Failing To Be Serious...

[Gabriela Plesea]

Nikon D3S
Nikon 500mm F4
F 4
ISO 10000
1/250s

I felt rather playful tonight (inspired by this very image of these two young lions) and decided on a "canvas" look...Basic LR adjustments and then went for an oil paint effect. Tried not to go overboard with all the effects available in Photoshop, just did enough to change an ordinary image into something a bit more unusual. Comments and critique of any nature welcome, this is just an experiment and I thought I'd pop in to OOTB and share it, see what you think Shall I keep it or dump it? Is there too much green in the BG?

Thank you kindly for taking the time to view,

Kind regards,

[Paul Lagasi]

A lovely setting , I like the canvas effect applied, I love my D3s and am amazed you used iso 10,000, must have been near darkness. I think the image works, I may have cropped it differently to get the lions out of center. But hey its better than any of my lion image...wait I don't have any lion images.

Because this is OOTB I also would have done a bit of cloning, adding subtle changes so the faces didn't look exactly alike: I submitted a cropped version of heads.

Love the image as is, well done, thanks for sharing

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Paul, your subtle changes did the trick!

Indeed I used ISO 10000, it was just after 6 am and a rainy day, cloudy sky and all. These youngsters were so playful, moving around quite fast, I decided to test the camera's abilities and go up on the ISO, thought I'd rather have a grainy sharp image than a blur.

I'll be a more daring next time with the processing, really appreciate your time to help,

Warmest regards and many thanks again,

[Anita Bower]

This photo is making me smile. I like the closeness and interplay between the two bodies. They have lots of room to walk into the image. The green is just fine, in my view. You did a nice job. Paul's version is also nice.

[Judy Howle]

I love the composition, great capture! I might desaturate the green a little since the lions don't have much color.

[Nancy Bell]

Ah, those two look mischievous! And what a round belly on that front one! I would crop off the top layer of dark green, putting more attention on those cuties. Very good positions on the cubs, I like that the rear cub shows both in front and behind the 1st cub, and that one hind leg is stretched. The face of the 1st cub makes him out as quite a character.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hello Gabriela, I'm so glad you popped in and hope you post here more often! I like the image as presented, although there are some good suggestions and Paul's take is bit different... I actually like the two cubs looking in different directions as it seems more natural. It looks like you used the sandstone texture, which works really well for the image. There is something in the dirt in front of them that looks like a smudge (although I know it isn't) and I would maybe evict that. Please stop by again soon!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Anita, Judy, Nancy and Kerry!

I would like to post some more here, and I appreciate your input and ideas tremendously! While I try so hard to stick to reality in Wildlife, here I feel I have the freedom to play and use my imagination-it's great fun!
I initially desaturated the green but then decided for a more vivid scene, both versions work for me and I feel there's lots of room for change here. Kerry, I see what you mean about the smudge-yes it was there, just bits of sand that's a little wet, I think Mom just walked there moments before I took this image. It does look odd, now that you mention it.

Thank you so much for your thoughts, wishing you all a great week-end!

[Kerry Perkins]

Gabriela, I too strive for authenticity in my bird and wildlife images, but when you start to view those images as opportunities to unleash further creativity then you will be more comfortable with moving out of the box. The two concepts do not have to be exclusive. I hope to see you here more often!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Gabriela, lovely, playful image. The sandstone adds a nice touch. I agree with Nancy about cropping out the upper band of dark green. Hope to see you here more often

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Kerry and Cheryl, will make the changes suggested and then print this, see what it looks like. I will certainly contribute again, as well as pop in more often and view the posts, so much to learn from everyone

Kind regards,