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Thread: young opossum

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    Default young opossum

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    Canon 60D
    f/22
    1/250
    ISO 100
    150mm
    two strobes


    Last edited by Peter Kes; 10-23-2012 at 12:02 PM.

  2. #2
    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    Sorry, I forgot the rest of the story.... this is a youngster at a rehab center. I attended a workshop where they placed the critters in a 3 foot light cube with two flashes ouside of the box. To adjust the image I brightened the background a bit more to get rid of any remaining detail, and used curves to get more contrast in the body. But I don't know where to go from here, or what would be the best way to crop.

    And a real "stupid" question is, would this be called a "high key" image? I know the background is totally exposed away, but most high key images I have seen also have some of the subject exposed out. This image does not, so I am wondering if it a "high key" image.

    Thank you for your help! I do appreciate it!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Cheryl, is this captive? If so, I will need to add 'C' in the title for Captive.

    Cheers
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    It may be captive but the image is still a terrific one! I'd crop the left side a little to balance the image but that is just personal taste. A stunning image!

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Yes, Cheryl, this would be referred to as a high key image. I really like what you have done b/c it's a unique perspective. Your exposure looks good and I see a lot of details. Your subject works well against the high key BG. You seem to have gotten the right amount of DOF for your subject although next time it would help if we knew what equipment and settings you used. Your comp looks good to me and I like the way the tail is curled around. Thanks for sharing.
    Marina Scarr
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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Neat shot. I like the head on eye contact and the way the tail curves around and points to the animal. Also like the view of those human like hands/fingers.

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    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    Marina, Thank you for your input. What other settings and equipment do you want to know?

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    To add what to what has already been said, besides the eye contact and low perspective, the raised right foot adds significantly to the image, showing the animal is moving toward the viewer.

    Roger

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    Provocative image, I like it.
    Interesting that you shot at f22, which IMHO was perfect choice for the DOF required. (Sharp eyes-nose and good enough tail and hind foot).
    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Graham; 10-25-2012 at 12:24 AM.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Cheryl, I do like the 'hi key' look & feel, as it isolates the subject very well and with the low POV creates a different view point in terms of photographing a subject, however you do have more control over taking the image. I'm unsure as to wether the image is actually 'hi key' or not, as there is a lot of blue/cyan around the fringes of the subject, and in the shadow areas under the tail and front body/paws which makes me wonder if the BKG has been changed to the clean white, perhaps you could confirm what has actually been done to the image. Certainly eliminating the blue cast overall would certainly help, albeit a little tricky in parts. I do very much like however, the raised paw and eye contact which engages with the viewer very well. As for an alternative crop, try landscape placing the subject to the right as is, but having lots of white to the LHS could also work IMHO.

    You might also like to consider posting this thread in OOTB too in order to get an alternative POV too.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    I love the pose/POV here, with great exposure on the subject...must've been an interesting setup to play with.
    I agree with Steve that you might get some better responses in how to handle this specific exposure situation in the OOTB forum?
    Morkel Erasmus

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    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    thank you for your help. Yes, this is not the typical wildlife, so I was wondering. Steve, what do you mean "makes me wonder if the BKG has been changed to the clean white,"
    this was shot on a white background with an exposure as bright as I could get without getting "blinkies" in the animal while still trying to get the background to overexpose. In post I did brighten or clone out any details that still showed up. I did want to keep the shadows though. Should I desaturate the blues in the shadows and leave those gray tone then?

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Cheryl, what I mean in relation to my comment was, the fringes around the fur of the body and the side of the front paw raised have fringes of blue and are also quite jagged and therefore I wondered if you had improved on the cleaner brighter BKG? There are traces of blue also along the other front paw and between the front paws/whisker but no where else? Unsure if it's the strobe that has cast this blue? The file also has an untagged profile, so again, unclear if this also is affecting the image, as all web images need to be sRGB. This is quickly done on 'the fly' on the MacBook laptop as I am out, but dropped the blue and 'roughly' in other parts, better to work on the original, hopefully you get the idea. Are you able to post a copy of the RAW as shot, prior to any work, as an sRGB?

    Hope this helps, certainly easier to talk about comments rather than 'hunt & peck' on a keyboard which is rather impersonal.

    cheers

    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    Thanks for explaining, Steve. Wow, now I see what a lot of blue cast there was! It looks like I introduced the blue when I was trying to bring out the shadows on the ground. Without the shadows, to me it seemed like she was floating.

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    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    oh, that image I attached is the full frame, unadjusted jpeg. (I shoot in both RAW and jpeg).

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Great, thank you Cheryl, the additional info/image really helps. Not sure how you introduced the blue, but I would suggest using a mask for key areas for the shadow, but tricky. If you wanted to retain a shadow then for me, the only two to retain would be the front paw & tail, nothing more. You could also create you own shadow with a tint/% of black too and then feather it.

    cheers
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

  17. #17
    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    Thank you, very much, Steve! When creating my own shadow, how do i create its shape so that it is accurate to the body?
    Last edited by Cheryl Flory; 10-25-2012 at 09:54 AM.

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Hi Cheryl. I like your image a lot. In addition to the comments above, I might suggest that you try some adjustments to the eyes to give them a more "natural" look. As presented, they are mostly reflecting the white inside of your light cube and the opening through which you took the photo. You could select the eyes and try adding black to the light areas - this may take some experimentation and could involve some cloning as well. This is a very cool image and I think it is worth a little more tweaking to make it even better!

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    BPN Viewer Cheryl Flory's Avatar
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    Steve, if I add black to the light areas, won't that just make them look like empty black holes? Or am I misunderstanding? Yes, that rectangle black "iris" has always looked weird to me.

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cheryl Flory View Post
    Steve, if I add black to the light areas, won't that just make them look like empty black holes? Or am I misunderstanding? Yes, that rectangle black "iris" has always looked weird to me.
    Cheryl, that's where the experimenting comes in. We don't have opossums where I live so I don't have a good feel for exactly how their eyes normally look. I would start by zooming in on the eyes to see how much detail you have to work with. You could then clone away the black rectangles and start darkening the light gray areas. If the actual pupil is visible, you could select it and turn it black. Then adjust the darkness of the rest of the eye until it looks "right." It's easy to overdo it so I would suggest making your changes in small steps. Hope this helps.

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    eyes - do you have other images that show the eyes better/differently?
    Tom

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    Excellent techs Cheryl. I like Steve's comp in Pane #13

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    BPN Member dankearl's Avatar
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    I will add my compliments with all the others.
    Wonderful photo, well thought out with f22 and unique.
    Dan Kearl

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    love this shot.

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