elephant foot

[peter delaney]

Since Morkel started an interesting thread yesterday.. think its only fair I give an example of what I talked about in my reply...

Background to my thinking behind the image ;

I love moody images with dark and light areas , so for this image I wanted to essentuate the light falling on the foot by darkening the BKG but not completely as that would overpower the image.
I then dodged/burned the the foot till I got the desired look I was after...keeping the top half of BKG lighter than the bottom to give a sense of light falling on it.
This also shows up the ripples of the water thereby adding a little texture to BKG...

Like I said in previous post conversion is so subjective , I love moody images ,the play of light and shadows, I love having deep blacks in my prints..it adds a sense of drama...


The image is full frame , so no way to rotate .. the image is correctly exposed with no black/dark areas just shade with detail... the bkg is blueish water ... yes I would have loved some more room on bottom but its not a deal breaker ...and I only got one frame..

D2XS 600mm lens taken from hide using Arties bean bag...

I may have previously posted this a long time ago but I have reworked it...:S3::S3:

[Harshad Barve]

This is absolute cracker for me , Specially light
TFS

[Marc Mol]

Love the B&W conversion treatment here Peter with fine texture and lighting.


yes I would have loved some more room on bottom but its not a deal breaker ...and I only got one frame..



Have you thought of adding a small amount of black canvas on the bottom?
TFS

[Dumay de Boulle]

Now tats what im talking about...This has a mood written all over it. Textures and conversion are fantastic. I like Marcs thought on a touch of space at the bottom. Love it Peter

[Vivaldo Damilano]

This is really plenty moody Peter, not really a B&W fan but love this. I like the deep blacks and good skin detail. I would have prefer a little more space at the bottom but love this image anyway :S3: it a powerful image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

you win Peter :w3 no denying this packs oodles of punch...:5

I have to admit I am sometimes too timid in my burning and dodging with B&W conversions. You've certainly made me think more about the entire process!

I think the water BG helped a lot here to move towards the feel you envisioned.

Would love to see a repost with a sliver added to the bottom?

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Peter, no denying this packs a punch and is probably the best B/W image that has been posted for a very longtime, as IMHO it evokes everything that a good B/W should. The depth, texture, tones & detail work perfectly and at this size I feel doesn't really do the image justice and should be seen much bigger to appreciate the overall quality of this image. Just love the abstract section. Certainly a sliver more at the foot would enhance the image, but surprised you hadn't edited the original image. I suppose this is down to using a fixed lens.:w3

Still, a fine image, really like it. :cheers::cheers:

Look forward to more I trust.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Peter - I agree, the interplay of texture, detail, shadow and light makes this a really strong b&w image. Well done and I too can imagine this hanging on a wall in a large print. Only nit is as mentioned in your self-critique, a little more below.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

Nice job on showing off the textures. The range of tones in this one doesn't make me think of it as a black and white shot (nothing against B & W, but saying that as a compliment).

[Daniel Bailey]

Could definitely see this being hung in an art studio for sale (and being sold out)! Agree with your self critique, adding a bit to the bottom would push it over the top!

[peter delaney]

Thank you all for your kind comments, it means a lot.
Black and White may not be a natural choice for most nature photographers ... but hopefully I might be able to suede one or two to view this medium differently.



Hi Peter, no denying this packs a punch and is probably the best B/W image that has been posted for a very longtime, as IMHO it evokes everything that a good B/W should. The depth, texture, tones & detail work perfectly and at this size I feel doesn't really do the image justice and should be seen much bigger to appreciate the overall quality of this image. Just love the abstract section. Certainly a sliver more at the foot would enhance the image, but surprised you hadn't edited the original image. I suppose this is down to using a fixed lens.:w3

Steve, very kind of you... high praise indeed, its an interesting story behind this image and why I chose this particular crop...:S3:



you win Peter :w3 no denying this packs oodles of punch...:5


Hi Morkel ,lol, unfair competition I have being studying Photography a longer than you ...

Daniel ,I agree it does look great big, printed on Innova matt A2 ... and have added canvas to bottom for print...:S3:

thanks again everybody!!

[Arthur Morris]

Steve, very kind of you... high praise indeed, its an interesting story behind this image and why I chose this particular crop...:S3:

Hey Peter, Mazel tov X2 on the BBC category win! I'd love to hear why you framed the original so tightly on the bottom (or were you wishing for a bit more room down there as well?). Obviously late to the party and just as obviously a spectacular image.