Water in the Kgalagadi

[Basil Dardagan]

Hi everyone. My name is Basil. Image taken in the Kgalagadi TP soon after the recent rains. I found taking and processing this image REALLY challenging due to the extremes in the light.
Thanks for looking
Canon 1d4
500f/4
1/640
5.6
Iso 400

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Basil - Welcome to BPN and the Wildlife Forum. Great first post. I like the drinking pose and eye contact as well as the warm light. I took the liberty of doing a rp. I tamed the highlights a bit, gave the midtones a little more depth, darkened the greens slightly and then burned the tallest blades of grass including their reflections. WDYT?

The best way to get the most out of BPN is to participate and become part of the community. We recommend commenting on 3-5 other Wildlife posts each time you post a wildlife image of your own. It helps foster a sense of community and allows us all to learn from each other. Your comments don't have to be technical. Just tell us what you like or don't like about an image.

TFS,
Rachel

[haseeb badar]

Hi Basil -- Welcome to BPN !

This is a lovely first post to start with , i like the reflection and the light hitting the face , Rachel's RP has taken it up a notch and i agree with the advice on offer by her .
Hope to see you posting more and providing your suggestions on others posts as well .

TFS !

[Mike Poole]

Hi Basil,

Great opening post, hope you stick around to show us more.

I really like the drinking pose, and love to see those raised eyes scanning around. Rachel has taken care of my initial thoughts and I think her repost does the shot justice. My only other suggestion is a little clockwise rotation was needed. I used the straighten tool in PS to line the eyes up with their reflection and it made the frame look a bit more balanced.

Keep posting

Mike

[christopher galeski]

nice image,Rachel as improved it,as already been said those eyes,magic.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super first post well done. A great piece of timing I look forward to seeing more!

[Basil Dardagan]

Thank you so much everybody. I genuinely appreciate you looking and commenting. Mike - I think your suggestion to line the eyes with the reflection is spot on. I experimented sooo much trying to get this image straight however dident think about lining up the eyes. Rachel what you have done with the image is world class - THANK YOU. I can see I am going to learn a lot on this site !! Could I please bother you to explain a little more about what you did - I am familiar with taming the highlights and darkening the greens however when you say you gave the mid tones a bit more depth what exactly did you do? Also I have often heard of burning the highlights however don't think I have that option with the Lightroom 3 processing program I use - is that correct ? What program would I need if I wanted the burning option? Sorry for all the questions and thank you in advance !!!!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Basil - I did it very quickly and just simply pulled down the midtones in a curves layer. I originally thought I would only apply it to the lioness and reflection but decided I liked it better applied to the entire image. I don't use LR but use PS. (I just don't like the interface of LR as much and have no need for the cataloguing system.) I would presume that the burn tool is available in LR too. In PS it looks like a curled hand/fist and is in the grouping with the dodge tool and sponge tool. Just make sure to adjust the "Range" to "Highlights" and I think I had the "Exposure" at 3%. I'm sure someone else will come along and let you know if it is different in LR.

What program you use is, of course, up to you. There are people on BPN who prefer DPP for conversion of RAW Canon images and then use PS or another program. There are also those of us who use ACR in either LR or PS for the RAW conversion and then continue in PS. Many of us subscribe to the Adobe CC Photography Program for a little more than $10 a month to have the most up to date versions of LR and/or PS. A smaller group uses Elements. There are others who use different programs altogether. You will also find that some use additional plug-ins with PS such as Nik or Topaz. It really comes down to personal choice but probably the ones that you will be able to get the most help on BPN with are any combination of LR and PS or DPP and PS.

Great to see you jumping in and commenting on other posts. It is always much appreciated.

Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Basil. So glad you signed up! With your teachable attitude and obvious talent this place will help you grow tremendously.
A lot has been said above, and Rachel's RP is spot on (besides the rotation mentioned).
Is this at the depression just north of Kij Kij waterhole? Can imagine after good rains that it will form a kind of dam with a rising bank on the other side like seen here.
Looking forward to more of your posts and interaction!

PS: In Lightroom you can "burn and dodge" using the adjustment brush and just making sure you feather the radius properly and then make small exposure adjustments on the exposure slider after you've brushed the area you want to tweak. Use the shortcut key "O" (oh) to show the mask overlay where the brush is applied.

[Basil Dardagan]

Thank you Morkel. You have nailed the exact spot that I took this image !!! Amazing actually !!!! About the rotation - are you suggesting you prefer it as I originally posted? Thanks

[shane shacaluga]

Lovely first image and welcome to BPN.

Like the light and the composition and nicely focussed. The RP improves an already good frame

BPN membership is the best money you are ever going to spend on your photography! You will learn new ways to improve your images on a daily basis. Looking forward to seeing more from you soon

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thank you Morkel. You have nailed the exact spot that I took this image !!! Amazing actually !!!! About the rotation - are you suggesting you prefer it as I originally posted? Thanks

Let nobody tell you I don't know KTP ;)

I mean I agree with the comments about rotating by lining up the eyes. Sorry for the vagueness of that line.

[steve torna]

Beautiful light for the moment and the reflection. Well done. TFS

[Gabriela Plesea]

A very warm welcome to BPN, Basil!

Having just returned from the Kalahari, this image goes straight to my heart - thank you so much for this post, I so appreciate it.

Basil, the KTP was green and so lush over the past two weeks, so much so that the Auob and Nossob river beds looked like golf courses. Dunes were covered with vegetation because of those rains you mentioned, but surprisingly the massive springbok herds we are used to seeing were absent in the Mata Mata area. So were most of the predators, except for a few we were very lucky to encounter on a few early morning drives.

Back to your image... Like Morkel, I too recognise this spot, thinking the water must be much sweeter in this little dam than in the waterhole nearby. Lovely lioness drinking and I like the reflection. Good POV, nice framing, Rachel subtly added those final touches. I am extremely happy to see you joined BPN, you will receive lots of feedback and appreciation for your work and I have no doubt you will enjoy it here.

I certainly look forward to more from you, I am familiar with your work and shall follow with great interest your future posts in this Forum.

Kind regards,

[Basil Dardagan]

Thank you very much everybody. I am truly grateful for you looking and commenting

[Marc Mol]

Welcome Basil

A lovely first up post here as well, some very good tips from the others above, but you have all the basics fairly well sorted here,

great low POV, eye contact, full reflection and pleasing overall composition.

TFS