Happy Few

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Friends,

I am spending just about every night by the computer, trying to enable you to experience those sensations I have from time to time through my travels. Sometimes I write long introductions, this is to create the possibility for you to have a double reading of an image presented - one from mine, and the other from the characters' perspective. I am wondering how many of you thought about the meaning of my title, "Happy Few"? I hope you entertain the suspicion that it refers to something beyond that which you see in this frame, and when you pass a critique do keep in mind the author and how she felt at the time of this sighting.

Kalahari, October 2012. The Eland exodus is at its peak, those gorgeous and gentle antelope left the dunes in search for water in the riverbeds. But they cannot find it in the riverbeds as such, the Auob and Nossob rivers dried up thousands of years ago. A few man-made waterholes powered by windmills (some more recently by solar panels) provide some relief from the scorching heat, and this is where everything happens...

The image you are viewing was captured on the 10th of October, a few months before joining BPN. I had just purchased A Nikon D3S and a 500mm Nikon lens, it was all so exciting and I could not wait to try out my new equipment. Only there was no time to play around, this lion pride stayed with us for the duration of our camping at Rooiputs and the adult females managed to kill an Eland just about every day. Our morning drive consisted of a two minute drive to the river bed and there was no time to sit and read manuals, too much was going on. Here are Charlie-Ash's progeny, four young males and a female, all extremely excited to see him come home after a period of absence...

Nikon D3S
Nikon 500 F4
1.4 Converter
ISO 400
1/2000s
F6.3

[BenBotha]

Stunning image. I love the action. Techs spot on.

Ben

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Gabriela, what a Superb Image! great interaction, lovely comp, very nice conversion. I like the lowish shooting angle and the way the other lions are all around the central one who is walking away. TFS.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - What a fun image showing the playfulness of the cubs and subadults. Techs look good and conversion works. I might back off on the sharpening, it looks crunchy in a few places like the mane of the one on the right. Sounds like you had a fabulous time with the pride and the action.

TFS,
Rachel

[haseeb badar]

Hi Gabriela -- Very beautiful conversion ! loved the mood in the image, and the composition is also very nice. Very very nicely done considering u had no experience of the BPN world until thn. TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, again, another lovely image which conveys some cool interaction within the pride, perhaps one of the best I seen for a very long time here, guess you need to be in the right spot at the right time. The crop works well along with the overall composition and also agree, good techs too.

Now a question(s), why B/W appose to colour, what did you feel/think the conversion brought to the image, is it more dramatic/impact...? I'm always curious behind peoples thinking, but also I'm interested to hear how this conversion complements your wonderful story telling compared to the colour. Not sure if I'm conveying this well enough, or just confusing things??? :Whoa!:

TFS
Steve

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gaby, love the conversion here, ( even though as Steve states, I havent seen the original colour version :w3 ) and you have captured the interaction between the lions nicely. I feel you have the comp spot on, as the central placement was the only way to go. Seems like you got the hang of your new toys very quickly at the time.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Good evening and thank you dear Ben, Sanjeev, Rachel, Haseeb, and Steve:S3:

Rachel, I guess I did go a bit wild with the sharpening here and there, I wanted to emphasise the "scruffiness" of those characters, fur and manes caked with blood after devouring an entire Eland. They were about nine in total, that includes the adult females. The character in the middle of the frame was running to greet his dad, his siblings made it almost impossible for him but he was determined to get there first. He was tripped and bitten and clapped as soon as he got up. It does look as if they are trying to prevent him from saying hello to Dad, but in fact they are doing what lions (cats) do: grab anything that moves, and especially when movement is sudden. For this reason I will never run to the tent or vehicle if I have a visit from a lion when I shower in the KTP. Just like any cat, a lion will back off when shouted at or surprised, only to return as soon as he realises there's no threat...

Steve, I am so glad you asked this question. Before I answer you I must say I have been a little unsure lately when it came to conversions, so really happy you like this.

To begin with, I felt the content was there and at first I tried a colour version, but then I had this big dilemma: the colour of my subjects was so close to the BG, the lions "blended" too well with the environment and I needed to reveal textures, expression, intention. I also wanted some shadows in the right places, I wanted form, shape, especially when I looked at the character on the LHS (he is in such great condition, belly index very high and lots of muscle). So I started with the colour version in LR, neutral balance; then took away all the vibrance and saturation. Moved on to play with the tones related to the colours in the frame and went either lighter or darker, depending on the effect I was getting. Only afterwards I moved to the Basic panel and "wanged" the sliders...a bit extreme, which is not like me, I am usually cautious, but the characters started to come out and I was happy.

Lots of burning and dodging followed in PP CC, I wanted to showcase the beauty of this bunch of rowdy lions, those "budding" manes, skin folds, even paw pads. Contrast could bring those out a tad more, so for the first time in some years I have used this tool:) As well as curves. All selectively of course and tried not to overdo things too much...

What I was trying to convey in this image was the joy of those young lions seeing Charlie-Ash, at the same time I wanted the viewer to experience my own joy witnessing the scene - therefore the title. And the text. Just imagine for a moment being there, just two vehicles, myself and Andre in one and our dear friend Allan Booysen (an accomplished photographer who taught us so much in the field), those jubilant young lions in front of us, Mom and her sister at some distance, and Dad Charlie-Ash who stopped in its tracks, paw raised, waiting like a real King for everyone to pay their respects! It was magic, and I know it sounds silly but tears clouded my eyes and my chin was trembling big time. I looked at Allan for a moment (he was visiting the Kalahari for the first time) and saw him wiping his eyes, up to this day I am not sure whether it was dust or he felt the same way I did, I never asked. All I remember is saying to myself "get yourself together or you'll miss all of it" and then the sound of the shutter "click click" brought me back to reality.

B/W can be so powerful, in this case I felt the conversion added a lot of depth and I could use the various nuances of existing colours (mainly yellow and red) to create an almost 3D effect. Instead of softening the vegetation in the BG, I emphasised it. To me B/W is still a matter of trial and error and I am busy experimenting. Hope this helps, Steve, I can carry on talking about this forever...

Warmest regards,

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Stu:)

I did share a colour version of a similar image in BPN Wildlife when I joined. Had no PP skills and got a lot of help from the moderators:)

I so appreciate your comments and time to view, thank you so much:cheers:

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

BAsed on your reasons for B&W Gabriela, I can see the benefit in this great action image.
Love the content and also the comp (crop) suits this very well.
TFS!

[Marc Mol]

Love the story and action depicted here Gabriela, a lot to like, however I thing the B&W conversion doesn't do it justice IMO, as you have a similar tonal range throughout.

I think the KTP (in most cases) shines best when in colour.

TFS

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela a very fine action shot , i can almost feel/hear the sounds of them !!
As always a pleasure to read your emotional content/thinking that is coming with your posts , you are somehow special in this way !!! Or all others are just too lazy , i.e. me in special!
I am fine with the overall conversion and you have nice tones in the subjects , likewise details .
I like to agree with Marc regarding the KTP and color , not meaning it does not work in B/W , in this case i would prefer the color version . In color one could also boost / tear the colors/tones apart if wished .
And if you have not much variation in color and tones i guess it is difficult to get something stunning with impact in B/W .

Just my thoughts , Gabriela , just never stop experimenting :wave:

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Akos, Marc, and Andreas,

Whew, Pretoria is a warm place tonight, thought I'd find winter at last, instead I experienced temperatures between 27 and 29'C:2eyes2:. Was on my way to the feathers but could not resist checking what is going on around here on BPN:)

Just quickly and regarding this image...I could write a whole "essay" right now but I need sleep, I will do it when I get home:)
I am glad Marc and Andreas raised some questions because the other night I got carried away and in fact I did not answer Steve's question properly.

From time to time I go back to my older folders and pick something that "shouts" at me. The other night I found this frame which brought some special memories (yes, and emotions) so I did a colour version. It was ok but somehow it did not satisfy me, I wanted more impact on the viewer, it had to "match" my story, it had to carry more weight. I started removing colour, and even before "wanging" some other sliders, more textures came through and the shape ( and intention) of the subjects became prominent. Not much eye contact and not even "eyes" as such, but later as I deepened the shadows I saw an overall increase in dramatic content. The conversion was beginning to take shape so I carried on until I felt I had achieved what I wanted. Set aside tonality (where I feel this image could still be improved) I strongly believe that by removing colour I have forced you as a viewer to pay attention, not just to the amazing features of my young lions, but most importantly, to the importance of what I had experienced - in other words, I simplified things for you.

Warmest regards to you all,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, thank you for such a concise and in-depth reply.

Without seeing the colour version it's hard to say which works, but this is purely a personal/subjective thing and ultimately, it's your call. The more you 'play' in trying to extract information from the image the danger then is where do you stop and, has it taken the image forward from the original capture? I must admit, there are times I will go to B/W when produce a colour image, but that is early on in the 'development' module which I have found quite useful because it cut-out some of the clutter and at times bolder colours.

However, getting back to the image, maybe look at expanding the the blacks & whites so there is more 'contrast' between them, adding more of a dramatic feel, perhaps it's just looking a bit too 'even', just a thought? Remember there are many ways to 'skin a cat' and so you can separate elements within the image and 'customise' them more.

Good to know you are still having fun. :S3:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Good evening Steve,

Been thinking a lot about this image while travelling from Pretoria to Joburg on the Gautrain today:) My thoughts? First of all, I remembered posting a similar image some time ago, it must have been late in 2012 or early 2013, after joining BPN. I am not going to look for it, at the time my PP skills were almost non-existent so we cannot use that frame as reference.

Another thought -I was not planning to do another colour version again, but on account of this discussion here I owe it to myself to do so when I get home:)

And Steve, of course I am having fun! All this constructive criticism one gets on BPN Wildlife is enough to fuel one's desire to experiment. I count on my fingers my attempts at conversions, they are so exciting right now because I have stepped into "unknown territory".

I understand what you meant regarding contrast, as well as "too even", I will work on this until I am more satisfied with the results, hopefully my critics will be too...still a bit shy to push the envelope because I have practiced so much restraint and for so long with colour images.

On this note, may I ask you - and anyone interested in this discussion - to please take a few minutes to look at my recent B/W Squirrel images in Story Sequences. This time I am not trying to promote the Forum, LOL. I am away and therefore unable to post any of those in Wildlife. Kindly let me know whether you think the conversion worked better there, and if so, why.

I am so grateful for the feedback from everyone:5, my apologies for not commenting on new images for the past two days, all I have with me is a small laptop. I will catch up as soon as I get home:wave:

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, don't take my comments as 'gospel' I'm just trying to make some suggestions/thinking out loud, as I too am away and the laptop is not ideal for trying options or colour variations.


And Steve, of course I am having fun!

Great

[Gabriela Plesea]

:5

:bg3:

[Thinus Schoeman]

Hi Gabriella, I like everything about this image. It is a beautiful conversion, love the composition and the space around the animals, and a great contrasting and darker background. Congratulations!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Thinus,

I so appreciate your kind comments and time to view.

Hope you have a wonderful week-end:)

[Morkel Erasmus]

A lovely moment depicted, Gabriela.
I think you handled overall conversion nicely - but also think you can get more tonal contrast by making the BG and surroundings a bit darker, perhaps using separate layers and blending/converting for various colour tonalities?
The light was good and more tonal contrast can enhance this. It's tough to break away from gorgeous KTP colours in great KTP light, but it can enhance the moment for sure.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Morkel, and sorry to reply so late - somehow I missed your reply.

I will try add more tonal contrast, this is a very special image to me and I would like to make the best of it. Don't know why, I am a bit shy to push the envelope with B/W:tinysmile_shy_t:

Warmest regards,