Elephant Crossing Channel

[Loi Nguyen]

As I said previously, all of the easy images have been processed, now I left with the hard ones. I have been struggling with this image color and contrast. This is probably the 10th time I am owrking on it. So would like to post and get your suggestions.

Mid afternoon around 5 PM at Selinda camp, but the sun was still pretty intense. The sky seemed to be too bright and the eli a bit too dark. I didn't like any of the recent versions, so decided to post the first version.

5D3
70-200f2.8 II @ 182mm
1/800
F8
ISO-800
Handheld

Thank you for your comments.

Loi

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I like the exposure, sharpness of the ele & colors Loi. The only place where I'd still fiddle is probably to get a bit more definition from the sky (perhaps mid-tones to make the clouds look a little more 'dramatic'?). I'd keep the remainder as is. Nice snap!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi, i would ask myself , leaving the rest of the image on its own, does this image represent a afternoon with intense sunshine ? I feel the image represents more a situation later in the day with cloud covered sun . Just my take.

TFS Andreas

[edwardselfe]

This is a tough situation - I remember similar from Lower Zam and I had the same troubles. I think you've handled it well and probably you know how far you can push the details in the sky without wrecking it. I love the bow-wave and the upturned trunk tip.
Colours are tough to manage and I might consider looking at a B&W conversion given the difficult lighting.
Ed

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Loi - it's a nice image and worth the time. There's a pretty strong halo around the ele. I agree with Andreas that had you not said the light was still intense I would have thought this was at sunset with some cloud cover to diffuse the reds. I took a stab at a rp but am not sure if it is more or less reflective of the conditions you saw. I took the reds down a bit (you could go further), opened the midtones on the ele, reduced magentas in the water and applied some LCE to the sky to bring out a little more detail. WDYT?

TFS,
Rachel

[Neil Burton]

Would defo like more intensity on the ele, looks to be taken in diffuse light, certainly can increase brightness and contrast in the shadows and maybe darken the sky a touch, bring back some blues if they are there? only left with the dust you need to clone ;)

Great shots though, nice angle and details.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Rachel, thank you for the RP. I think I may have messed up the PP so much that it's hard to know the "real" conditions. My recollection was a bright sunny afternoon with dispersed cloud. The sun came in at an angle, so not the easiest of light to work with. We were on a boat at the end of a spillway looking across the channel. I had a very difficult time with this series. So here is the original out-of-the-camera. All I did here was to import into LR5 and selected the Auto WB. There was way too much Blue in the "As shot". Not sure why the colors were what they were.

I'd be happy to send the RAW file via Drop Box if anyone would like to take a look at it.

thank you everyone fro your suggestion.

Loi

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi feel free to post it to me , i have some spare time tomorrow

Cheers Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Loi, I tried to play with your last jpg but would prefer working from RAW.
I actually quite liked your OP for warmth, tone and exposure (bar the halo).

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Loi,

I really like your ellie, took the liberty to tweak a bit as well, what do you think? Not sure what the light was like, just my imagination, increased the saturation on reds and yellows and dropped some of the magenta, sharpened a bit before posting

You got some stunners from this trip, well done! Love the water ripple, by the way...

Kind regards,

[Nancy Bell]

My first thought was that I really liked the light on the tusks and those yellowish grasses behind the ellie, and that needs to be preserved. I like that Gabriela did that as well as bringing out the hide texture on the ellie more. Agree the bow wave is a very nice detail.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Loi , thanks for the Raw file, just played a bit and that is the result.

Cheers Andreas

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Loi, FWIW: Your OP is still the best IMO - my first comment stands...

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Loi, sorry just finalising packing, like Rchel, but here is my thoughts.

Probably still could be improved, just running out of time, however I'm sure Rachel & Morkel will apply some 'golfer dust' to make it sparkle even more.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Hi Loi, sorry just finalising packing, like Rchel, but here is my thoughts. Probably still could be improved[clip]

Some nice innovation creeping through Steve, I like it!

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Everyone, thank you very much for your help with htis image. Much appreciated.

1. In the OP, the sky was too grey, like Andreas said, it does not portrait a bright sunny day.

2. In Gabriela's version, i like the treatment of the elie, but since she worked from the OP, the sky was a bit grey as well.

3, In Andreas' version, the sky was brought back to blue and sunny, but the elie was a bit too bright and flat.

4. Steve's version; I like the elie, but the sky looks a bit too purple.

5. I will post a version Rachel sent me next, I like the sky treatment, I just applied a warming filter to the elie and the water.

I saw many possibilities, so we will spend more time on this image later.

Steve and Rachel, have a safe trip and bring back many wonderful images!!!

Loi

3.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Loi and glad you like it.

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve's version; I like the elie, but the sky looks a bit too purple.

That's what happens when you get a 50 mid grey (gray) across all RGB channels, did not alter it as I had no idea which way to go, but all good food for thought.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Tried playing with it, Loi, but didn't get much better than what was already posted. Perhaps a B&W could work?