Mother and Calf

[Loi Nguyen]

Revisiting the images from my recent trip to Mala Mala. I think it is true that it is good to go back to old images with a fresher mind.

Here is one I like. This mother and calf is part of a herd of about 40 coming down to the Sand river for drink. I shot this one across from the river.

5D3
500f4 II
1/2000, f7.1, ISO-1000
Aperture priority

HH

Thank you

Loi

[haseeb badar]

Hi Loi -- Always lovely to see a calf with its mother ! Their is a nice symmetry of their trunks and also you have achieved a nice POV . The light does not look that good though you have managed well , the FG IMO is distracting and as it is shimmering and also the shrub in front of the trunks is breaking the continuity . By looking at the stream looks like a slight cw rotation is needed . TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - I like the comp and the way that the youngster is sort of nestled into the adult. It does look like the light was a bit harsh but you handled it well. You brought out nice texture and detail but it looks slightly too sharp to me. It is definitely worthwhile to go back and reprocess or look at older files. PP software has improved and so have your pp skills.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Loi,

Missed you here on BPN, so glad you are back and posting!

How was Mala Mala?

Lovely sighting and the little ellie is so cute:) Well exposed and the subjects nice and sharp. I agree with Haseeb about the slightly distracting FG, although the thing that bothers me most is Mom's head not entirely in the picture - with so much space in front of the ellies, I somehow feel the need for more at the top. Let us see what the others say, I did enjoy viewing and surely you have lots more to share, welcome back Loi, and have a super week-end:cheers:

Kind regards,

[Loi Nguyen]

"it looks slightly too sharp to me"

Hi Rachel, agreed the sharpening is a bit much here. The original is pretty sharp to begin with.

"the thing that bothers me most is Mom's head not entirely in the picture - with so much space in front of the ellies, I somehow feel the need for more at the top"

Hi Gabriela, I wanted to focus on the calf and with a fixed 500f4, can't get more at the top. I'm not sure if more room at the top would make it better though, because I would have included so much more room that the focus would have been lost on the calf.

Thank you

Loi

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much Loi, I fully understand your circumstances and your reasoning behind the comp - makes sense.

I just thought about a vertical comp here, WDYT? Easier when done "in camera", in which case you would not have to crop so much. My version is very roughly done, apologies for this, it is only meant to give you an idea of other possibilities. I did remove some of the grasses for a "cleaner" look. Another option would be to leave more space at the bottom, to include the virtual limbs/trunks.

Love the baby ellie, he looks naughty, LOL:bg3:

Have a wonderful week-end, Loi:wave:

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Gabriela, I could see how such a crop could work. However, I was too far away and this crop would not have enough pixels to make it a worthwhile image. The OP crop is not ideal, but I don't really see an alternative here. thank you. Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, I like the 'caring/protective' feel the image conveys. I also like Gabriela's RP, but fully appreciate your thoughts on IQ.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi , lovely overall feeling in the image with the mother and calf relationship .
For me Gab`s crop would be the right choice , but understand that you do not want to pixel bash and making compromises with IQ.

TFS Andreas