Time for me to jump into the theme. I would like some honest thoughts on this one.
Taken close to sunset in my beloved Kgalagadi. This guy was next to the road. I zoomed in tight to limit distracting bushes around him. Chose aperture for the sunburst and exposed for the brightness of the sun to get a silhouette. I wish he was standing on the ridge and the legs were more nicely defined, but then you'd not get the tongue out...
I'm not 100% happy with the end result, but haven't found myself ready to bin it either...what do you think?
Techs: Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 165mm
f22 | 1/400 SS | ISO-320
EV -1
I find do find it tight, to me the head especially is pushed into the corner a bit too much for me. I Understand why you did make it tight as I think there is a hint of the bush you were trying to avoid on the RH border. Makes me wonder though which is the worst evil... For the image as it stands I think a bit more definition of the lower legs would help. I think the DR of the D800 would allow this?
Interesting, Morkel! I agree with Don about getting a little more leg detail - perhaps by simply raising the shadows a tad in LR? Funny, I find the tongue a little off-putting and if I had exactly the same pic without the tongue it would have been my preferred version (but that's just me!). Maybe a little tight top & right but if you want to go portrait, that's the only way to go. Nice picture regardless!
Hi Morkel , difficult one .......... but for the honesty , i would bin it .
I like the sunburst and the trees in BKG. I think it could work better with more space for the Giraffe head and more important more room for virtual legs, looks like my cut off arm .No need of detail in the legs for me.
I personally like it, Morkel, although I see a few small problems
Things like this grab my attention, and what I like the most is that you managed to process in such a way that the sun does not burn my eyes. Not too tight for me on the sides, but it does need some extra space on the bottom. The tongue sticking out does not work for me, it makes the giraffe look like a unicorn... Colours are lovely, love the title, and dear Morkel-please note- it is MY Kalahari!
Now seriously, what I like about Morkel the photographer is that you SEE things and take the trouble to capture them, probably thinking " this is beautiful, let me shoot this, I will see what I will do with it"...Unconventional, unseen, and such a special sighting - please do not bin it, you can easily add some at the bottom and I would clone out the tongue by the muzzle, if this were mine.
Hi Morkel - I like the thought process behind the image and the experimenting but I agree with the others that it is not a favorite for me of your images. The sunburst is great but I'm not sure about its placement on the giraffe and within the frame. The tightness is an issue and the tongue out doesn't do it for me here. Also the giraffe is angled slightly away. As always though what really matters is whether you like it.
Hi Morkel, i like the overall concept & colours in this one and I think for me it falls into WIP (Work in Progress).
Agree it needs more below for the virtual legs, however I guess you are stuck with what you have unless this is cropped? Personally Ii would not lighten it as this is backlit and for me, even at this size there is enough detail and going lighter would kill the concept. I agree with Rachel, the tongue out is not great as it ruins the outline of the head which I feel is important. I would also have preferred to have more spindly branches on the RH tree rather than the heavier branches so close to the subject. I like the rays of sun was this with a filter, never see the rays like this without a 'creative' filter, interesting the sensor was OK afterwards with such strong light.
I think this has 'legs' Morkel, just needs some fine tuning in the planning IMHO.