Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Zebras approach the waterhole

  1. #1
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    UK / RSA
    Posts
    407
    Threads
    38
    Thank You Posts

    Default Zebras approach the waterhole

    Name:  zebra-vignette-1point5.jpg
Views: 108
Size:  396.4 KB

    This herd of zebras is approaching a waterhole. The haze in the photo is due to the clouds of dust they were kicking up.

    Nikon D300s
    Sigma 120mm-400mm lens @400mm
    1/1000s
    f5.6
    ISO560

    handheld from game vehicle

    This is a huge experiment for me, being the first file I have converted from RAW in Lightroom and the first time I have used a vignette. I used the vignette because there is an area of v. light sky at the top which I did not want to crop out. For m the tree line is part of the image.

    Exposure compensation -0.3, contrast +10%, vignette,
    In PSE: B+W conversion, sharpening.

    Comments appreciated on how to do this properly.

  2. #2
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    7,738
    Threads
    455
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Martin-I love it! Kind of an epic scene...Love the young zebra on the right, at the back...Two small things: I would like the zebra in front to be a bit sharper and a tad more contrast overall. Brilliant!!!Grazers are not boring!!!

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

  3. #3
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    14,320
    Threads
    929
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Martin - good for you in trying LR and a new approach to pp. It's nice that you captured them all moving towards you, with most of their heads up and the youngster on the side. Unfortunately, the sharpness doesn't seem to be there as I also want the front zebras to be in focus. Where was your focus point? I think you needed to stop down a bit to get more of the zebras in focus. You would have had to up the ISO as well to maintain the ss. B&W is always a nice option with zebras but I'm not generally a fan of vignettes and this one is very strong. Perhaps a pano crop with little or no vignette might work. I'd like a little more room below too for them to walk into. For me the sharpness is the biggest issue, and without sharpness it's difficult to save an image. Sorry if this sounds negative, keep experimenting both in the field and in pp. BPN is great place to learn and grow. Just ask Steve and Morkel how bad some of my early images were.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  4. #4
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Nacka, Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts
    433
    Threads
    43
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I think this is a very nice try. Very arty. Vignetting I guess is something generally to be careful with. But it is a taste thing. I think it work more often with B/W. In this case, with the blown clouds, it borders to art. (Maybe out of the box forum?) I really likes this though. I can see it on the walls on a arty café och shop. But, do agree on the lack of sharpness.

    TFS / Gregor

  5. #5
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Somewhere in the world
    Posts
    20,551
    Threads
    1,285
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi Martin, good to see you exploring another medium to portray your images, however for me I think this is more WIP (work in progress) as I feel the image needs to be explored more.

    When I first viewed it I thought this had just been given a NIK tweak, one of their standard choices is similar to this. I think the vignette does have a place to play in here, but I'm not a lover of the sky/top half, I think having a darker top third helps contain the content. The image also lacks depth in the B/W treatment, it's all about tone or contrast and the Blacks are severely lacking in depth, just look at the Histogram in Levels, it falls so short, you need to crank it up to around 17 before it starts to clip. Unclear about the sharpness even with the dust, FG zebras to the right look a tad sharper, the one in the centre less so, but overall they all look soft. I would also add some NR to the BKG, starting to look a little grainy. I do like the herding part, wished the LH one was not eating, but...

    Not great working away from home, but this may clarify where my thoughts are going. Keep exploring, it's the only way to learn.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

  6. #6
    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Switzerland
    Posts
    1,818
    Threads
    95
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Martin,

    for your first try I think it looks very nice. I also do not like vignette, but hey, we all started up with this and most easiest thing is vignette
    Go over and try with Graduated Filter in Lightroom to darken/lighten, you also can grab those filters in Efex from Nik in PS.
    Steve pushed the blacks very well and used a nice crop.
    But this is a great start, hope you have much fun in BPN, you will learn a lot while reading and commenting. Even when you think it is wrong, that doesn't matter, the others will push you there

    Enjoy your weekend


    Ciao
    Anette

  7. #7
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Good to see you stretching yourself, Martin.
    Many things have been covered. I do feel that there's no real "sharp" zebra in the plane of focus. Again, your SS was quite high, so perhaps technique/camera shake?

    I feel strong vignettes have their place, and it's certainly not detracting here and I think it fits with what you were trying to convey. All vignettes are certainly not bad - it's finding the balance. The master Nick Brandt uses them all the time in his work and nobody feels it's overdone.

    Steve's repost is better for me as the zebras lacked some contrast and punch in your OP.

    Keep experimenting!
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  8. #8
    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    South Luangwa, Zambia
    Posts
    701
    Threads
    26
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Stuart - I didn't think I was going to like this when I saw the thumbnail and even at first viewing. But it's growing on me. I think a vignette should be used to add to an image, rather than to cover an evil, but here I can't tell that you did it to cover the white sky, so it looks like you did it from choice, which is good. I like the soft tones of your OP more than Steve's RP but I think you should boost the blacks a little more even so. Sharpness has been covered. It's more arty than wildlife photography but it's lovely all the same and you did well to use the scrubby bushes to your advantage rather than them being a distraction. Not an image that I would have processed this way, but I really like it.
    Ed

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics