A Muddy Face

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Everyone. I have no opportunity for new wildlife images here in Southern California, so continue to work on some old stuff. I just got myself a 27" NEC MultiSynch monitor, so want to do some practice tonight.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III = 700mm
1/1000
f5.6
ISO-400
Handheld

Reduced exposure by -0.22EV in CS6
Luminosity 30%
Curves to lighten the shadow side a little
Added a tough of Saturation on the Red for the mud

and added a little of mid tone contrast - first time trying this tool here.

Cropped to about 33% of FF.

Thank you for your comments.

Loi

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Loi, Congrats on your new Monitor! I like the mud-covered face and the side-lighting though light may have been a bit harsh. Maybe you could have gone for more DOF? I like the composition too! Well done.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, never fear about what you post, plus what is great is you are building, as I have said before, on what you are learning, likewise with Sanjeev too. As technology changes and moves on, so does our knowledge and therefore reprocessing can be part of that too. It also illustrates how good you capture was originally, especially when shooting RAW compared to shooting in a more basic format with limited information.

Personally I feel you needed more DOF, I also feel overall you need more tonal contrast, it looks all a bit light. I might be tempted to go back into LR and adjust slightly the Exposure and marginally the Tonal contest curve. Bringing it back into PS you can then make some more adjustments like a Curves perhaps or a Channel selection, to emphasis more of the lights & shadows, but overall it does need more sharpening. If you revisit the file I would also prune the grass stalk just above the left ear. I do like the idea of shooting with the mud face pack, adds some interest and these guys are characters when they are in the water/mud hole.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - people pay a lot for a spa treatment like that. I agree on the dof and a little more sharpening. Steve's suggestions are good ones. I might also consider cropping down from the top and having an all ele comp without any bg as an alternative. Congrats on the new monitor.

TFS,
Rachel

[BenBotha]

Ellies are always difficult to photograph, either to close or the light a problem, both handled well. The mud bath was a bonus. I agree with the comments and would support a tighter elephant only crop.

Ben

[Loi Nguyen]

Agreed that the OP was kind of flat and not so interesting. I went back to the RAW file to warm it up a tad and cropped tighter, and sharpened a little more. WDYT?

Sadly, the NEC monitor needs to be returned. UPS poke a hole on the side of the shipping box and caused a crack in the casing of the monitor :(.

Thank you.

Loi

[Morkel Erasmus]

Congrats on the new monitor, Loi! Your repos is much truer to the contrast and colours I would have expected to see if I'd been there.
That being said, I wonder if a slight crop from the bottom will be beneficial here, as I'm 50/50 on the comp as presented.

[edwardselfe]

Much nicer colours in the RP! Rich and warm and African!
Sorry about the monitor - let us know how the replacement is....I'm looking for a new monitor myself.
Ed

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, RP is certainly going in the right direction.

Sadly, the NEC monitor needs to be returned. UPS poke a hole on the side of the shipping box and caused a crack in the casing of the monitor :(.

I think UPS were not impressed with you choice Loi, hope you get things sorted ASAP.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Loi, RP is certainly going in the right direction.



I think UPS were not impressed with you choice Loi, hope you get things sorted ASAP.

I know you, like UPS, wouldn't be impressed with the choice of monitor either! But it was rather cheap as a refurbished unit from NEC at <50% original price. Lighting at my house is not ideal, so I'm hesitant to spend a lot more money on the monitor. May be I'm just being penny wise and pound foolish here. :)

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, budget accordingly, however the monitor will be the last piece of the jigsaw IMHO, so perhaps I'm being too subjective, it's just I know how hard you work in achieving your images and like all of us, want to present them in the best way possible.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi,
RP for me , well on PP work, by far better then OP.Like the overall tones and colors.Nice texture and sharp were it counts.
Try 5x4 or square , image looks a bit stretched …..Square will evtl look bit squeezed .

Regarding your monitor , sad to hear what happened.
Suggestion from me will be ,invest a bit more , your lightning problems a side, your work will benefit…… i think.

I would go if it must be a NEC, for the Spectraview series , or EIZO CG series, all are color proof monitors , all hardware calibrated not software like the one you ordered…….. just think about it.This goes to Ed , too.

TFS Andreas

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Loi,
RP for me , well on PP work, by far better then OP.Like the overall tones and colors.Nice texture and sharp were it counts.
Try 5x4 or square , image looks a bit stretched …..Square will evtl look bit squeezed .

Regarding your monitor , sad to hear what happened.
Suggestion from me will be ,invest a bit more , your lightning problems a side, your work will benefit…… i think.

I would go if it must be a NEC, for the Spectraview series , or EIZO CG series, all are color proof monitors , all hardware calibrated not software like the one you ordered…….. just think about it.This goes to Ed , too.

TFS Andreas

Andreas, thank you for your comments. You and Steve pushed me over the edge on this one. I requested a refund on the monitor. If that goes OK, I will go for the Eizo and risk being laughed at by my wife as "big hat, no cattle." I already explained to Steve the comment ;). Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Loi, it's time us boys stick together on this one, even if we haven't the cattle.

On a serious note Loi, you have to go with what you feel is right and within budget, don't be cornered and make the wrong decision. BTW whatever you choose, please get your wife to take a picture of you with your screen & big hat.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Loi and Steve i did not want to corner any of you guys, specially not Loi.
I gave suggestion for a good investment, i went through that cycle twice , invested two times in wrong screens , for my purpose, had no one around me pointing out the importance of a good screen.In the end if i had gone straight for the good one , i would have saved time and money.
And important too, it has to fit into your budget , for sure.

I do not know what Steve means with making wrong decision ? Spending too much , or the wrong one?

Hope you find a way to please yourself and your wife.

Cheers Andreas