Nilgiri Tahr

[Nancy Bell]

While on a recent trip to southern India I was able to photograph the endemic & endangered Nilgiri Tahr. This is a young one. They are more related to sheep than goats. (Reminds me of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep). There is land set aside for these now rare animals and visitors are allowed but must stay on the one road that runs through a small part. But you are allowed to walk around. It was later in the morning when a small herd finally appeared and the sun angle was problematic.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 400 f4 DO IS, tripod, 1/1250, f10, exposure compensation -1/3, ISO 800.

Comments & critique very welcome.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Nancy - Nice to see a different species. I like the comp and the placement in frame. You handled the harsher light well. I think you can still tame the highlights a little more, either in the raw or with a luminosity mask. If it were mine I would open up the midtones on the Tahr selectively and also back off on the sharpening just a bit.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Nancy, I agree with Rachel, nice to see a new species.

As presented I think you could afford to lose some off the top. I quite like the posture/pose, looking up and the incline adds a little interest. The image also looks quite gritty, either through too much Clarity and or sharpening. Looking at the techs, I do feel f/10 is a little much, perhaps f/7.1 may have been better and based on the SS you may have been able to drop to 400 ISO. Not sure if you have applied any NR to the BKG, but I might suggest in easing off a little.

TFS
Steve

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful in all respects!

The water on the rocks makes my tummy turn - reminds me of a hike during which I slipped at a scene like that, landed up in a mountain stream which dumped me head first into a rock pool. My camera is still down in that pool somewhere. My handycam was smashed to pieces and all I could save was it's recording disk. Amazing how well these animals are adapted to stay alive on such slippery rocks...

[Nancy Bell]

Here is my attempt to incorporate the very good suggestions. Steve, I have a very bad habit of getting caught up in watching the animals/birds that I forget to check and adjust the settings on my camera. Wearing trifocals doesn't help as I cannot easily see the settings inside the viewfinder. A very poor excuse and I would like to have something smack me every so often to remind me !

[Steve Kaluski]

A very poor excuse and I would like to have something smack me every so often to remind me

Jamie will tell you what I'm like, Capt. Conscious reminding him of things like an old Mother hen, however it would be good if I occasionally listen to myself, LOL!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Great to see this youngling, Nancy. I think your RP looks much better ito contrast, exposure and overall look&feel.
I'm looking forward to more from your trip

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Nancy ,
very nice to see another species in here.
I like the overall comp with the diagonal lines in the rocks and the running water.
Rp is working a lot better for me in all terms , i would just reduce some blues and red/magentas.
The dark side of the subject does still look a bit light for my liking , so i would darken it a bit more.Looks a bit like you have used S/H ?

Think it is worth to play a bit with the frame to get a more "natural " lightning in the subject.

TFS Andreas

[keith mitchell]

Nancy the repost is the one for me, not sure what you have done but the fur looks more natural,very well done getting the image.

Keith.

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks all for your thoughtful comments and suggestions! Very much appreciated.