Mud Pack

[Gabriela Plesea]

Taken this image of rhino as he came out of a mud bath. Nikon D3S, Nikon 500mm, ISO 800, F6.3, 1/800s. Shot from open vehicle, only few meters away. This rhino eventually came so close that I could barely fit his face into the frame Critique and comments much appreciated, technical or otherwise.

Kind regards,

[Markus Jais]

Like this a lot. The mud is really great. Seems like he had a great time :-)
I wish the horn wouldn't "touch" the ear but this is just a minor detail. Great shot.

Markus

[Daniel Cadieux]

How cool (and probably literally for this fella!) Love the half wet anf half caked mud. Good vertical comp, and the green in the background adds some nice colour. The skin texture and folds kinda reminds me of the "rancor" (for those of you who are Star Wars fans...)

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gabriela, I think Markus has a point regarding the horn and either waiting a moment or slightly moving could have avoided this, but this is said in the cool light of day. Checking the LCD can occasionally be your friend. Daniels reply is spot on, concise and says it all.

he skin texture and folds kinda reminds me of the "rancor" (for those of you who are Star Wars fans...)

Daniel, some of us remember the first time it came out!!!

Gabriela, I think you should try a Tri or Quad tone, could be even more striking.

TFS
STeve

BTW Straight 12 hours with the Little owls, intense at times coupled with large periods of waiting

[Morkel Erasmus]

Love that muddy face! True, Dan, like a Rancour Beast...
Good comments above on the horn/ear intersection.
Gabriela, I would definitely play with this in monochrome, could be striking. I do feel overall there's just a bit of a green cast in your OP??

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Daniel, Steve and Morkel! I was once a Star Wars fan myself! Glad you like this muddy boy; I did not notice the green cast Morkel, but since you mention it- now I think I do! I am on my laptop at work, will check tonite at home and adjust Talking about monochrome, I am busy with one (and the horn does NOT touch the ear!!!)

Have a wonderful day,

[Loi Nguyen]

Gabriela, love it! Besides the comments above, you handled the techs well. F6.3 gave you enough DOF and still kept the BG a little blur. Good handle of the shadow. Loi

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - fantastic mud and textures. Great comments above about the intersection of the ear and horn. So difficult to keep track of all these things in the heat of the moment. I also agree that playing with some conversions might be worth it.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Loi and Rachel I take so many frames, I might find one where the horn isn't touching the ear, I chose to process this particular one because I had some space in front of the rhino (and so I did not have to add canvas). Re: B/W, I have posted one in "Out of The Box" the other day-no ears I am afraid, but a decent sized horn and some nice textures as well as a few ticks around the eye and base of the horn)

Wishing you a fun week-end,

[edwardselfe]

This is great and I love the detail.... I would also try a b&w conversion as I don't think the colour is the strongest element of this image (although the green background is a good touch). With B&W, you could really bring out the details in the mud and the skin textures without it looking over-sharpened. Must have been an exciting moment and I like the expression on his face!
Ed

[Girish Prahalad]

superb portrait! looks like a clay mould! great details, comp & BG.