Elephant Bull drinking

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi folks after a short trip to somewhere , be back with color image taken at Okaukuejo in Etosha in late evening light.
Sadly no better low POV due to limited location options.

I was unsure about the two options i had when i started processing. One was to go dark in the whole image just getting the sunlit spray of water and the rest lost more or less in darkness, i went for the option with detail in the whole image , by knowing getting the boring detail in the BKG..
What are you thinking ?

Canon EOS 1D MK IV
EF 500 IS L
Tripod

F 8; Iso 1250 ; 1/640 sec

Processed in Photo Ninja and PS CC , cropped for comp from bottom ,top and RHS just slightly.

C&C as always welcome and appreciated

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - Gorgeous light. My first reaction upon seeing the image before reading your comments was I wonder what it would like darker with just the spray detailed. I'd love to see the second version for comparison. On this one I would take a sliver off the rhs to make the edge all leg.

TFS and hoping to see the other version,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel thanks for your comment and suggestions .
Had something like this in my mind , but not sure if this works for me , kind of difficult to achieve what i want…..

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - What about something more like this? Not quite as dark as you went with the elephant.

Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Rachel works better than my darker version, but i cannot make a decision which way to go ,dark or light .

[Loi Nguyen]

Gorgeous light and the water spray was the key focus here. So I'd go for a version between your OP and Rachel's RP. The legs are a bit f a problem, so I think darker would hide them. But you do want a little bit of the head. Loi

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, when I first looked at the thread I only looked at your image, then had a tweak, then saw the various RP, not sure if this helps.

My first impression was it looked a little flat, and perhaps darkening the BKG might help, on reflection I quite like the soft muted colours, as to me it does reflect that time of day, so perhaps all the OP needs is a tweak in Curves a tad more selective USM? I really like the golden light as the water cascades down. May be a combination of this & the OP?

TFS
Steve

[Don Railton]

Fantastic image Andreas...! my choice would be something with the ele only slightly darker than Steves.. I like the colour of the water in Rachel's water best, along with a darker elephants, but your RP was too dark.



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[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Don, Steve and Loi , appreciate your input and comments.
Another try for this "difficult which way to go " image.
Steve my thought was also OP looks a tad flat , so the 1st RP was way too dark i think.

So i gave it another quick shot with 3 curves layers , one for the HL and two for the shadows , plus some sharpening added as per your suggestion.
I like this better than OP and 1st RP

Thanks again , Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, the more I look at this, the more I feel the OP echoes the light and the elephant being in the shadow. I think it's all looking a bit too dark & contrasty and that all the OP needed was some more USM on the elephant, enhancing the golden water is probably more personal taste, WDYT? Without see the RAW it's only second guessing, but just my take on several viewings?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Here is the original just dropped the exposure by 1/3
Andreas
as i said i feel this difficult to make the "right" decision , in my mind it was flat light watching into the sun ……..specially in the shadows of the elephant.
I also think OP works ok. Maybe with some more sharpening .
Thanks Steve

[Martin Dunn]

Andreas, the golden light of the water cascade is terific. After following the thread and looking at th evarious RPs I prefer either Steve's #7 or your #9. Not a lot to separate them.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Martin for your comment

[Marina Scarr]

Versions #7 and #9 are definitely my favorites. What a terrific image. So much to look at and absorb.