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Thread: A surreal visitation

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default A surreal visitation

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    Well, we are back from an amazing trip. Most of you know where I went, but for the sake of sticking to our policy concerning rhino posts I will not mention the name here.
    We had a mixed bag of the odd awesome sighting coupled with many quiet days...but in among the awesome sightings was a giraffe being taken down by lions right next to me, and this one.

    We has literally just stopped at a waterhole in a beautiful woodland setting when this black rhino mom and her young one appeared from the mopanis. It was a stormy afternoon, and they drank and hung around for about 30 minutes which was very special. The ground is naturally undulating and rocky here so I didn't bother with rotation given the lack of more room on the RHS.

    Techs:
    Nikon D800
    Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
    f4.0 | 1/320 SS | ISO-900
    Very slight crop

    Own nits:
    1. I wish I had more to the RHS. I have frames that have room, but sharpness suffered (1/320 on 500mm is tricky for the massive D800 sensor).
    2. I could have stopped down but I was shooting at f8 and f5.6 up to this point and tried opening up for a more pleasing background here. Both are quite sharp on the high res file with mum being a wee bit sharper.

    I'll try and catch up on some of the great photos posted here in my absence soon!
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 12-08-2013 at 03:46 PM.
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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    I like the comp (granted the tightness on RHS) and rear sky lighting on this Morkel, just wondered why you didn't push the ISO on the 800 more to get increased S/S?
    Looks like we both have some Giraffe kill images to share.
    TFS


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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel - welcome back. Sounds like a mixed bag of days but seeing black rhinos in the wild is always special. Nice setting here with the glowing sky. Mom's head looks like there was a bit of movement but I'll take your word on the high res being sharp. Too bad about the space on the right but still very nice to have both together.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks guys.

    Rachel - 100% crop of mom's head attached
    Perhaps my output sharpening was sloppy.
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    Lifetime Member gail bisson's Avatar
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    I think this is beautiful.
    Except for the tight RHS I like everything about it.
    I like the BG sky and love the dead tree on the LHS, the FG, Mom with raised foot and the overlapping of Mom and baby which "connects them" and the moody atmosphere presented.
    gail

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Beautiful image. Perhaps you could stitch together the previous image to add more on the rhs....? Just an idea. Anyway, it's beautiful with nice lighting and I wouldn't change anything else.
    Ed

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    Lifetime Member Markus Jais's Avatar
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    Great shot. I like the young following it's mother.

    Markus

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    Hi Morkel,

    my first thought also has been the missing room on the right side.
    I really like the low position and the movement.
    The dead tree in front of the rhinos does not really create a problem in my eyes as it's in the BG (enough blurred) and also still some space left. However i'm curious how the shot would work w/o the tree and branches.

    BR
    Markus

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel, always nice to see Rhino, especially with a calf. Yes more to the RHS would be good, but not a deal breaker, likewise the dead tree. Could you not have upped the ISO to gain more SS for the image, or does the 800 have limitations in low light, if so would the D3 have not been better? I might just ease off on the NR, as I feel the subjects are a little too crisp set against the BKG, WDYT?

    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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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel,
    welcome back, hope you had a great one.
    Good Starter with the rare BR, always good to see them alive , and specially mother with calf.
    A bit more space on RHS would be better, as already said.Like the overall colors and tonality , with nice deep tones and vibrant colors.
    Looks like taken at ….. KN, right?
    What somehow bugs me , are the blues /cyans in the rocks on the ground ? I know it is low light , but i would back off on those colors , at least a tad.

    TFS Andreas

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    Hope you had a great time Morkel. This is a super shot. This my favourite species after leopard. The light is great and they pop against the bg. Great capture

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    Morkel, excellent first post from your trip. Love the pink sky, cloud, Mom and calf. The space on the RHS already mentioned, but perhaps you can take a sliver off the LHS to help balancing it. Steve mentioned the contrast between the subjects and BG, and that what I also noticed. TFS. Loi

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks for your comments and suggestions, folks.

    Edward - stitching might not be a bad idea!
    Steve - no NR applied to BG at all...I tried to keep ISO below 1000 for stock agency purposes, although I personally trust the D800 to about ISO-3200 for my own purposes.
    Andreas - this was at G*0*A*$ waterhole...
    Morkel Erasmus

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Great WH at G...
    had some stunning excitement with elephants there, in the past, sadly at times of film, your Mod colleague will kill me if i start posting VELVIA scans, and honestly from my point today , they are not as good as what i produce today..

    Thanks for info , Morkel

    Andreas

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Velvia is the best Andreas, lots of punchy colour, nothing comes close now, but you should see how you retouch on 10x 12 or 16x20 transparencies!
    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 Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    Steve - no NR applied to BG at all...I tried to keep ISO below 1000 for stock agency purposes, although I personally trust the D800 to about ISO-3200 for my own purposes.
    I also raised this question in my CC and a little puzzled that stock agency's or yourself won't consider ISO above 1000, I haven't found this the case at all, finding that with correct/selective NR
    I'm able to sell images to agency's well above ISO1000.
    This is not a criticism, Morkel, just puzzled about this as I feel it leaves you with much less range to sell stock, not that I'm getting rich by this path, as I think I have mentioned to you
    before I do much better at selling to my wife's own Pharma Co.


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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Thanks Morkel, personally I rarely use NR, but I too get images like this where, as Loi quite rightly pointed out on an Avian thread of mine, it has the effect of being 'stuck on'. I assume it must just be how the BKG is diffused set against the sharper clarity of the subject, still puzzled at times with this?

    Marc without trying to go Off topic, but one GLOBAL company/publication house will only take the RAW file and only crop within 5% if at all apparently, of the original and apply their own preferred sharpening etc, with huge requirements on the image and the BKG to it.
    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 Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Marc without trying to go Off topic, but one GLOBAL company/publication house will only take the RAW file and only crop within 5% if at all apparently, of the original and apply their own preferred sharpening etc, with huge requirements on the image and the BKG to it.
    Yes some are getting very demanding, with the huge amount of images available,they pick & choose at their leisure it's true with RAW of course , but even so using my D3s & now D4 the ISO issue is less of one,
    I should have asked earlier Morkel, I gather your self limiting to 1000 pertains only to your D800?


    Also let's not forget the number of photographers that virtually give their images away ................sorry for the digression.
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 12-11-2013 at 07:12 AM. Reason: bad spelling


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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marc Mol View Post
    Yes some are getting very demanding, with the huge amount of images available,they pick & choose at their leisure it's true with RAW of course , but even so using my D3s & now D4 the ISO issue is less of one,
    I should have asked earlier Morkel, I gather your self limiting to 1000 pertains only to your D800?

    Marc - I actually haven't submitted any of my D800 files to them yet, so it's probably more precaution at this stage. I personally don't mind pushing the D800 to ISO-3200 but the files do work up better if you can keep it between 800 and 2000.
    Morkel Erasmus

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