Death in Africa

[Stu Bowie]

I felt this scene would work in B&W. A buffalo carcass lying in the African sun. Taken in the Kruger National Park.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 220mm
1/800
F/6.3
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held from a car

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like the idea and comp mate - but think your B&W could use a little more tweaking to enhance midtone textures - there's no set rule but you have to play around with the settings some to find something that works best.

[Mark Dumbleton]

Stu, what dam at Kruger was this? We saw a Black Rhino carcass at a dam that looked just like this.
From this angle I cant see the head too well, but looks exactly the same as what we saw. The dam was on a dirt road just off the main tar road between Orpen and Satara. Looking at the mouth, it looks like the Black Rhino.

Image works well in B&W - very dramatic.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks Mork and Mark.

Mork, you dont want to know how many times Ive played with the tweaking in this. Im scared if I do any more, I will spoil it. Thanks for your input, but lets see what I can do.

Mark, you are correct. The S36, gravel road that runs south-north, and eventually meets up with the tar road halfway between Satara and Orpen. I actually cant remember which dam as there are quite a few along that road. As for the ID, you may be correct.

[Morkel Erasmus]

now that Mark mentioned it, it does look like a Black Rhino carcass - which is sad since Kruger doesn't have that many BR's to begin with :(

[Stu Bowie]

Here is my attempt at a better version. I played with the midtones - darkened the surrounding BG, and lightened the carcass a tad. Any better?

[Morkel Erasmus]

does look a lot better Stu! I think the bright water was what bothered me in the first place.

here's my attempt - I took your repost and then:
* using selective colour I added 5% blacks to neutrals, 4% blacks to blacks, and 70% blacks to whites
* adjusted levels on the midtone slider slightly towards the blacks
* using Shadows/Highlights I upped shadows 5% and toned down highlights 10% (20 tonal width, 10 radius), and then increased midtone contrast by 15%
* upped normal contrast by 20%
* sharpened on Smart Sharpen 125%, 0.2px

what do you think?

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Mate, thanks for the repost - yours pops so much better. I was a bit sceptical to go darker, but you have shown me it works well.

With regards to the ID, the large chest cavity swayed me towards a buffalo. A rhino never came into my mind. Having said that, not sure what carnivour would take him down. If its poachers, it was certainly out in the open with no vegatation to keep them concealed.

[Morkel Erasmus]

pleasure :)

[Harshad Barve]

This shows life in jungles
TFS

[Mark Dumbleton]

I was at the kill only a few days after it had been killed. Which was about 4/5 weeks ago.
Apparently it had been killed by Lions. It wasnt a fully grown Black Rhino, but I was certainly shocked when I saw it was a Black Rhino. And was also amazed at how close the kill was to the parking area at this particular dam.

The darker water does add more drama.

[DanWalters]

The BW really makes for a dramatic image. Really tells a story of life in the wild.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Like the darker water as well Stu. Well done mate, never pass up an opportunity. Death is an integral part of life. Well presented. :)

[David Fletcher]

This B&W presentation makes for a stark reminder of the harshness of life and death in the African bush. Like Morkel's tweaks. Very well done Stu.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Stuart,
Late to the party.....very nice choice with the conversion.....makes the image even more powerful. I went a different direction slightly than Morkel did....I only did a shadow highlight correction onthe carcass.....then a few seperate levels layer adjustments on the water and then dirt. Finally a little selective color blacks to entire image and same in neutrals.....then a sligh 6% contrast boost. I didn't add any sharpening but you may want to do another pass.
all in all a very powerful image and very well composed. What we are all doing is showing some possible B&W tweaks and you can play with this endlessly.......so nice job!
PS Mine is very close to yours....just a lighter carcass on my version

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the positive input guys. Much appreciated.

Roman, thanks for your version too. B&W can certainly be tweaked in sorts of ways.