Elephant on the run

[Loi Nguyen]

We saw a bull elephant going after a young female while the young female trying to get away from him. He managed to mount her, no picture, as they were a little far away and I was blocked by others. This image I believe is of the young female trying to get away from him afterward.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III
1/800
f8
ISO-800
Handheld

PP in LR4 and then exported to CS6 for selective sharpening. Applied NR to BG only. Original was horizontal, cropped to vertical, so have room both left and right only.

Appreciate your comments.

Thank you

Loi

[Stan Cunningham]

I really like this shot Loi. Love the tail being waved, don't often see that. If it were mine I would experiment with the crops for composition by putting the ele a little more right so you could see more area but like it as it is also.
Also might try to add some luminance just around eyes but it's difficult to do.

[vishaljadhav]

This one is classic Loi, i love the IQ great looking BG and the elephant is nicely composed in the frame, the tails gives a great feeling of action
Good one

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Stand, good idea. Steve K. has been trying to teach me how to use Quick Mask, so I gave it a go here. Not sure if the elephant is still a bit dark, but that can be fixed. Thank you. Loi

[Nancy Bell]

Interesting to see the difference in the 2 posts. I do like the placement of the ellie in the 2nd post. I like that you reduced the yellows in the grasses, but maybe just a bit too much. In the OP, that brightness really drew the eye away from the ellie. However I believe the elephant should now be a bit brighter. I think the bushy tail, the 2 nice tusks & the feeling of motion really make this a very nice image.

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful elephant shot. Shows that the elephant was in motion. The tail is a nice bonus. Great sharpness and soft light.

Markus

[Morkel Erasmus]

Loi, interesting pose and nice head-on angle.
I like the sharpness/contrast of your OP better than the RP. I would just dodge the shadows on the elephant a tad in the OP.
Dig the tail swish!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, I'm with Morkel, either dodge or a channel/curves, but is is just a tad. Overall I like the tones and colour on this and the slightly richer shadows. Pulling it up just kills the image, as previous. Do you think it also needs a fraction more USM on the head/trunk?

Me being quirky, but would love to see the landscape version, be a nice break to see more space rather than the more conventional pose, if you have the time.
TFS
Steve

[Loi Nguyen]

Morkel and Steve, this is the original version with color temp 5095, exposure up by 0.36, Clarity 30, Vibrance 25, White +19. In the original version, black was -5 and Curves slightly to increase contrast. Here, reset Black to 0 and straightened out Curves to back down contrast, then exported to PS for selective sharpening and NR on BG. Removed a distracting object close to the LHS for the Horizontal format. Cropped from 3X2 to 4X3 format to offset the elephant slightly. It certainly gives more space and a different perspective implying more motion than the vertical crop. Much appreciated as always. Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, thanks for this. Unless you are using LR3 then using Clarity at 30 will only give you a more 'contrasty/gritty' image, therefore LR4 or 5 you are looking at around 30% of that or less, but depends on what you envisage your image to look like or how you wish to portray it.

Cropping this you loose IQ so may send you a thought, you can the implement if you so wish.

Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi ,
i think OP works best for me in terms of color, contrast combination, reflects an overcast day quite well.

I like the walking/running pose with the tilted head and the swinging tail.Compostion would work quite good with more room on LHS , i think. The room is there as we se in the last RP.

TFS Andreas

[Tom Graham]

The full frame image, post 9, puts the ele too central. I'd crop a bit from right side, thus leaving more room on left and that is the direction ele's head is turned.
Tom

[Gabriela Plesea]

I prefer the landscape version, Loi and the colours are warmer, the elephant's eyes now visible-thank you for the RP

Kind regards,