Gorilla (C)

[Rachel Hollander]

I thought I would post another theme image. Taken in June 2013 at the Bronx Zoo through glass.

Canon 5D3
300 II
1/1000
f5
ISO 1600
HH, ff, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, selective burning and dodging, sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

HI Rachel cool pose and expression on the Gorilla face ! Well timed and captured.BKG not too bad for a Zoo shot , they seem to have a nice exhibit though.
Good handling of the lightning situation .You have a cast issue here that comes from shooting through glass, specially on a bright sunny day. The glass has this typical green/blue color , and i feel it obvious here specially in the darker parts of the image.
I would go tighter and make a square or 5x7 and loose some of the less interesting image content.Just my take.

TFS Andreas

[edwardselfe]

Absolutely agree with Andreas - would go for a tight portrait given the conflicting background and the fantastic expression on his/her face! I might also globally reduce exposure just slightly as it looks a bit bright to me and I feel there is still some space to move before the blacks clip.
Ed

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, I'm with Andreas, the gorilla does look a very 'jolly' fellow, nicely timed in capturing.

I find the saturation a little dominating in the BKG for my tastes, and I appreciate Andreas highlighting the cast, had not thought of that, but again, he has more knowledge on this. I just wonder about pushing the blacks a bit more and going for a tighter crop, probably the deeper blacks are not so reflective of your capture.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andreas, Ed and Steve. I saw the cast and had actually substantially dropped the blues, cyans and greens on the gorilla as well as added some black. I guess I didn't go far enough. Steve - I like your crop and am fine with the darker blacks. It was a year ago and I don't remember how dark this guy actually was.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dearest Rachel,

I find it difficult to take my eyes off this gorilla image, the facial expression you have captured is most interesting and appeals to me tremendously. I am an art lover, and within this image - despite the fact that the subject is imprisoned - I detect a degree of cheerful playfulness, of delight even - has the gorilla seen something?

In terms of technical details - the cast has been dealt with already, I really like the tighter crop, not sure about the bright area on the chest but then I have never seen these gorillas in real life so I do not dare comment on this. I think the IQ is great and still find it difficult to believe one can achieve an image of this quality shooting through the glass - great work, Rachel!

Warmest regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Gabriela. The brighter spot on the chest is where the sun was hitting him. It was coming from over his shoulder.

Thanks again,
Rachel