Burchell's Zebra

[Hilary Hann]

Burchell's zebra stallion in Meru National Park, Kenya. Taken late afternoon (6pm).
7D; 100-400 @ 310mm; ISO400; 1/640; f8

[Vivaldo Damilano]

The awesome light make the shot IMO, very nice Hilary TFS:cheers::cheers:

[Russell Johnson]

Hi Hilary, IQ looked good on this so I have made a few tweaks.

http://www.thesafariphotographer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/00907zebra.jpg

I cropped the LHS as I felt it could make the image look stronger.

To my eye, the grass had a colour cast to it, so altered it using Color Effex and added a bit more saturation and warmth in Viveza.

[Ken Watkins]

Hilatry,

The OP seems to me to have a yellow cast , I am basing this on the whites. Back in UK on my poor although calibrated monitor, Russels post improves it on the cast problem, but I think more could be done. Much as I would like to try I am hampered by the poor monitior in my office.

[Robert Amoruso]

Hilary,

Probably impossible but if you could have gotten a bit higher then the ears would not be at the horizon but in front of grass. Not sure going lower would be an improvement here.

Think I prefer the original post over the recrop presented.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hilary, I too prefer the original, but wonder if you need to make the whites just a slightly bit cleaner and again, using some highlight/shadow just to open the face, although viewing on laptop so this might not be required? Perhaps the crop could go tighter, but I feel Russells is just too tight IMHO.

Happy to post if you feel it might be helpful to illustrate my thoughts.

TFS
Steve

[DanWalters]

Great light and comp. Maybe just a little lighter.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hilary - stunning depth, image quality and light here.
I find myself liking the OP more as well, maybe try working on just the whites of the zebra. You would know at what time of day this was shot, but often the warm golden light bounces off the grass and gives the scene a golden glow. The trick is to pull back just enough to compensate for the sensor's perception of the colour and get it looking as your eye remembers it.

[denise ippolito]

Hilary, A beautiful image. I hope to photograph these in the wild some day. I think somewhere in between the two posts.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks everyone, all opinions very helpful. Thanks Russell for taking the time to repost however I intentionally left the cast over the image as the light (on the equator) at 6pm is just before sundown and very warm and making the whites 'white' ruins the effect I was trying to retain. That of course is just my opinion and it doesn't make anyone else's any less valid.

Robert, I take your point on the viewpoint and I was in two minds about whether to go high or low. As I couldn't go any lower because of the vehicle we were using here and the long grass inhibited taking the camera lower on a monopod and because going higher lost the perspective of the zebra which I was aiming for, I had to accept the horizon going where it does. I did try and get the zebra's ears more into the background trees to reduce the effect of the sky.

As far as the closer crop goes, as most of you know by now, I love having environment and room around the animal … not so zoo like … so although I take on board the viewpoints that a closer crop would have been nice I would rather take the zebra off the centre and leave some space. I have a vertical close crop (in camera) and decided on this one in preference.

Steve, I possibly could open up the face a bit more and am happy for you to repost.

Again, thank you everyone for your opinions and suggestions. Often I don't use them for the image posted but use them for subsequent images so all ideas are taken on board. :S3:

[Harshad Barve]

Great light and comp
TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hilary

Just opened up the face & whites as per my thoughts, plus gave it a little boost. It is all so subjective, and we all can read things in an image.

Not sure if this helps?

Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hilary - I prefer the original crop but the color cast is a little strong for my taste. I understand about the evening light but IMO the cast is too yellow rather than depicting the warm evening glow. I wonder if adding a little red might help. :2

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

Personally prefer the OP but having never been to Africa I'll consider the input of those who know best and the intentions of the photographer. I like the position of the zebra between the trees.

[Todd Frost]

I'm with Mr Canual on this one, having never seen the magnificent light of Africa I won't comment on color casts and leave that to Hilary. That said I like the comp of the op with the space it has. Sharpness looks good as well. Steves re-post brightens the whites but still give the feeling of that golden light before the sunset. Well done.
TFS
Todd

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Steve, I like the job you've done, leaving some of the light I saw but toning it down somewhat.
Thanks Harshad, Steve C, Rachel and Todd.