Elephant Eye

[Rachel Hollander]

Another experiment from our trip to South Africa in 2014. We found this lone elephant near a dam on our way back to the lodge after a fantastic morning game drive. The light was already getting strong at just before 9:30 a.m. I purposely wanted a narrow dof to just have the eye and lashes in focus.

Canon 5D3
300 II
1/1250
f5
ISO 400
HH from safari vehicle, ff, levels, curves, luminosity mask, selective burning and dodging, sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Rachel Hollander]

I also did an alternate crop to have only elephant in the image but think I prefer the op. I thought I'd post it to get opinions.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel lovely tight frame with the eye and surroundings in focus and grabbing the viewers attention , so you did well with the choice of aperture . I actually prefer the tighter second version having less distracting elements for my taste , more focused on the eye .
Overall i do find the image a bit light and thin in tone / color , but this could be just me , and if you give more tonal depth you could loose the effect that you have achieved with your light version .
I really like the color of the eye and the good visibility of the same , i just wonder that you left the blues in :w3 , but i think they are reflecting the sky :tinysmile_shy_t:.

Well seen and executed in the field , Rachel , always good if we can find the time to make this kind of shots after the hunt for the standard stuff .

TFS Andreas

[Mike Poole]

Certainly fits the theme well Rachel - well seen, always good to get something a bit out of the box so to speak.

I'll differ from Andreas in that I prefer the OP, the RP just feels a bit too tight for my taste, although I get where you were going with it. The RP probably reflects the theme more but the OP is a stronger all round shot - the full ear works better.

Mike

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Rachel. Nice frame, a perfect fit for the theme, I too like the OP more. Good the see the illuminated eye.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- I would prefer the RP and i agree that the image looks a bit thin , very well executed and the details you have brought out are excellent . Loved this image . TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. I have gone back and forth as to whether I prefer the ff or the crop so appreciate that opinions are split. I purposely wanted to emphasize only the eye so kept the contrast and tones thinner in the other areas. I'll take a look at the blues in the eyelid.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Rachel

I prefer the RP, the focus is more on the eye, my eye is not drawn to the dark triangle between the ear/trunk.

Tried my hand at RP- Linear Contrast curves; one with Screen, the other Multiply @ low opacities- grouped, mask applied to group- only around the eye region.

No Resharpening..

WDYT?

[Rachel Hollander]

Andre - I like it a lot. Thanks.:wave:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Rachel!

RP works best for me! And sorry to come in so late, just got back home after a day trip to the "big city"...

Love the eye colour, I might remove some of the blues there? And you were very precise, FP must have been right on the eye:)

I can think of another version with more DOF to include the trunk as well?

Forgive me for being so brief, would like to take some time and look at this again with fresh eyes. So much potential here, if you have the time and inclination you could look at a B/W conversion too.

With my mind's eye I am now drawing two parallel lines on both sides of the eye, would like to see that area quite contrasty and the rest fading away with the shallow DOF. Not sure it can be achieved, just a thought, wondering how close this ellie was?

Chat again soon, so exciting to get the mind going and I thank you for this post - BPN Wildlife is NEVER boring:)

Warmest regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, a nice encounter indeed and he was very cooperative too I recall.

I prefer the second posting as it eliminates the bottom LH corner, although overall I feel its a bit 'light'. It may well reflect the time of day, but just with some simple curves adjustment you start to bring some more tone, depth & detail back in which adds to the overall image IMHO, WDYT?

Oooh and reduce the blue creeping in, LOL :bg3:.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Steve - that is what i had in my mind :cheers: to 100 %

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve. I think I have to put it down for a while and come back to it again. While I am ok with what you did, it was not my original vision (pun intended) for the image. Might just have to re-think it.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

Another vote for your RP from me as well, great use of DOF here Rachel with Steve's RP pretty much spot on.

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

I prefer the composition of the first and then I downloaded the image, I have just noticed there have been reposts but I have not looked at them.
To me the original image looks a little bright, I applied a mid tone luminosity mask, and I think it helps WDTY?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jon, sorry to be late getting back to you. As discussed above, my original vision for the image was the lighter feel with real concentration on the eye.

Thanks again,
Rachel