Common Waterbuck
OK, It's not very exciting, but these animals are often very skittish so I was happy to see this female and her young un stand still for a while.
Nikon D300s
Sigma 120mm-400mm lens @ 185mm
1/1000s
f5
ISO360
Hand held from safari vehicle
no crop
PP: minimal exposure compensation, -0.15, 10% warmth added, sharpening in Photoshop prior to saving.
Hi Martin - nice pose with both looking at you and it's always nice to see a youngster. Looks like the light was a bit harsh judging by the harsh shadows and the ec but you did well to control it. You may be able to bring out a bit more detail in the shadow, particularly on the adult. It looks a little oversharpened to me particularly the fg grasses near the youngster. Also there's what looks like a sharpening halo on the rump of the adult. Overall though this is very nice and some minor tweaks will take it up a notch.
TFS,
Rachel
As someone who primarily posts non-exciting grazers, I personally enjoy seeing some variety from other parts of the globe. Nice to see both young and adult in the same pic. I also like the look of the grasses and the shadows, though strong, look natural.
Hello Martin,
I disagree with you about grazers not being exciting, in fact you make me consider joining you and posting some of my grazers too
This is one lovely image well presented and I love your eye contact with the young un! The shadow issue has been dealt with, and considering the fact that these animals are indeed skittish and they hide their young most of the time, I congratulate you for capturing this very special moment so well! I really look forward to more from you...
Kind regards,
Gabriela Plesea
Hi Martin, I feel that quite often our 'hearts & minds' can be distracted by the subject, and therefore our judgement can be slanted, just because the subject may be 'exotic' it may not always be a good shot. Photographing wildlife in all shapes, forms, habitat, wide, close-up etc and in ALL weathers to me, makes a photographer, because it constantly challenges you. So just because this is a 'grazer' doesn't make it any less or better than perhaps a more exotic animal, it's all about how you portray the subject, but this is just my take, if anyone else has thoughts please feel free to add as it's always good to have other thoughts. Do not let posting subjects that may not be 'exciting' limit your postings, please.
I know I have said this before, but I do feel you need to work at that 'angle', you need to avoid it, it's easy to do, if you are shooting from a safari vehicle, for me, you do not want to convey it within the shot. If the female (in an ideal world) had her head perhaps side on it may have avoided the shadow both on the back & face. As I'm away I will leave it to Rachel & others regarding sharpening & colour. You've managed to avoid blowing the whites which is great, but I do feel f/5 is not ideal, certainly you could up the ISO and increase the DOF without to much of a compromise to SS.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Hi Martin,
you got already some opinion on this and that. With sharpening, try selective sharpening, with a brush starting up from about 30%! That might help a bit.
Have a great weekend
Ciao
Anette
Yes, I like the composition with the two animals and the bush in the LRC as a balance to the waterbucks. As mentioned, the female's head is not perfect, but you can't get everything with wildlife. I don't mind the angle at all and think you are low enough to give an intimacy to it.
Would also like to see more herbivores on this forum. Will post one of my own soon.
Ed
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