Two Brothers

[Loi Nguyen]

I have just learned that today is Wold Elephant Day, so posted this image on my FB page and asked all of my friends and family members NOT to buy Ivory products.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III
1/640
F8
ISO-400
Handheld

Followed Steve's advise, I did a minimal PP on this image.
Color temp 4850 as shot
Clarity 30
Vibrance 25
exported to CS6
Slightly increase brightness with Levels
Applied Curves to increase contrast of Mid Tone
Hue/Saturation 10
Quick Mask to lighten the face of the lead elephant with Curves
Quick mask to ilighten the ear of the lead elephant.
Selective NR and sharpened
Almost FF, rotate slightly

Thank you

Loi

[Jamie Douglas]

Thanks for helping to raise awareness of elephant day Loi. Are these two adolescents? Processing looks minimal which is a good thing in this occasion and only thing it lacks for me is a little more sharpening. Would also look at maybe toning down the contrast in the foreground grass on the RHS but let us see if others comment on that.

[Nancy Bell]

Lovely pose of these two ellies walking side by side. I would consider cropping just below that pale line in the bkgd so the eye stays completely on the elephants. I like the soft light on the tops of the elephants and it lets me see a bit of soft fuzz on their heads. Some more sharpening, as Jamie suggests, would be good.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Jamie, these two guys are quite young, a few years old at best I think.

Nancy, I darkened the BG with Curves, don't want to crop and lose space in front and behind the two elephants and don't want a pano crop either.

I did two rounds of sharpening here. For some reason, I had a hard time getting really sharp images with baby elephants that day while I had no issues with birds or the older elephants or other subjects with more contrast. I wonder whether it was related to the AF of the few batches of 1DX. Canon volunteered to service my camera for free when I inquired whether mine was affected. You can see it in Artie's blog. It would be nice if it were the camera and not the shooter's fault :).

Thank you for your comments.

Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, firstly if you are using LR4 or 5 the Clarity is down to a third of that unless you have LR3, it has been dramatically changed, unless you want a 'gritty' look?

I like the cute aspect of the image, likewise the framing and the techs are good too. The two issues i do have are the colour cast & the vibrancy of the grass in the FG. As you well know, likewise a few others here, the WB IMHO is the key and first base for any workflow, well apart from getting the exposure right, but you have that. For me, there seems to be a red cast in the subjects and if I adjust the tint I can almost get a 50/50/50 mid grey reading which addresses the cast for me. I agree on pushing the sharpening, likewise a bit more in the Curves & Selective colour in the neutrals & blacks just to add a bit more depth to the definition within the two elephants.

Loi this is quiet subjective and just my take, be interested to hear what you think. Loi I'm just wondering about this cast, so if I send you an image with a set WB nothing more, perhaps compare the two to see if it's your monitor?

Regarding the AF I would think it strange to be intermittent, as your birds & antelope are sharp, so it might just be...

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi,
so cute this two little elephants, like the parallel walking pose passing your vehicle.
Comp works nice with enough room all around.
Steve has covered and corrected the minor issues for me, listen to his words and you can proceed with your processing, it is easy to say and a loooooong way.

TFS Andreas

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Loi, firstly if you are using LR4 or 5 the Clarity is down to a third of that unless you have LR3, it has been dramatically changed, unless you want a 'gritty' look?

I like the cute aspect of the image, likewise the framing and the techs are good too. The two issues i do have are the colour cast & the vibrancy of the grass in the FG. As you well know, likewise a few others here, the WB IMHO is the key and first base for any workflow, well apart from getting the exposure right, but you have that. For me, there seems to be a red cast in the subjects and if I adjust the tint I can almost get a 50/50/50 mid grey reading which addresses the cast for me. I agree on pushing the sharpening, likewise a bit more in the Curves & Selective colour in the neutrals & blacks just to add a bit more depth to the definition within the two elephants.

Loi this is quiet subjective and just my take, be interested to hear what you think. Loi I'm just wondering about this cast, so if I send you an image with a set WB nothing more, perhaps compare the two to see if it's your monitor?

Regarding the AF I would think it strange to be intermittent, as your birds & antelope are sharp, so it might just be...

TFS
Steve

Steve, now that you posted a RP, the Red cast is so obvious!!! Thank you for your comments as always.

Loi

[Morkel Erasmus]

Cute couple here Loi.
Your OP has a lot of magenta in it, Steve's RP is too green (for me). My biggest gripe is that they don't look sharp enough? I often shoot 1/500 and 1/640 on a 500mm lens and with VR on it's often sharp but for most it's borderline, add a 1.4x and you need a much steadier hand. I do think you undershot the SS here for the speed at which they were moving and the focal length (700mm) you were holding...

[Loi Nguyen]

Morkel, now that you said it, the magenta cast is so obvious. I think you are right about the SS. This was taken on my first day and I didn't have a bean bag yet. Although I tried to rest the lens when possible on the side of the Landcruiser, it is not sturdy. I had the bean bag filled on the second day and subsequent images were sharp even at this SS or lower. Thanks again. Loi