Backlit Tiger

[Nonnie Saran]

How can I improve the photo ?? Hope your expertise can help ..

Canon 50 D ,
Canon 70-200 F4 IS ,
ISO 400 , F4 , 1/1000s .

[Robert Amoruso]

Nonnie,

Here's what I would suggest.

In the field, going lowering (crouching) would have gotten you level with the Tiger and given the face even more power then it has now. Assuming that was possible of course.

In post-processing I have done the following:

1) Reverse s-curve to lower the contrast.
2) Dodged the FG to open up the shadows using the dodging tool.
3) Added some additional yellow saturation to the image for the tiger only meaning I painted black on the hue/saturation adjustment layer mask. I did this because the reverse s-curve had him look flat.
4) Selectively sharpened the face using USM on a BG copy and then masked out the remainder of the image.
5) Selective color adjustment and added black to the black, white and neutral colors - I then masked out the BG so only the tiger was affected to add some POP to the image.



You can find info on the reverse s-curve and selective color here in my tutorial: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20434.

[Nonnie Saran]

Thanks Robert ,

I got exactly the kind of response I was looking for . Definitely the tiger is standing out in the photo . Thanks alot for the tip .

[Robert Amoruso]

Hi Nonnie,

I just went back and added step five. Glad I could help.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Nonnie

Has the image been cropped, or is this full frame, as cropped also affects the quality of the image? Also could you please add the location, time of day, camera body & lens too please. Thank you.

I think Robert has addressed most issues. :)

TFS
Steve

[Nonnie Saran]

Hi Steve ,

Its a full frame shot .. I haven't cropped . I left it the same as I liked it the way it was .

It was shot in the morning . It was shot with a Canon 70-200 F4 IS mount on a Canon 50D .. I have added details in the original post ..

It was shot in Bandhavgarh .

A special thanks to Harshad who too was in the jeep . He has inspired me to visit Bandhavgarh and manage to get plenty of wondrful tiger shots ..

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Nonnie Sure like that back lit image, different and works

Robert the re post is not working for me, don't like it so tight and has lost some of the appeal, would just lighten the tiger and immediate foreground some. For lightening the tiger all you would need is dodging the animal with a soft brush. In PhotoShop doing things the simplest way seems to work best (most of the time).

[Harshad Barve]

What a fine morning it was Nonnie and this handsome male made it grand one
But IMHO this simply do not work for me, neither OP or RP , we were shooting side by side and I think lighting and POV was same for us

This image has grand potential Nonnie and all efforts to start from scratch on RAW should help very much here. I have got something like this http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=60018
Though I have opted for portrait but this should help in reprocessing
TFS

[Hilary Hann]

I like the original crop as the tiger is moving into space and also you get the feel of the surrounding environment. The colours of the vegetation along with the backlit tiger work together to make a really high class capture. Like the advice on pp.

[Ken Watkins]

I agree with Al, the repost looks too light and I like the space in the original.

Much as I do not want another "brick red" repost I have given it a go.

I have adjusted in selective colour by way of a layer, and then tried the skylight filter in Nik Filters (I have not used this in ages), probably you could get the same from the filters in PS.

[Nonnie Saran]

Harshad ,

Processing just the face is the easy part .
Processing keeping in mind the balance between the FG and Bg is the tricky part .
I am no expert in PP . I bet others could do much better work out of the shot ...

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Creating an environmental portrait is always more challenging than a portrait. I like the colours and the eye contact. The rim lighting is nice. The foreground has become black and lost details. Was the original image underexposed? Rather than opening up the shadows a lot, it is better to expose correctly in the shooting stage.

In this situation, you could have also experimented in getting only the rim light, with the body dark. This image will also work in black and white.

I assume the tiger was pretty close to you, as you have clicked at 81mm. Be careful with the autofocus in backlight situations. It is likely to miss the eye and latch on to a high contrast area. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Fabs Forns]

I love the framing and back light in the original. I think it just needs a small contrast boost.
Original framing works best for me.
Robert's looks washed out and tight and Ken's too red for me (sorry guys).
I think it is an impressive image!
Congratulations.

[Alfred Forns]

I like the re post Ken (just tone the red a bit) .. btw some of those Nik Filters are worth looking into !! Do like them !!

Good Point Sabyasachi With back lit images exposure is critical and there are options, opening and getting detail or going with a dark silhouette Flash fill would be ideal but I''m sure not in this circumstance.

[Kiran Khanzode]

Here's my version, looks eye-pleasing to me. Didn't tweak the crop or colors. But added some sharpening, brightened it slightly (just the tiger) and blurred the bg a bit (could have used a slightly lower opacity of the brush..doh/oops). But I like the result. If you do, call 1-800-IDO-LIKE.

[Nonnie Saran]

Thats really wonderful Kiran . I definitely love the version .

[Charles Glatzer]

I'll play.

Best,

Chas

[Kiran Khanzode]

I like Chas's version too, but considering the directional lighting (from the left), the brightness on the Tiger's body(oposite to the light source) looks just a little unreal.

[Alfred Forns]

Excellent PS work Chas Glad you gave it a try. I think any choices is just personal taste both great, might go with the slightly darker one !!

[James Shadle]

This is an interesting image.
Here is my 2 cents and repost.
I liked the original very much, as well as Kiron and Chas' repost.
I feel Robert's crop is too tight and poorly balanced.
Ken's felt too Red.

I really liked the rim lighting and tried to keep that feel in my repost.

Looking again, I would reduce the contrast a bit in my repost.

[Todd Frost]

Good comments and ideas above. Definitely a nice image to work with and many possibilities (personal taste). Crop wise I too prefer the op. Well done. TFS
Todd

[Charles Glatzer]

Yes, this image is highly subjective. What matters most is the makers intent

Best,

Chas

[Tom Graham]

Sorry, off topic, but, why can I not see the original posting image by Saran, nor any of the re-posting images, for all replies above? What button do I need to push? Using Firefox 3.6. Thanks.
Tom

[Hilary Hann]

Welcome Tom, nice to see you here. I don't have an answer, however, I've been having problems over the last couple of days viewing images as well. I can see these on this thread so not sure what gives with your browser. One of the moderators will help, or perhaps PM one of them.

[Tom Graham]

Thanks twaffle, happy to be here, strange 'cause I can see OP images on other threads.
edit - after viewing other threads, some I get images, some I don't. Have feeling there may be problem with BPN's image storage/provider because I do see images going to other links (other than BPN).
Tom

[Tom Graham]

Finally today, 4/13/10, I can see the original and re-works. Most interesting discussion all, many thanks. If I had to pick one it would be Chas. I absolutely love back lit photos. Sort of like what Yogi Berra said about a "fork in the road", I say - when you find a back lit photo, take it!!! (Next time you watch BBC Big Cat Diary/Week notice how often they have back lit scenes).
Tom

[Rich Williams]

I prefer the editing of Kiran Khanzode over the others here. The image is incredible though. I love the backlighting and your composition is great. I would not crop it.