Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Zebras at Sunrise - Amboselli National Park, Kenya

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Jacksonville, Florida
    Posts
    124
    Threads
    50
    Thank You Posts

    Default Zebras at Sunrise - Amboselli National Park, Kenya

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Normally I would not even bother trying to shoot into the light, but I had heard some tips that made me want to give it a try in this unique situation. On a wildlife photo safari in Kenya, I created this image at 6:44am, which was about 3 or 4 minutes after sunrise. A fairly large group of zebras had walked past and kicked up a bunch of dust, and the sunlight shinging through the dust is what created the background. I added contrast to enhance the image by raising the 'whites' and lowering the 'blacks', and by lowering the 'shadows' and raising the 'vibrance' when editing the raw image. I also lowered the exposure by an additional .3 in post processing. The result of those edits is what you see here.

    When I first saw the raw file I noted that it was sharp, and the light shinging through the mane of the zebra looked pretty cool. But enhancing the yellow and increasing the contrast is what really made the image appealing to me. This ended up as one of my favorite images from my trip, and for what it's worth, I created it while breaking the conventional rules and shooting into the light. So I guess I learned that sometimes it pays to think outside the box.

    I admit that compositionally, folks will probably point out some flaws. Feel free to do that to help me gain some additional perspective .

    Here are some of my own thoughts: I found myself wishing I had not mounted the 1.4x extender because I could not fit the entire body of the zebra in the frame. I think I would rather have captured the entire body of the zebra, but in spite of that, I do like what I ended up with given that limitation. I caught the zebra looking straight at me when I had an upper center focus point active right on the subject, so I fired rather than take time to recompose. I love the eye contact. Usually I do not like to locate the subject in the center of the frame, but honestly I do not think it detracts from this particular photo. I have wondered if the composition might have been better if had I aimed a litle more to the left. But who knows, maybe I would have missed the shot. You may like this image or you may not, but I thought I'd post it here and get some feedback. Image Settings: 1/400 @f5.6, iso 1600 at -1/3 EV, Canon 1DX, EF500 f4 IS lens and 1.4x extender (700mm)

  2. #2
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Somewhere in the world
    Posts
    20,551
    Threads
    1,285
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Tim, it's certainly different and very much 'in your face' if you know what I mean? It's quite bold in colour & content.

    In terms of composition I don't think there is much more you could have done, I think it does work, although having the rear so prominent is perhaps to some not ideal, however having the head central kind of offsets things??? Saying that I do like having half the Zebra on the LHS. Personally I feel feel it is a bit too vibrant & saturated even for the time of day and looking at the maine to, but just my personal thought. Not sure about dropping the Exposure, perhaps keeping As shot and adjusting in Curves may have been better and retaining more of the richer blacks and reducing the red saturation? With the 1DX I would have pushed the ISO and had more DOF, although I might be a little concerned about the strength of light & the sensor.

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

  3. #3
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    14,320
    Threads
    929
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Tim - an interesting experiment and I think it works. I agree with Steve that I would like to see it with richer blacks. On the comp, the large rear on the rhs is unfortunate. Have you thought about a portrait crop to accentuate the eye contact that you like and reduce the intrusive rump? Might be an option.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  4. #4
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Russellville, Arkansas
    Posts
    5,189
    Threads
    674
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Continuing with Rachel's suggestion about cropping away the tail/rump, that would move the Zebra head off of the dead center point. I love the graphic aspect of this and adding black would make it that much more dramatic. It would also balance the very rich and saturated yellows/oranges.

  5. #5
    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Southern California, Orange County
    Posts
    1,116
    Threads
    33
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Agree with others about rump on rhs distracting. You could crop it out and still have a 4x5, or at least not square frame.
    I like colors as posted, but would be worth playing around with colors as suggested.
    Tom

  6. #6
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I love shooting into the light, Tim. Rules schmules...
    I do agree that it's a bit OTT in terms of colour for the time of day, just a bit...I'm not too fond of the position of the BG zebra and would crop him out left and right to have a portrait frame?
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  7. #7
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    7,738
    Threads
    455
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I really like what you did with this image, Tim. It is "...in your face..."-like Steve said, and if you were a painter I would remark that you have freely splashed color onto the canvas... I saw this image and my next thoughts were "informal art", "poster", "fire"...Maybe my imagination is running away a bit, but this is the effect your image has had upon me.

    Kind regards

    Gabriela

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics