Baboon in smoke-filtered light

[hennieloots]

My first post on BPN; a bit nervous but eager to learn from everybody here. This picture was taken in interesting light as the sun was shining through a cloud of heavy smoke caused by controlled fires in the Kruger National Park. The fire was about 20km away from this site. I liked the warmth of the light created. The baboons where playing in a large tree; we spend some time waiting for the right moment for one to peak through the 2 stumps to create the "frame" I was hoping for.
Techs: Canon 7D | Canon 100-400mm 1/640s @ f/7.1 | ISO 800 | EV+1 | No crop | PP - USM focused on baboon, reduced highlights in sky behind the head.
I will appreciate all comments and advice.
Thank you.

[edwardselfe]

Wow - an amazing effect and a cool first image for this site. Thanks for posting it and thanks for the comment that I see you've already added to my lion shot.

I wasn't there so I can't comment on how realistic this colour is, but I'm sure you have left is as you saw it which is an amazing golden tone. My only comment might be that the blacks look a little blocked up and the whites are bright on the bark. If it were mine, I'd play with reducing contrast and/or the clarity slider to balance out those areas. I used -20 Clarity and -40 contrast in LR to get the effect I liked, but this is personal preference of course. Your composition, sharpness and planning for the image all look good to me.

Ed

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Hennie - Welcome to BPN and the Wildlife Forum. An excellent first post. I really like the comp and pose of the baboon in between the tree trunks. Sharpness looks good too. Yes, some of the blacks are choked. I would also try reducing the highlights with a luminosity mask. There's a sticky at the top of the forum describing these but if you need help just ask. You can also Google "Tony Kuyper". My personal taste would be to reduce the yellows and to a lesser extent the reds, although I understand about the interesting smoke-filtered light.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from you and very much appreciate that you jumped right in and commented on other images. It's the best way to learn and foster a community atmosphere.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very nice 1st post. Rachel & ed have most aspects for you. Well done.

[Gregor Bergquist]

Hi Hennie

A cracker shot! Really good first post. I agree with the suggestions made so far, and i detect a white sliver on the right side that i suggest should be removed. Colors are always difficult. For me I would take it down just a notch.

Beautiful one, and a very good thought and planning.

[Steve Canuel]

Welcome,
Shooting through smoke filled skies has become a regular summer occurrence here in the western US and can really produce some wild colors. I like the composition and the peek a boo look from the baboon.

[Anette Mossbacher]

Welcome to the forum Hennie, love the comp, sharpness is very nice as well. Most has been said already above.

Have a great start into the new week

Ciao
Anette

[BenBotha]

Hennie, welcome and many more posts from your trip to Kruger.I agree with the comments. Ben

[Morkel Erasmus]

Welcome here, Hennie.
Looking at your photo in Photoshop, I could see that something is "clipped" - I thought it was the yellows but in histogram it turns out to be the red channel.

See the screenshot attached...

[Morkel Erasmus]

It's going to be hard to recover significant detail from that channel - but I think in RAW it might not be an issue (it might be due to your own processing workflow?)
I think Rachel summed up a good critique, and I echo her comments in thanking you for jumping in on other threads.
Looking forward to more of your images!

[hennieloots]

Hi Rachel, Morkel - Thank you very much for spending the time and effort to help me with this image, appreciated. I have read the reference Rachel provided me with and is in the process of reworking from .DNG. I will like to repost when I'm done and would really appreciate comments on the RP. Taking it slow, the whole luminosity mask and tonal values are still new to me! The processing workflow might also be a problem, self-taught, which can lead to problems!
Regards
Hennie

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Rachel, Morkel - Thank you very much for spending the time and effort to help me with this image, appreciated. I have read the reference Rachel provided me with and is in the process of reworking from .DNG. I will like to repost when I'm done and would really appreciate comments on the RP. Taking it slow, the whole luminosity mask and tonal values are still new to me! The processing workflow might also be a problem, self-taught, which can lead to problems!
Regards
Hennie

We're all self-taught to some degree, Hennie!
Most of my growth in PP has resulted from active participation in THIS forum, so keep going like you're going!
Will send you a PM...