New Born Wildebeest

[Russell Johnson]

Taken in the Kwara concession this November. The area was full of young babies. Converted to B&W as I wanted portray the contrast between the different aged wildebeest.

Processing: LR3 and opened in CS5

Color Efex Pro - Used the preset Dyanmic Harsh

Then fiddled with the color sliders and contrast to get the look I wanted.

1D Mark IV + 500mm
1/640 @ F7.1
ISO400

[Brendon Cremer]

Great image well processed the conversion works very well! would possibly take a little off the top.

[Ken Watkins]

Russell,

Not to sure about this, as you allready know B & W is not my favourite medium, and the filter you have used does not appeal to me at all.

Nor am I sure of the reason you have given for converting , the younger calf is clearly a lot lighter as it would be in colour.

Were they being slaughtered by the Cheetah?

[Steve Kaluski]

Cool image Russell, like the direction on this one and great to see a different approach.

Really like the tones and layering, giving depth, atmosphere and dimension to the image, it almost has a 3D quality. I love the detail, clarity and the shadows/contrast giving form to the two WB in the FG juxtapose to the rest in the BG.

Would love to see this big ie 48 sheet poster. :bg3:

BTW, is there a slight halo on the top part of the rump of the WB in the FG to the RHS as it hits the scrub?

TFS
Steve

[Tom Graham]

Like the general look and feel of the terrain, sky, OOF back WB. All four subjects looking at camera. Better in color, I don't know?
Would like to see the left mom/calf as sharp as the right mom/calf. If can't be, then I'd try flipping image left/right?

107938
Tom

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like this VERY much as posted, Russel! Love the tones you achieved as well as the 3D look as Steve mentioned. :cheers:
The "clouds?" in the BG add a lot to the overall mood.

Just to be clear for everyone eager to play around - so you converted in LR3, took to PS and then applied the Color Efex filters?

[Rachel Hollander]

Russell - I like the b&w and the tones but I do wish that the newborn was sharper. In fairness that may be because your title makes the newborn the focus of the image.

TFS,
Rachel

[Russell Johnson]

Cool image Russell, like the direction on this one and great to see a different approach.

Really like the tones and layering, giving depth, atmosphere and dimension to the image, it almost has a 3D quality. I love the detail, clarity and the shadows/contrast giving form to the two WB in the FG juxtapose to the rest in the BG.

Would love to see this big ie 48 sheet poster. :bg3:

BTW, is there a slight halo on the top part of the rump of the WB in the FG to the RHS as it hits the scrub?

Thanks, Steve.

I don't notice it on the Tiff, so perhaps my resizing efforts :)

Will have to find some new wallspace before printing this.

[Russell Johnson]

Not to sure about this, as you allready know B & W is not my favourite medium, and the filter you have used does not appeal to me at all.

Nor am I sure of the reason you have given for converting , the younger calf is clearly a lot lighter as it would be in colour.

Were they being slaughtered by the Cheetah?

Ken, the light is flat and uninspiring, as there was a storm blowing through, and B&W highlights the contrast more powerfully.

This was close to Splash, so no for them to be concerned with.

[Russell Johnson]

Thanks, Morkel


Just to be clear for everyone eager to play around - so you converted in LR3, took to PS and then applied the Color Efex filters?

My general workflow, as for this image was the following;

1) Make the following adjustments in lightroom

- Camera Profile to Camera Neutral
- WB to Auto (did not really matter in this instance)
- Turn off all sharpening
- Turn off all Noise Reduction

2) Export image to CS5 as a smart object

3) Apply Nik Pre-Sharpener

4) Open Nik Efex Silver Pro

5) At this stage I select a preset B&W image that is heading the right direction. I then start playing with the colour sliders etc to create the image I want.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for clarifying. I see you used Silver Efex and not Color Efex (typo?:t3) as originally stated (which confused me but has now been clarified)...:w3

[Mario Moreno]

I like it the way it is ..... Great DOF and conversion

[Marc Mol]

Like this a lot Russell, the B&W conversion is just right, great tonal range, DOF plus the dramatic sky BG really enhancing, VWD!
TFS

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice conversion Russel and I appreciate the reason for converting to B&W. As mentioned by others I like the layered effect of the Wildebeest and the nice grouping - great result.