I thought I'd join in the recent parade of predator posts. Taken in the Timbavati Game Reserve in South Africa in August 2009.
Canon 50D
100-400 @ 200mm
1/250
f5
ISO 400
HH from safari vehicle, levels, curves, selective color adjustments and sharpened in CS5.
C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,
Rachel
05-25-2012, 11:11 PM
Ken Watkins
1 Attachment(s)
Rachel,
Great detail here , pity you missed the top of the mane. Presumably the Lion is laying down?
I have tried a closer crop, and applied a little linear contrast what do you think?
I think the re-post seems a little too sharp and probably could use some darkening of the whites but it is only really a suggestion
05-26-2012, 08:08 AM
Rachel Hollander
Thanks Ken for the rp but I prefer the OP for the reasons you mention. He was sitting. I do have other closer shots of the head composed in camera (I think I even posted one before) but preferred the wider shot here. Of course, I would have preferred a little more room above to include the rest of the mane.
Thanks again,
Rachel
05-26-2012, 09:48 AM
Andreas Liedmann
1 Attachment(s)
Hi Rachel,
like this male even if he looks a bit bored into the viewers face!!!?
nice capture with good exposure ,contrast ,sharpness . It is not optimal that you cut off the top hairs of the mane.For my taste the BKG is a bit busy,just personal.Did you sharpen or LCE the BKG too?The grass blades on LHS look like so!!
The only thing that is a slight problem here is the slight cast,compare OP to RP and you will see.Checked with eyedropper!!!
Hi Andreas - no LCE or sharpening on bg but I did use action for web sharpening. Thanks for the rp, I'm not sure what cast you are seeing even looking with a program such as Colorpic. If you are referring to the reds, this lion had a fair amount of red in his mane. In fact, in the OP I had already reduced the sat of the reds substantially. If you can explain a bit more what you are seeing and what you mean about using the eyedropper, I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Rachel
05-26-2012, 10:22 AM
Andreas Liedmann
Hi Rachel,
if you compare the two images you will see,that not only the color of the lion has changed .Also the grass on LHS is slightly Magenta.The blacks on the fang are not neutral.
Eyedropper tool in PS is there for checking color balance in tiny area.I controlled the darks with that tool and it showed in the info palette that this area is not neutral,but at least for me ,that part has to be more or less neutral.
I have set the info palette to RGB and LAB colors.Others call it "check the colors by the numbers",it is part of my usual workflow.This is the first step in PS,check the color values of darks,mid tones ,and whites.
I opened the image in PS and added levels adjustment layer,took the eyedropper for the blacks and clicked on the dark parts of the fang,et voila color changes.Then you have to set blend mode to color otherwise you have also changed the contrast. That`s it.
I hope that helped you to understand what i see on my sreen and then in PS.
Cheers Andreas
05-26-2012, 11:21 AM
Mark Wiseman
Hi Rachel,
I like the detail and your POV. I would give the image a bit more space at the top and a wee bit of clockwise rotation to level those eyes, but that is me being a bit pedantic.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes,
Mark.
05-26-2012, 11:36 AM
Steve Kaluski
Hi Rachel, Andreas is correct in that there is a certain amount of red within the image, especially when you look at the BKG. Perhaps somewhere between yours and his might be a good starting point, however both RPs look hammered in sharpening. IQ isn't quite there, but it is the 50D I feel.
Am looking at what kit is available to get some low POV images and will let you know and will fwd my cell number for your niece.
TFS
Steve
05-26-2012, 01:19 PM
Rachel Hollander
Thanks Andreas for the detailed explanation. Thanks Steve, much appreciated.
Rachel
05-26-2012, 02:01 PM
Steve Kaluski
Rachel, Andreas made some very good pointers and observations, I think it will add another few strings to your bow. :w3
05-27-2012, 07:31 AM
Harshad Barve
Rachel , agreed with comments above with great advise
TFS
05-27-2012, 02:01 PM
Dumay de Boulle
What a thug...The detail looks good, but for me the chopped off top of the mane is a problem. I feel what Steve is saying about the 50D is not really accurate. The usual IQ of your posts over the last 4-5 months have been better than a lot of people I have seen with top of the range gear. Another mate of mine uses this combo with outstanding results and IQ. ( I hope I am not misunderstanding what he means)
05-27-2012, 07:24 PM
Rachel Hollander
Thanks Harshad and Dumay. Dumay - I prefer my 7D but didn't have it back in 2009 when this was taken (can't remember when 7D was released but I got mine in 2010). I still use the 50D as a second camera on trips.
Thanks again,
Rachel
05-27-2012, 11:54 PM
Dumay de Boulle
No doubt the 7D is a better camera. I enjoyed mine too, but I still feel its the person behind the camera that makes the difference:S3:
05-28-2012, 12:42 PM
Steve Canuel
Rough looking lion. Your OP comp works for me but so does Ken's tighter portrait. I kind of like the three blades of grass at the bottom and how they cradle the face.