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Thread: Sadness Begins When the Holiday is Over

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Sadness Begins When the Holiday is Over

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    Dear Wildlife Friends,

    We came upon this hyena one early morning around 7 am as she came to drink after a night out. We spotted her long before she arrived at the water hole and were ready to capture the images when she entered the scene. She walked into the shade of a nearby tree and then suddenly entered this sunny spot - we were delighted! A youngster joined her and we watched them drink, they were so thirsty and seemed to have travelled from afar.

    This is one impressive female, despite her hanging lip and scary looks she is a wonderful mother and we have seen her the day before carrying food towards the den. Certainly not as pretty as Rachel's cub :) but an awesome old girl who can still take care of herself and her family.

    Thank you for viewing and as always I appreciate any suggestions. The image may look saturated but such was the light, I have reduced the red/orange/yellow to some extent but tried to retain the colours of that very morning. A patch of shadow in the FG made me crop tighter and I did some minor cloning here and there to disguise the remains of it.

    I might sound cheerful as always but I am filled with sadness tonight, the whole day I have been milling those crazy ideas in my mind and trying to find a way to get back to the Kalahari and spend three...no, six months or so camping somewhere on the Botswana side among my favourite characters...still thinking about it as I realise the holiday is over...

    Techs:

    Nikon D4
    Nikon 500mm F4
    ISO 2000
    F 6.3
    1/2000s

    Kind regards,


    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

  2. #2
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - I know how you love your hyenas. Nice to see a wide view and walking pose. The placement in the frame works for me. She looks like she has had her share of skirmishes. Now that I am viewing at home, I think I would darken the highlights in the bg slightly but not on the hyena. There's also the slightest bit of magenta coming through in the shadow. Very easy adjustments if you are so inclined. Overall, this works well.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Very nicely composed showing off a bit of the environment, I like the placement of the Hyena, the HA and the gaze, nice details on the hyena too. Not sure if it needs a bit of a CW rotation. Well done Gabriela.

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    BPN Member Douglas Bolt's Avatar
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    Nicely done. I like the composition. Agree about the rotation, at least the background seems to suggest it is not completely level.
    Douglas Bolt
    DougBoltPhotography.com

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    Hi Gabiela, I love the way the hyena pops against the BG, good walking pose and composition. Holidays are always too short and the time in between too long. I won't be back in Africa until April, which is a full 5 more months.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, colour, comp & techs look fine to me, I assume your ISO was to gain SS for her trotting and to freeze things? I like having the tree in and the slight arching of the canopy branches. Colours look good and I wouldn't change anything to that, even with the 'arsenal' of software you have now. As you are not adoverse to cloning, I might as an option, remove all the small rocks in front of her as I don't think they add anything and look almost 'placed' there.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much for viewing and also for your comments/suggestions, I so appreciate them!

    Rachel, I thought I removed every trace of magenta, will check again! Will darken the highlights also if you think they are a bit too much...

    I am in two minds about rotation, I think the shadow is deceiving...I will take another look at the original, thank you Sanjeev and Douglas.

    Steve, my high ISO was there for two reasons: this hyena was accompanied by a youngster and I expected some action; also, she walked in the shade for quite a while, when she reached this sunny spot I had no time to change settings straight away. I did so after a couple of frames but the pose later on is not as good in the next frames, she is looking slightly away and the paw is not raised. Will remove the rocks asap

    PS No new software yet, still wondering... But the new toy arrived today, now the lions can come closer...

    Sorry I did not comment on any images tonight, although I was tempted to do so, but it is late...My attempt to do an RP on my B/W lions posted earlier turned into a disaster: I worked on the wrong image and only realised my mistake after I saved for web and tried to compare the two images, LOL! No paw raised and slightly different head angle from the lions, ouch!

    Wishing you all a lovely Friday:)
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Nice light and pose, and of course setting here Gabriela.
    I'd support toning down highlights with a luminosity adjustment
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    PS No new software yet, still wondering...
    IMHO, no need to sit on the fence and wonder, it's your call in which camp you wish to sit in, but I think you need to make the choice. Have fun with your new toy, but if you want those image captures to come true, then...

    Have an early night, tomorrow is another day and a fresh pair of eyes too which helps, trust me, 7 hours straight PP and an hour with Uncle Adobe tech guys!!!!
    Last edited by Steve Kaluski; 11-14-2014 at 12:20 PM.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Morkel and Steve-much appreciated
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela , coming late to the party .
    Ouch i missed that by being somewhere else far away , but got an old lion warrior , that you guys haven`t . But i would swop , cause far more lions than Hyena for me .
    I quite like the trotting pose and the look to the viewer , well timed .
    Your PP work is coming the right way , at least for me . You got good suggestions from the above experts , in which i expert , agree.

    BTW what is your new toy and what new soft are you awaiting , no words to me so far , and the worst thing is you did not ask me , LOL.

    Have a great evening , cheers Mr B . E .

  12. #12
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you Mr. B.E. and welcome back to BPN Wildlife!

    Glad you have explored some faraway places and thankful that you found the time to look at my Hyena on your return

    My PP work is still the same, as basic and unsophisticated as it can get... Managed not to blow highlights and choke the blacks during our KTP trip - bless, this helps a lot, a simple workflow consisting of a mere few tweaks is all I know and I stick to it for now ...that is, until I get that new software I haven't told you about yet...it might give me the edge I so lack right now...but let me try it first......err...my new toy - still in the box because it's rainy and overcast here - is called 70-200, he (it's a HE) is coming along to the KTP in February and I hope to get closer to Rosetta and her little one ( I affectionately named him "Bud", by the way).

    Now seriously... I have taken into consideration suggestions above and will make a few changes to this image, thank you for comments again!

    Have a fabulous Sunday,
    Gabriela Plesea

  13. #13
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hey Sister , faraway places have been various HD´s and the depth of my **** machine i am working on right now , needed to sort out some stuff and redesigned the machine .
    Good that you finally got your new lens , but do you think this will work with ´Bud`, think i need a magnifying glass to find him in the frame . So please stick with the big gun for him .

  14. #14
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Bud - or Little Leopard - is growing fast, with Rosetta's hunting skills he will almost double his size over the next two months or so. Mom will take him on an outing on a daily basis, he needs to work on his hunting skills. I just have to be there at the right time...Hope is what keeps me going. And I am very patient. I will find them again
    Gabriela Plesea

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