Wildebeest

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi all , have not posted a Wildebeest for longer time so here is one , taken during my trip to the KTP with Gabriela and Andre last year .
We got this male approaching a waterhole very slowly , i guess it was at 13th or 14th borehole , Gabriela would know better than me .
Image taken late in the morning in the Auob riverbed . Light was really harsh at the time of shooting and i tried to keep it as realistic as possible to show the harsh conditions , so i accepted the tiny loos of detail in the HL .
The original raw was slightly overexposed as i shoot ETTR with some blowing HL , as most of the times , but all can be recovered in post if wished .

Canon EOS 1D MK IV
EF 500 IS L
Beanbag

F8 ; Iso 640; 1/800sec

Processed with DPP 4 and PS CC , full frame , very little gardening in FG

Thanks for watching and leaving a comment to my previous thread

Cheers Andreas

[BenBotha]

The image is sharp but appears over processed. The harsh light also made things worse. Would look better in B&W. BTW-I am on my way back from 9 day break camping in KTP, it was very cold and it is very dry, very little rain last season.
Ben

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Andreas,

An educated guess...I believe this was shot at Craig Lockhart! Do you remember taking those close-ups of Springbok, Boetie? All kinds of antelope gathered under those massive trees at some point, and I remember passing you a mug of coffee through the car window...Ben surely knows this spot so well. It was such a scorcher of a day, the bokkies were waiting to drink, wildebeests took over the water hole and did not even allow the mighty Gemsboks to come near. Very harsh lighting conditions and I am also thinking B/W would be magic here. Although I am enjoying the rich velvety browns and this almost overexposed look...there's something quite harsh about this frame but I guess it was intentional, congruent with the conditions at the time - I love to see you experimenting and you are not shy to go to the extremes, in terms of your photography I can compare you to the Kalahari sometimes, not sure what's next...

Warmest regards from your KTP Sister, your Brother here says he's missing you too:wave:

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Andreas,
Agree with the comments of Gabriela and Ben. Would like to see this in B&W. Nice details in the WB!
Cheers

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thank you Ben, Gabriela and Sanjeev for your comments as always much appreciated .
Ben for sure this could go B/W , no question , but going B/W i would loose the heat /harshness of that location from my POV . As i said in the intro i went a bit more extreme with the overall processing , to illustrate the things i have seen with my eyes .
I could have gone with more even tonality and a more balanced overall look&feel , but again this is not what i wanted :S3:.
To sum it up , keeping my thoughts in mind , it does not look over processed to me.

Gabriela this is for sure not Craig Lockhart , as the Craig Lockhart images has been taken on another day(s). This was taken at the spot where the waterhole was close to the track and no shade at all , but you also gave me a coffee there (as you always did) .I forgot which waterhole had the broken pipes , so it was the other one where the pipes has been intact . We had also Gemsbok there and i guess you got some closeups of a Secretary Bird at the same spot :wave:.

Hope this helps

Cheers Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

It surely helps...13th Borehole it is, then!

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Andreas...I like this capture...yes it is a bit harsh, but the bright background gives the scene a bit of a high-key feel...nice!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - I understand that the frame represents what you wanted it to, including the harshness of the light and conditions. While it accomplishes this goal, it once again raises the question of whether to present a documentary image or a more pleasing image. Obviously, it always comes down to photographer's choice and may depend on what the ultimate use of the image is. Personally, I prefer images that tick both boxes. For me, this is a bit too harsh to be a wall hanger. Keep experimenting though.

TFS,
Rachel

[haseeb badar]

Hi Andreas -- at first look i didn't find this image very pleasing and i would stick to that after staring it for another few minutes . But certainly i like to see different ideas and thought process of people behind shooting a particular image . keep posting and TFS .

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Andrew, Rachel and Haseeb for your kind comments , always appreciate input to my postings .

Rachel and Haseeb understand your view of things , but i guess you get my thoughts about this even if you would have preferred a more pleasing image ( for your eyes ) .
To me this is not about pushing things and it would not be a wall hanger for most of the people , to me it reminds me sitting there in the heat and brutal light , try to partly close my eyes when not wearing sun glasses while shooting to handle the harsh light .My brain and eyes are trying to overcome that strong contrast and hard light and they are doing a better job than our cameras :bg3:, but still struggle to get this all in one image in our brain depending on the light situation . So this is (for me) close to reality and no experiment .

I would also love to have the subjects all the time in gorgeous ,preferable in very late afternoon /early evening , light . But i stay out the whole day if i can and still take images when most of the other shooters stop or go to have a nap in the camp , cause it is not all about the sweet golden light .
But again if i would have the choice just shoot in sweet light or harsh and get the same subject / action i would for sure take the sweet light , also for technical reason cause the images are easier to process :S3:.

Hope this helps for you guys to understand my way of doing things :wave:

Cheers Andreas

[Katie Rupp]

Andreas.

A little late here but I've looked at this image numerous times and decided I need to say that I find it compelling. It feels stark, hot, dry and abandoned, reflecting the harsh conditions that lone Wildebeest is in. Therefore, I wouldn't change a thing, since for me, you succeeded in your objective.

Thanks for sharing this image,

Cheers,

Katie