Wild Dogs Playing

[gail bisson]

I am a bit nervous to post this as I rarely leave the comfort of the Avian forum!
I was looking for another image and accidentally copied this folder back on to my computer. Taken in Botswana in November 2014.
I quite like this image although I think I dismissed it initially because the far dogs' face is not fully visible.
A lower POV would have been great but not possible. I was lying on the floor of the second row of seats in the jeep.
Canon 1DX
70-200mm at 170 mm
ISO 800
SS 1/800
f 7.1
PP: Small crop ~ 75% FF. In LR 5 increased exposure by 0.25, increased shadows by +18, increased clarity by +10 and saturation by +5.
Off to CS 5 for levels, Minimal NR to BG and added a bit of black in selective coloring. Then USM to JPEG. Nothing added or cloned.
Comments and critiques are always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[haseeb badar]

Hi Gail -- Great to see you posting in the Wildlife forum, and also good to see that you have the painted dogs in your collection. I like the moment with three of them moving together almost like a body with three heads. I think I would have backed down on clarity/blacks, resulted in heavy blacks especially on the ears and nose, it might be clipping in there. Also the settings around the subject are not allowing a nice separation, reducing the yellows in the grass might help that cause. Would have loved a lower POV but understand that it is not always possible .

Always nice to see these animals .

TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gail - It's great to see you posting in Wildlife. And it's always great to see wild dogs, especially playing. I don't mind at all that only a sliver of the rear dog's face is visible. This shows typical behavior of the dogs. Nice sharpness and placement in frame. I totally understand about the pov, we've all been there. Sharpness looks good. I too would likely not have added the blacks as they do seem a bit heavy. Btw the embedded profile is Adobe RGB rather than sRGB so there may be a shift in color depending on browser. I hope you'll post more from your files in Wildlife.

TFS,
Rachel

[gail bisson]

Thanks Haseeb and Rachel.
Rachel, Thank you SO MUCH for spotting the Adobe RGB space issue. I had been fooling around with my presets over Christmas and somehow changed my presets from sRGB to Adobe RGB during export. Again, big thank you.
Here is my repost with reducing yellows in the grasses, no blacks added and correct color space.
Gail

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gail, these guys are very photogenic and capturing their behavioural aspects illustrates how they bond and interact with one other, as this shows with the RH dog engaging the the middle one, but you needed to be more to the right I think for more of a visible POV. Shooting from a vehicle close by never creates the best angles IMHO, as you are too high up (too steep), but you did well here. However shooting with a longer lens and more distance I think would have got the lower PoV you wished for. With the Dogs moving and getting closer to you the kit had to work harder, so really ISO 1600 (or higher) with a SS of around 1/2500 I think would have created a better file and with the 1DX, that is not an issue, that's what it was designed to do.

The initial positing I find a bit too Saturated and 'Contrasty' in it's overall look between the Blacks & Whites, and so backing off in Contrast, Clarity, Saturation you start to get a lot of the finer detail coming through. It almost has the look of Detail Ex & Tonal contrast being applied, as there is this 'grainy/granular' appearance, not something the 1DX at 800 produces.

You would benefit from upgrading your Software Gail, plus if you upgrade to the MK2 the software will not support the new RAW files.

Not ideal, but this may illustrate some of the points I mentioned above. Sadly I had to run some NR to reduce things which has not helped the sharpness, but...

Lets see more from you.

TFS
Steve

[gail bisson]

Thanks Steve. Agree with your assessment re: POV but when on safari we are at the mercy of being in the jeeps!
I like your repost.
I used NIK DE at 1% on the dogs only on the first post but not on the repost. No tonal contrast used in either image.
Re: software. I have been quietly rebelling against CC PS. I refuse to pay them a monthly fee!! I will eventually have to cave in but for now I am sticking with PS 5. I am stubborn!
Gail

[Steve Kaluski]

POV but when on safari we are at the mercy of being in the jeeps!

Not really Gail, as you are the 'Client', therefore you have three options:
- You decide where to shoot and align the jeep accordingly
- The Guide decides where you shoot and align the jeep accordingly
- You & the Guide agree on where to shoot and align the jeep accordingly, this I feel works best I think, best of both worlds


I used NIK DE at 1% on the dogs only on the first post but not on the repost.

At 1% there would be no advantage I can see to applying it.



Re: software. I have been quietly rebelling against CC PS. I refuse to pay them a monthly fee!! I will eventually have to cave in but for now I am sticking with PS 5. I am stubborn!

You have one of the best bits of kit on the market, but are using out of data software to produce your images with, you owe it to yourself and the gear, at around $15pm a wise investment I feel and your images will be better IMHO. It's like having the latest Lamborghini with a Model T-ford engine to drive it. :bg3:

[keith mitchell]

Gail you said you where concerned about not all the heads showing but must say it looks right to me,think all the technical aspects have been covered,I like the almost cowed expression that these dogs are showing.

Keith.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gail ... i think WD are always special so i hope you had fun to watch and photograph .
Like the action . Tonal and color nits are already covered above ,i do agree with them .
No need to be nervous or afraid .... even if you are here in the wildlife section , we do bark :t3 a lot :bg3: ... sometimes ! But we do not bite :w3.
So don´t be shy .

TFS Andreas

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, always great to have a sighting of wild dogs, and great that you captured their mood all together. Lying on the floor of the 2nd row means you must have had that row all to your self. :w3

[Andrew McLachlan]

Great capture Gail and good suggestions mentioned already...I like Steve's repost in Pane #5 best of all. I too have been trying to avoid PS CC, but since I bought a Nikon D500 recently I am now going to ditch CS6 for CC :)