Found a lioness with cubs at the last light around the Namutoni area of Etosha. While I do like the colored version of this photo due to the golden light effect, but thought it was better in monochrome. Would want to see what everyone thinks.
Canon 7D, 300mm + 2x III, f/5.6, 1/800s, +1/3, ISO 500
Processed in CS5, channel mixture for monochrome, luminosity mask, cropped (w/ rotation and bias towards the crouching 2 cubs)
Hi Shreyas - nice poses from all three and the b&w conversion works though I would like to see the color too. The cubs look slightly oversharpened and the whites look hot, particularly on the chest of the middle one. I would also apply some NR to the bg.
Hi Shreyas, I do like the inquisitive expression of the cubs and the conversion to B/W.
Firstly I'm not too sure what is happening at the top part of the image, the area that is running slightly diagonally down and darker? I also feel the whites look a little hot, as the histogram is indicating some clipping of the whites too. Personally I might tone down also some of the brighter objects in the BKG too. I like the lowish POV and the inclusion of the OOF FG rocks, although I would be tempted to crop about an inch off the RHS just to push the subject slightly off centre. I would also agree on running some NR to parts of the BKG.
If you are using a 'style' border then I would go thinker to make a bit more of a feature.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Shreyas I like the central placement but feel the IQ is lacking here. The image overall looks somewhat pixelated, not sure why? Details look blotchy too, and I would say the cubs are oversharpened.
I don't mind the monochrome look here, but would also like to see the 'golden light' version?
Thanks all for the suggestions.
On the whole, I think there's something wrong with my laptop as am seeing different (not over) amount of sharpness etc. I'll work on getting that fixed. And in the meanwhile, I've re-worked the colored version with NR and sharpness.
@ Steve, I added some Vignetting and placed the center around the lions so you can see the darker area in the top, if that's what you were point to!?
Have also toned down the white on the cub's chest. How does this look now?