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Thread: Kalahari Eland

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Kalahari Eland

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    Every few years the Eland herds come down from the dunes in numbers looking for water. We happened to witness this phenomenon in October 2012, and we watched the eland being decimated by lions in numbers. Emaciated and weak, a great number of those majestic creatures succumbed one by one to the Rooiputs Clan, and two weeks later when we departed we counted numerous carcasses. Unable to defend themselves, the eland were also easy prey to the three resident cheetah brothers from Rooiputs area.

    This image was taken at Melkvlei, only few km from Rooiputs camp. It is almost full frame, I only cropped a tad from the top. No cloning and no work on the BG whatsoever, lightened the eye and removed some blue and magenta on the face of the subject. The green stain on the eland's mouth is algae and it comes from certain waterholes where the animals drink-I did not alter the colour as I felt it was an interesting detail and added something unusual to the capture. Sharpened selectively before posting.

    I feel this image lacks something, tried to boost mid tones but perhaps not enough? Any suggestions on how to enhance it further?

    Nikon D3S
    Nikon 500 F4
    ISO 400
    F7.1
    1/640s

    Comments and critique appreciated as always,

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    You say your image lacks on something. My first thought was, the antlers are not sharp enough, especially the left one, compare it with the full body behind the neck!
    Give those a tad more black- burn/dodge. Might be wrong, but maybe not
    Might turn down as well the sky part above or crop it out.
    Wish it would had a tad more room on the LHS as well. That's done pretty fast what I just have seen in this nice portrait. great details Gabriela
    The eye is great, can you boost the sea weed eaters eye please that poor PB looks alive for Andreas! lololol

    Have a nice eve

    Ciao
    Anette

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    Gabriela,I like the framing and the eye contact. Nice clean BG.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    OK folks, firstly I have to say, I've seen this image before it being posted, but ONLY on the bases of, should I post.

    Gabriella I like it, both in terms of a different portrait and also the content. To me the image lacks the initial sharpness and perhaps a little blue coming through in the horns? I'm not sure if the inclusion of the sky helps or not, lets see what others think. The mottle BKG helps, as a plain soft colour may not look authentic, if you know what I mean.

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

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - I'm not on my calibrated monitor so I won't discuss color. I like the overall feel to the image, the comp and the eye but do agree with Steve that it is not as sharp as we usually see. That may have been intentional by you to give a little softness rather than edginess to your image. It sort of has a slight dreamy look to it.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  6. #6
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Eland RP

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    Good evening friends,

    A few things I would like to mention before I upload my repost:

    I sent Steve this image after I worked on it initially, then worked again on it and tried to get rid of some blue and some magenta. I also felt that the green on the mouth might look like "too much" for the viewer, so I took out some of the greens as well-I guess that by removing all of the casts the image has lost its "flavour", or rather colour and tonality overall. It went flat, so to speak. I do not think I am wrong when I say that the horns of Eland and some other species of antelope have a bluish tinge in real life, so perhaps I should have not removed all the blue ( I will look carefully when I see Eland again).

    Regarding sharpening, I might have sharpened less the second time around, Steve. Yet I must mention that the tips of the horns are normally smoother in this species, when I try to sharpen the upper part of the horns it does not look right. So this time around I only sharpened where I thought it matters-WDYT?

    I "painted" with soft light the BG at the top and also here and there-not really what I had in mind when taking the image because I liked that bit of sky, but wanted to see what happened, let me know what you think

    Thank you so much for your comments and for your opinions, I tried to improve this image, here is my RP.

    Wishing you a lovely evening,
    Gabriela Plesea

  7. #7
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Original Image

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    And here's the original...Andreas wanted to see what the unaltered image looked like, so here you go…You are more than welcome to play with it if you like, slide and tweak as much as you wish-thank you!

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Gabriela is is interesting to follow the stages of you have gone through with this image.
    Your re-post has given the image an overall warmer feel but I think the greens on the muzzle look a bit unnatural, especially when compared with the original (the last one you posted)
    I think your sharpening is just about right.

    The unaltered image suggests that the day was a bit dull/overcast. I have found in those circumstances a little bit of tweaking with the WB can give the image a huge lift, especially if the camera was set on Auto WB when you took the shot.

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Have seen the RP, looks better, but the left horn is for me still a bit faded, not enough punch. But this is just me Gabriela

    Have a great weekend

    Ciao
    Anette

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela,
    like the framing and the head turn with good detail in all places.Love the clarity in the eye. I do not mind about the sky ,but i cloned it out as well.
    I tried to do something different , to you but i was ending up in the same way, more or less. Not really happy with the coloration, though.
    Why is there a strong blue cast in the raw?Is that just Nikon colors?

    Ok here is my take ,WDYT?

    Have a nice evening , i am out to a portuguese restaurant, hopefully with a full stomach ,LOL.

    Cheers Andreas

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    Landscapes Moderator Andrew McLachlan's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, I think Andres nailed it with his repost...I prefer it without the sky on the top edge. I too wish for a little more room on the left as well. The blue cast in the RAW could very well be a Nikon thingy as I too often find some of my RAW files to be a little too blue. Nice capture!

  12. #12
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello everyone, Hello Andreas, thank you so much for the amazing feedback and especially to you Andreas for taking the time to help! Your RP looks better than a real Eland, love the textures and contrast and BG too! Much appreciated!

    In real life these chaps are grey in colour, a few tufts of brown fur on the head, and their horns have a blue-ish tinge. In poor light (don't know if it's a Nikon thing Andrew, will watch out in the future, this is the first time I hear about this) the grey does turn a bit blue in all images taken that day. Should I find Eland in the dunes in February I will photograph as well as film them, so I can get a more accurate idea of what the processed image should look like. Only saw them once, in October 2012, hope to see them again...

    Have a great week-end!

    …Andre busy doing a rework - from scratch- on his B/W elephant
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela,
    thanks but honestly i do not like my post , after revisiting the thread.
    Regarding coloration of the Eland, the ones i have seen in captivity and in the wild, are not as grey as you described them, at least for my eyes.
    I think i went too far in contrast in the darker tones.
    Anyhow a good Eland shot and worth trying different attempts of processing , evtl in B/W , do not know if it is working, for all.

    Cheers Andreas

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dear Andreas, your RP has "punch" and it "pops"! Regarding colour, we'll have to wait and see, maybe I see some in February again if I am lucky. Just remember, the Eland come to the riverbed from the dunes, they are emaciated, in poor condition. Their fur is coarse and thin. Also, the coloration varies from one area to another. I hardly shot any in 2012 because they did not look very attractive to me, and I felt so sorry for them. We stayed at Rooiputs camp on the Botswana side, the resident lion pride used to walk through our camp every day to get to the water and killed one or two eland every day, at the end of those two weeks there was not an eland in sight, only carcasses. Our morning drive consisted of a one or two km down to the water where we found (on a daily basis) a lion kill or more, always eland. The eland were so weak that even the cheetahs took them. Your RP is great, considering the fact that you had to work with a Jpeg. Thank you again
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Thanks Gabriela,
    it has punch , yes, but a tad to much i think.I do not think they are looking that way.
    Sad to hear about the Eland, but good for the predators, was it due to lack of water?Or what was the reason for looking in bad condition.
    Lucky there have been enough Eland, so the lions had not to go for you and Andre……….

    Still interested how the blue was creeping in the image ?

    Cheers Andreas

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Morning Andreas

    The Kalahari dunes have some vegetation and even small trees but water is very scarce. Some say it is the lack of water that brings these herds of Eland to the river beds (the river beds have been dry for hundreds of years but there are more water holes which are man made). Others say it is some kind of migration that occurs every few years. What I can say for sure, is that the Eland were not in good condition when we saw them. Another interesting fact, I have been going there since 2009 (twice a year, every year) and never saw them before in the river beds, on the rare occasion I saw one or two when crossing the dunes. They are really big animals when compared to Gemsbok, but they lack the agility and power and their horns are not great for defence.

    I was told that in the Kalahari only the wildebeest need to drink. Perhaps in times of drought the vegetation itself is not enough to sustain the Eland. There are certain dune plants that contain moisture, among them is the tsama, which is a kind of melon-if the dunes lack certain plants because of serious drought, I assume the animals move to lower ground-which is what probably happened in September/October 2012.

    The lions do not see us as prey unless we run (what cat could resist a running target?), we are more careful at night when walking around the camp and we do keep an eye on the hyenas, who like to sniffle around when we cook. Last year a jackal stole my plastic snake and I was very annoyed about it but it was my fault because I left it outside. The old lions are very behaved and never touch anything, the youngsters would steal a spade and carry it away or play with any pipes, ropes, shoes-so everything is tucked away safely when we are not around

    Errr…the blue…don't know…seems to creep in when not enough light…will chat to the technical guys at Nikon, see what they have to say about that...

    Enjoy the day, I think I am going to start packing for February, cannot wait to go "home"...
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela,
    when you wrote this, i was already working for 5 hours………………………..just got back from work.

    Thanks for the info, been there last time in 2006, it is time to go back now, for me.
    But things have changed dramatically, when i was there the first time …… back in 1999, you could just go and get a camp, but today you have to book long in advance , and there are too many people and cars in the park, what i have heard.
    In 1999 in may i was there for 4 weeks , from time to time i was more or less alone in Nossob or Mata Mata,once my Teva sandals got chewed by jackals in Nossob, left them outside the tent, because they where smelling bad, maybe they like swiss cheese……..

    Do you need boy for february ?


    As i told you my plans are not fixed for 2014, what is the Kalahari like in Feb? I was there 4 times , in May , June , September and December

    Cheers Andreas

  18. #18
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    That's right Andreas, now one has to book one year in advance…We hardly ever stay in Nossob and avoid Twee Riviren at all costs. The Botswana side is still quiet because the camps are small. We like it there because there are no fences and we are so close too wildlife, we invested in solar panels and generators and the trailer is equipped with everything you can think of in terms of food and drinks and medicine etc. Lots of work to set up camp and break down camp but we are organised and it doesn't take so long, we both know our duties and it works for us. No more jackals in the big camps, the fences are tight now We like to go in February because there are less people this time of the year, it is also hotter (47'C on the thermometer in the car), but being so dry one can tolerate the heat quite well. There are so many cars and so many people there these days, what really bothers us is the behaviour of some-driving through the river bed to get close to animals, not respecting the rules of the park, etc. Oh well, we love it there, glad to hear you enjoyed the place while it was still quiet and unspoilt...

    Ha ha, Boy will enjoy it there I am sure, he just needs to rent a 4 x 4 and tent We are also going to Gharagab in Feb, booked long time ago but this is one magic place! Tell you more next time we have a chat, I might send you some pics of Maximus the biggest lion I have ever seen...

    Good night Andreas, sleep well!
    Gabriela Plesea

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