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Thread: Family Portrait

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    Default Family Portrait

    Name:  hyenas-ss.jpg
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    We found these hyenas outside their den early in the morning.
    A very dull day.

    Nikon D7100
    Nikon 70-300mm VR @ 180mm

    1/320s
    f5.6
    ISO1250

    Hand held from vehicle

    PP: Added 10% contrast, boosted colour by 9%, reduced brightness of sky - I wanted to darken it some more but it just didn't look right, cropped about 20% from top of image and sharpened in Photoshop Elements.

    Thanks for looking.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Martin - nice look at the 3 with good eye contact and low pov but I think you needed more dof to pull this off. The image feels thin and there's not a lot of fine detail coming through. The front hyena looks particularly smooth. There's a magenta cast, most evident in the fur of the middle hyena. If it were mine I would apply a bit of NR to the ulc. I'm curious what raw converter you are using as I wonder if some of the issues are from that.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Thanks Rachel,
    I convert from RAW in Nikon Capture NX2. I know that no-one else seems to like it but I find it very user friendly.
    I did try applying NR as you suggested but it didn't look right to me, more practice needed with NR I suspect.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Martin - I can't help you with the Nikon program. Hopefully someone else can. I find ACR to be pretty user friendly these days too and there are lots of tutorials out there so it might be worth giving it a try.

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Martin,

    3 in one, very nice. Rachel covert most of the things already. The LHS Hyena has as well a blue color cast in it's tail.

    Have a great day

    Ciao
    Anette

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Martin, they seem very relaxed which is great, but I like the inquisitive pose of the pups, although they are older than that, like the lowish angle.

    It's always difficult with a group shot like this Martin, but certainly more DOF would have help. The centre Hyena looks sharpish, likewise the left one, but the Mum (face) is soft, which is a shame, as it's a really nice group shot. Personally I don't have an issue with the sky as you get days like this with almost zero colour, so I think leave as is. I wonder if it could do with a bit more image space above, but keeping the same width? Regarding NR you can also address it within LR, as I know you haven't got PS, but I'm surprised about the amount of noise considering it's a Nikon body. I wonder if it's like the 7D, where you need to be spot on with Exposure at higher ISO, as it's not that forgiving?

    TFS
    Steve

    Morkel you know the two bodies, WDYT?
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Anette, of course I saw the blue cast but I left it there just so you could find it.
    Steve, thanks for the feedback.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Martin,
    i like the group shot of these three, very cute the youngsters, all looking very relaxed, which is good i think.

    By not knowing what the problems in your PP work are, will not comment on that, good suggestions already made.

    TFS Andreas

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    Great family image Martin, agree with Rachel and Steve above. The noise is quiet visible in the BG, I would apply selective NR on the BG again.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Nice POV and angle here. I also wish mom was sharp - did you focus on the little ones? f8 should have done it but realise that ISO was at a premium with the D7100.
    I know NX2 can give good results, and it's made by Nik so uses the same u-point tech as found in Nik Color Efex and Silver Efex. Just haven't used it much myself though.
    I am familiar with the D7000 and I could comfortably push ISO-1600 on it, at times 3200. This looks a bit scrunchy and grainy, particularly the background...
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Love the comp, with the family nicely framed Martin.
    Re, NX2, it is one of the best Nikon RAW editors, but severly hampered by being as slow as an old dog.
    In real need of updating IMO, not likely now that Google have purchased Nik.


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    Yes Marc, NX2 is slow, and not helped by an aging laptop.

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