropped of top, bottom and RHS for comp. Nyala in BG removed.
I know the image is busy, but so is the waterhole..

Nikon D3S with 300f2.8
1/1600 @ F8
ISO 3200 (overcast)

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi big bro ,
i very much like the two boys in the FG doing their things .
Lovely processed B/W conversion with good detail and a pleasing tonal range , as you say a bit busy at the WH but that is how it is sometime .
I might be tempted to give the two boys a slightly more mid tone punch , just see how that looks .....
A nice job Andre ...

TFS Andreas , BTW did you get my reply ?

[Andre Pretorius]

Thank you Buthi, did get your reply...

Did do different curve layers with variating blending modes at different blending modes at various opacities, and a D&B layer- how to add more punch MT?
Did get your reply, laughed at your "fitness" streak.. hope they do not class your new bakkie as a Beattle...:t3

Thanks for the comment!...

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Andre at the moment the monster is a beetle for the tax guys .... LOL , hope to get it back to the monster state !!!

Regarding MT , i selected the mid tones via PS and selections in the color range command , i added the selection as mask to a curves layer and pushed the curve down for more punch . plus i added a second curves layer clipped to the first curve layer with the soft light blend mode at low % opacity .

Hope this helps , my friend

Cheers and give her a big hug ......

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andre - The scene depicts the chaos you describe well. Dof and sharpness are good. I like the conversion and Andreas' has improved the midtones. I do wish for a little more room to the left. It just feels tight next to the ele's foot there. I think it looks a little strange to still have the reflection of the nyala where it was cloned out. For the 2 reflections on the left it looks like the eles are blocking the view of the animal but with the one on the right it looks like there is enough space that the nyala would be visible. Once you have cloned out the nyala why not also clone the reflections? There's also an additional set of legs of an ele under the one on the rhs. Not a deal breaker but if the purpose of cloning is to create a clean image, why not go further? Just posing the question. Obviously, each photographer has to decide for him/herself.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andre Pretorius]

Thanks Andreas, seems your punch works better than mine! Will try this method!

Hi Rachel- the scene was very busy, almost impossible for the few hours we were there to get a clean shot close to the water. I have attached the original to show the complete scene. The Nyala growing out of
the observer's back was almost cropped out, his remains were cloned. The female at the defender's ear was very distracting, she was removed. They were interfering
with the composition.
The reflection on water is that of another female Behind the Defender. They were everywhere!:2eyes2:

Thought of removing the legs of the fourth immature ellie, but wanted to convey
the chaos, the "entropy" and pecking order @ the water.
Hope this makes sense:bg3:

[Karen Pleasant]

Andreas, I think you have thoughtfully considered the essence of the scene and have exercised judicious control in cropping and cloning. I think Andreas' re-post is in the right direction...maybe somewhere between it and the OP with more attention paid to the elephants in the middle and RHS than the elephant on the left. All in all, a very pleasing image that I enjoy viewing.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Andre -- well depicted scene , the conversion works very well with andreas sorting out the midtones issue. Thorough inspection by Rachel makes this image a fun watch as well with the original scene posted by seems to clear the air on what activity was going on and why the cloning was required , well done on that and Thanks for Sharing this chaotic scene !!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andre - I'd love to see you process the ff color image as well. I think it conveys the chaos and the presence of the other species adds to the scene in a positive way.

Cheers,
Rachel