Ahhhhh.

[Arthur Morris]

This image was created on the February 24, 2014 on the Japan in Winter IPT with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender, an external Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 718mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops as framed: 1/125 sec. at f/11 in Manual. Color Temperature: 7,000K.
Central Sensor(by necessity)/AI Servo-Expand/Rear Focus AF on the bridge of the nose and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial.

To learn of the problems that I faced working with the monkeys and the two TCs, see The Faces of ??? blog post here. Plus two more Snow Monkey head shots and an invitation .

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

ps: Does anyone have a good title for this one?

[Martin Dunn]

beautiful shot Artie. I'm not a big fam of monkeys/apes etc but this has a wonderfully tranquil feel to it.
Love the colours, textures and detail.

[Gabriela Plesea]

A very apt title, Sir Arthur!

Is this full frame?

I can think of a few rather strange titles, since you're asking : "The Absolute Harmony of Sleep", "Prisoner of Dreams",or " A Little Slumber"? Ahhhh, but your title is still better, very inspired, suggestive, memorable, sweet image…tells me it's time I go to sleep, otherwise I won't be able to go to work tomorrow I took great delight in viewing this, Thank You, Sir!

Warmest regards,

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Gabriella. This image is un-cropped.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Artie - beautiful image with nice detail and textures. Perhaps "Peaceful Slumber" as a title? Only thing I'm not sure about is whether the slight amount of water/reflection in the lrc adds to the image or not.

TFS and joining in this month's theme,
Rachel

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie - beautiful image with nice detail and textures. Perhaps "Peaceful Slumber" as a title? Only thing I'm not sure about is whether the slight amount of water/reflection in the lrc adds to the image or not.

TFS and joining in this month's theme,
Rachel

Thanks Rache. For me the watery triangle there adds to the compositional balance. I did not even realize that it was water till you mentioned it.

[Diane Miller]

Since I don't usually have anything to post in Wildlife I don't usually comment, but this is just amazing -- the eyes are incredible! I think Rachel has a point anout the LR. Would be easy to crop a little on the bottom and add a corresponding amount to the top if the aspect ratio is important.

Gabriella has some great titles! Makes me want to go to bed now...

[Arthur Morris]

Since I don't usually have anything to post in Wildlife I don't usually comment, but this is just amazing -- the eyes are incredible! I think Rachel has a point anout the LR. Would be easy to crop a little on the bottom and add a corresponding amount to the top if the aspect ratio is important.

Gabriella has some great titles! Makes me want to go to bed now...

Thanks Diane but I love the framing as is :).

artie

[keith mitchell]

Arthur just the way I feel after having the kids for a day, it really is a great looking image.

Keith.

[Nancy Bell]

Awesome!! A fabulous expressive capture of this Snow Monkey! Nothing I can say except perfect in every way.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Artie, how's about "Sleeping Beauty" if this is a female :). Beautiful, peaceful pose, great details and sharpness. The subdue white BG works well here with the sleeping pose. TFS. Loi

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Artie, This is incredible! The detail and sharpness at 718mm (with both internal & external TCs in place is unbeleivable ! Beautifully captured, exposure is spot on. I think the 200-400 f/4 1.4X competes with many primes when it comes to IQ & sharpness. and pair it with a 70-200 f/2.8 II, it is a dream wildlife combo. TFS. Great image.
Regards
Sanjeev

[Morkel Erasmus]

Cool expression and capture here Artie! Alt title: Blissful in a Blizzard ;)
I agree that the water could be cropped out at the bottom. Heading to your post now, interested in how the lens works with an additional converter.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Artie,
great dreamy expression sitting in a hot bath tub???!!! That`s what these guys are doing there, i think.
Nice composition and colors, a wee bit thin in tonal range for my liking. Looking at the other images in the blog, i would prefer the tonal range of them in this image.

Nice shot .

TFS Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Andreas. Yes, the animal was in the onsen. As for the tonal range, not sure what you mean. Do show me in a repost :). This animal was much lighter (individual variation) than the other two featured in the blog.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Artie was trying to keep the soft look due to steaming water , i think but giving the monkey a bit more tonal depth.
What i did was using the Blue channel as a layer set to soft light at 40 % , curves adjustment with 1/4 tone mask , curves adjustment with a light mid tones mask , setting in each curve a point in the middle of the axis and darken them by 20 and 10 percent.(curve up)
PS i did not know that they all vary in color and darkness of the fur.

WDYT ?
Happy greetings , Andreas

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Andreas. I like your version too. Each has a slightly different mood, mine a bit softer, yours a bit more detailed and a bit more contrasty. I like them both. I do not understand your Photoshop lingo but no worries :). And yes, many of the monkeys look quite different from their pals.

[Arthur Morris]

ps: I particularly like the face in your version with the increased detail.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Artie, just german PS lingo translated causing this bug :::))))). .
Try to be more precise.
Open image in PS
Background layer
New empty layer,copy the blue channel via APPLY IMAGE into the empty layer. Set the Blend Mode to SOFT LIGHT and adjust opacity to taste (40%)
New curves adjustment layer ; place a point on the curves axis exact in the middle . Make a selection of the 1/4 tones of the image , copy and paste the selection into the layer mask.Back to the curve , you have in and output level of 50, due to the point you set on the curve. Now enter 70 in the output , you then have contrast shift of 20 percent to true darker side.
New curves adjustment layer; again a point in the middle of the axis; this time make a selection of the light mid tones of the image; and repeat the process as described above, This time enter 60 in the output level. Now you have a 10% contrast shift to the darker side.

I would suggest to set the two curves adjustment to Luminance Blend Mode to avoid color shifts.
Then you can make a group of the two,layers and set opacity to taste, or work selectively by using a mask on the group. This technique is called masking the mask…………….

Hope this helps , Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Exquisite Artie, framing spot on. Prefer the softer look of the OP, but both yours and Andreas posts have different merits and so it's personal taste for me. If you had a little/sliver more above that might just give the finer hairs some breathing space and void the possibility of clipping. No deal breaker, just a thought.

TFS
Steve

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Steve. I am fine with the framing as is. Including the ends of those long hair would upset the compositional balance with too much negative space at the top.

[Steve Kaluski]

No worries Artie, just thinking out loud however Primates really do convey so many 'human' characteristics we can easily relate too, cool image.