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Thread: Some Necking

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Some Necking

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    I couldn't resist posting some more images from my Etosha trip. I was fascinated recently when watching the epic giraffe battle on the BBC Africa series, having never really seen it close up before. Well, last week I heard a loud thud to my right while photographing some elephants at the waterhole, and lo and behold, these two were really slugging things out! I got some nice frames in some less-than-ideal midday light, but quite liked the effect of the monochrome sepia conversion here. The one giraffe was much darker than the other. With action such as this, either a slow shutter speed or the kicked-up dust will convey the movement and drama to the viewer.

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    BPN Member vishaljadhav's Avatar
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    Nice one
    i like the choice of B & W, details look nice and yes i love the dust thats stirred up due to the fight
    Image has a lot of impact
    On the composition side i feel that there is a bit more empty space at the top, i may be tempted to get some off the top, it just increases the impact of this image more to my eye.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Morkel, you can make even giraffe look good! I just had this thought while I was viewing and followed up on it with the colors I had in mind for this image, old style (and almost sepia but not quite), blurred the BG a bit and increased contrast...don't know if you like it, did it rather roughly and no selection of the subjects, applied these few changes to the whole image...

    Have a great evening
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel - nice action captured and going vertical was the best choice. I like the conversion though even with the high key sky I'm seeing a halo along the left side (our left) of the neck of the upright giraffe. The kicked up dust adds a nice element. I think perhaps somewhere in between the amounts of sepia in your op and Gabriela's rp might do the trick.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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  8. #5
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Always impressed to see this hard/aggressive behaviour, and David Attenborough's recent footage of this interaction illustrates the power that is contained/inflicted in these body blows. I like what Gabriela has done to the image both in terms of tone & blurring, seems to add a bit more life to the image. Crop looks fine to me.

    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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  10. #6
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks guys. Gabriela, I like the blurring but the toning is a bit strong for me. I added a subtle sepia toning to my OP just for some depth. I might go 50/50 between the 2.
    This is pretty much full frame shot vertically - cropped a sliver off top and bottom.

    Steve, I could hear the blows very clearly - ouch!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    I had a look again Morkel, you're right, I overdone the colour above. Just a tad of sepia would be great! Would love to see it sometime, I am busy with some B/W conversions right now and the whiteness of the sky (if nothing in the BG) seems a bit too much for me. Looking at all the B/W images I can find on BPN to see how the other members do it, maybe I can learn something.

    Have a great week-end,
    Gabriela Plesea

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  13. #8
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Looking at all the B/W images I can find on BPN to see how the other members do it, maybe I can learn something.
    Are you trying to do a straight conversion to B/W?
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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