Impala with lipstick

[hennieloots]

Hi Folks. Came across this Impala male drinking from a small stream running across the road in the Kruger National Park. As he became aware of our presence he lifted his head with perfectly made up lips.

Techs: Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 500mm F4 IS USM– 1/2500 @ F/4.0 & ISO: 400 |EB: +0.3 | HH from SUV |
PP:
Crop – Minimal, <5%
LR – Contrast added, Increase exposure, sharpened
PS6 – Canvass added to LHS, Selective color masked to subject, Levels adjustment Selective sharpening, , Selective dodge & burn to face and horns, Dodge to lighten droplet.

All comments and critique always welcome and appreciated!
Regards
Hennie

[Steve Canuel]

Nicely applied lipstick but completely wrong color for that skin tone . It does match that beautiful BG though. A handsome, alert buck and I like the hanging droplet. A nice portrait.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hennie, for me if you could have either moved forward to you right a fraction more, or the Impala just turned it's head to the left (as viewed) a fraction, this would just have taken this portrait up a few more notches. The head would be directly down the barrel of the lens offering a great head on view. I would be interested to know why you went for f/4, although you have sharpness from nose to the eyes it then just tails off, leaving the ears & horns OOF, could you have upped the DOF, seems you had plenty of SS? As you are using LR I would either back off on the Contrast and or the Blacks, as the histogram is showing the Blacks are clipped and when adjusted more detail comes through ie in the ear tips. Love the drool, glossy eyes and green nose. Personally I might just tone down a fraction the slight lighter parts to the LHS, just a fraction, but I think you have a masking issue in the green along the right eye as viewed, there is a darker streak, nothing to do with the BKG.

TFS
Steve

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Ha ha this one made me laugh! Funky lipstick indeed! I agree with Steve reg DOF but otherwise a fine image.

[hennieloots]

Hi Steve, thank you for looking and the detailed reply. I agree on the masking issue, went back to the TIFF - I've missed that. Regarding the DOF - I had a small window of opportunity when he noticed us, so I took the 1st few shots with the default settings as they were, I then stomped down to 7.1, but he turned to his left and the pose where more relaxed and less alert and interesting. In retrospect I would have gone for more DOF from the get go.
Regards
Hennie

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Hennie - there's a nice symmetry to the pose and the "lipstick" and water drop add a lot to the image. Good choice on the portrait comp. My first reaction was also why not stop down for more dof given you had the ss so thanks for the explanation. As usual, Steve has made excellent processing suggestions.

TFS,
Rachel

[Markus Jais]

Great portrait. I like the soft light, the sharpness of the eyes and the out of focus background. The water drop below it's mouth is a nice bonus.

Markus

[edwardselfe]

Nice - not much more to add.
Ed