Wild dog breather (C)
A wild dog cuddling the grass for a moment's rest during a feed, just to be playfully tackled and wrestled by another dog within 20 seconds at the most. I know the grass might be seen as obstacles, but that's exactly what appeals to me - how it really relaxes itself as far as possible into the soft grass carpet. Taken at a nature reserve close to home in early morning sun.
D600, f/6.3, 1/250s, ISO 100, 500mm, Sigma 150-500mm, beanbag in car door.
All comments welcome.
Hi Tobie, nice relaxing pose. The grass is OK. I find the image a little bright especilaly the highlights on the back and neck. I'd reduce the exposure, add more mid tone contrast to bring out more details, and possibly burn the highlights. It seems to me that there may be a Red cast. TFS. Loi
Tobie, I like the pose, nice eye contact, but I agree with Loi that the image is a bit too bright, especially on the lighter parts of the fur. Overall it also seems to have a slight yellow cast.
Hello Tobie, a very special sighting and so good to see this wild dog so relaxed, I just love the dreamy pose! From the composition point of view, I would have liked the entire right front paw to be included in the image, for aesthetic purposes. 250/s was barely enough, ISO 100 too low, in my humble opinion. I was taught that for a 500mm lens one needs a shutter speed of at least 500/s, therefore I would have pushed up the ISO to 400, if I were you. And perhaps used spot metering. I still love this little guy, hope you have more images of him? Looking forward to more images from you,
Kind regards,
Gabriela Plesea
Exposure lifted, highlights burned. Reds lowered in PS.
Gabriela, thanks for your reply. All valid points. Unfortunately the pic is not cropped so I can't bring the paw back (!). I sometimes take a chance by breaking the ss / max FL rule if I'm shooting from a beanbag, specially when I want to avoid high ISO's. I don't think this one came out that bad? I shoot spot metering 99% of the time. No idea why it was not the case here. I've never even picked it up until you've pointed it out!Originally Posted by Gabriela Plesea
Hello Tobie, a very special sighting and so good to see this wild dog so relaxed, I just love the dreamy pose! From the composition point of view, I would have liked the entire right front paw to be included in the image, for aesthetic purposes. 250/s was barely enough, ISO 100 too low, in my humble opinion. I was taught that for a 500mm lens one needs a shutter speed of at least 500/s, therefore I would have pushed up the ISO to 400, if I were you. And perhaps used spot metering
Kind regards,
Last edited by Tobie Schalkwyk; 03-05-2014 at 02:31 PM.
Hi Toby, I don't mind the grass as you have a good look at both eyes. Overall brightness looks fine to me so I would just try to get some detail back in those bright highlights. Major sin: you have clipped the animal's right paw...
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
E-mail me at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net.
Hi Tobie - Nice relaxed pose. Too bad about the clipped paw. I think the color is also slightly off. I took it into PS, dropped the yellows by 20 points and darkened the greens in a hue/saturation adjustment. I also did a levels adjustment bringing in the right slider to 245. WDYT?
TFS,
Rachel
Rachel, thanks for your feedback and for spending time on this! Ironically I actually brought the greens down a bit as it was a bit too evident for my liking. I can hardly see a difference in the dog's color but the grasses in my version is a little more vibrant and true to its real look. I'm not thereby implying that your version is 'wrong' but it's probably a matter of personal preference. What it does confirm for me is that I'm on the right track and that's encouraging!
Arthur, thanks for your comment - I knew I was going to be whipped for the cut paw but decided to post the pic regardless as there's enough left to appreciate!
Thank you for your reply Tobie, and I like the fact that you are experimenting and breaking the rules - I do too, ever so often
I would really like to see your other images of this wild dog, if you have more. These guys are almost always "on the run" and this is a very special moment (and pose) you have captured.
Kind regards,
Gabriela Plesea
Hi Tobie, as you know I'm away so I will try and be brief, plus any thoughts I have are based on the laptop which, as many know, I do not like because it's not calibrated and not in a controlled environment, however.
I like the posture/pose, skulking in the grass. The clipped paw is an issue and something we all do from time to time, but try to avoid it, as it's not ideal and this is where looking at the LCD does come into it's own, as you could have corrected this I believe, as the subject seems quite relaxed. I would disagree about spot metering, again I feel it will limit you image, I would keep to Evaluated IMHO. Images shot with a slow SS can be pin sharp, however based on the technology with camera bodies, if you can up the ISO and retain good IQ why not, surely it makes sense, but yes, keep the ISO low as you can with the ratio as high as you can for SS, if that males sense?
From the image posted Tobie, getting the colour balance right is one of your main tasks you need to look at now. Based on the OP I adjusted the blue in Curves, opened some shadow areas, and adjusted the reds, yellows & greens in HSL. I also feel you can get some more depth within the grass too, again as you have LR you can do this. Other aspects are done in PS which we have covered at length and you know what to do in progressing your PP work. As I said this is quickly done on the laptop & perhaps over cooked, but may give you some food for thought.
Having a calibrated monitor, a screen that has it's back to any window and little artificial light pouring onto your monitor will help, likewise have it inline with you so you are looking directly at the screen, will help.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Steve, thanks for your feedback even when not at home. About the paw correction: don't let this relaxed pose fool you. This was in the middle of a feeding frenzy with dogs running around all over the place, trying to rob each other of a bite just to give it back again, tackling each other, wrestling in the grass etc. etc. - like a lot of naughty boys. Thus: this was more a moment's playful pose than a calm, relaxing pose. There was no time for a redo - or even checking the LCD to see that everything was covered. Simply too much going on and begging to be photographed. So I've only realized at home that the paw was clipped. Just one of those things.
I take note of all you say re. the colours etc. and yes - that's my main challenge for now, although outdoors I shoot on auto WB 99% of the time. I might have to preset the colours in-camera to avoid some pp but I'll first keep on shooting until I'm sure it's really needed, and how much thereof is needed. FWIW: your version's colors are way off the real thing but your sharpness is excellent. I know you were just using it to prove a point, though. I'll thus rework on the sharpness a bit. The metering seems to be a personal thing and experience will eventually help me decide what works when.
Thanks again...
Last edited by Tobie Schalkwyk; 03-06-2014 at 11:42 PM.
Wow, "low as 200"? Interesting! I try and stay on 100 and only adjust upwards when the desired aperture can't give me the speed I need. I have developed one habbit: if I take out the beanbag or tripod, I take out the remote shutter release too. It just gives me that little extra stability. I've never attempted ISO higher than 1,600. Just not worth it on the D600 IMHO, specially when cropping is needed. Since you're asking for more - have you seen my other wild dog pic (http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...Wild-dog-stare)? Just look at my first comment and the last pic as it was also a learning experience.
Thanks again for your feedback!
Last edited by Tobie Schalkwyk; 03-07-2014 at 12:06 AM.
Just leave the colour as Adobe RGB, nothing more, start 'fiddling' here and you are going to open a whole can of worms. RGB in camera, RGB in PP, keep it simple and you will lessen errors. At your stage you can forget ProPhoto.I might have to preset the colours in-camera to avoid some pp
IMHO don't think metering is a personal issue, it's more what is best for that situation to achieve the best overall result, looking at Nikon metering, I still feel spot metering would be too small and that 'centre-weighted' would give you a better chance, however it's you call at the end of the day.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Thanks Steve, will do. I think my biggest challenge is to try and remember about metering during a shoot. Maybe I must change my '99% spot' to '99% centre weighted' and see if it works better for me.
Tobie, personally I think you can leave the metering in the same mode for 99% of your images. I also think you need to distill from all the feedback given, as a lot of it is from experience and the fact that we all have gone through what you are doing, but hopefully we can offer you short cuts in speeding things along. As Morkel about metering as he shoots Nikon. If you get the same or similar feedback then I do think you need to review things, otherwise the feedback will be the same, and with no movement forward in your development.
You have nothing to lose, but a lot to gain.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Sound advice again, thanks (I think Morkel should rather let me carry his equipment during his safari's so I can see what a pro does)!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote