Found this pair of territorial males lying down near a dam in an open area. Had been there about 5 minutes when I noticed this mother and calf moving into the area and headed for this pair. Anticipating some interaction I hung around and took a few shots. Not a great image but thought that I would share it with you.
The cheetah on the left reacts to the bulky intrusion with some snarling before turning and darting off.
After framing this and loading I feel I should have taken more off the bottom.
ACR & PSCC14 - LM's and sat adj layer.
1Dx - 70 - 200mm f2,8 L IS USM Mk II @182mm
IS0 800 - 1/1250 sec - f4,5
Hi Carl - Great interaction between them. Looks like the rhinos were also recently in the mud. Not sure how far away you were but I would have probably stopped down a bit. I agree with your self-assessment that going even more pano and cropping some from the bottom would look good. I also would back off on the sharpening on the grass, bush and tree.
Great looking image that tells a story and showcases the environment well. I like the interaction and the pose of rhinos and cats. Rachel has given some good suggestions. TFS.
Great story being told here. Would love to have seen this and the image makes me want to go back to Africa!
The first thing I thought when I opened the image up was that I would take some off the bottom so I agree with your assessment.
I might increase the exposure globally a little bit and decrease the sharpness of the thorn tree.
It would have been awesome if the cheetah had turned his head a bit more towards you,
Gail
Thanks Sanjeev, Gail and Rachel.
Rachel can you please take out one of the 'are' /s in the title.
Although I said I had some time to change settings I was so focused on framing it 'right' in the camera by moving focal point around that I missed the opportunity to stop down probably although I was probably 30 to 40 m/yds away. Trying to gauge whether they are more or less on the same plane with stuff happening is tricky at the best of times. Image here is just to show my thought process simple as it may be.
This is my repost but with a different image. I apologise that it is not the same one but I can't find where I put the original and as this was a part of the sequence in images. I had already converted this one in DPP4 and processed at similar time to the other. Tried some of your suggestions and to address the issue of sharpness. The thorns were pretty sharp in raw image. In DPP4 sharpness is set to 3 as per Arash and Artie's new guide. So the only sharpening other than this is USM on pre save for web.
I must admit I always battle with getting sharpness right for the web after converting and it is frustrating at times. So I hope that this is a bit better.
Thanks all
Hi Carl, although not ideal and understand why you have posted another frame, but this new frame in the sequence is better, however not great having the headless cheetah.
If it was me I might have put the FP on the Rhino, primarily because it's a larger target to focus on and will move slower so you can track things easier and do not need a fast frame rate. You also will need to understand when you change those three Case sliders, and the scene will dictate that, not the six choices, working out the focusing/locking on with the shutter all have a big part to play. remember walk across your vision is different to walking towards you, but now were are going away from the posting. Regarding sharpening, just remember you will not be seeing a 300ppi image on your screen and depending on the type of screen you have, will determine the amount of px you see. As it stands, looks good to me.
Sorry, meant to add, remember the FP as you move out will not be as good as the centre or surrounding points, they do tail off, irrespective of any calibration. Mine are all done by Canon every four to six months and I know now the limitations when shooting.
Just remember to look after your images, both Raw & master files, you took the time to get them, they deserve TLC at this stage too.
TFS
Steve
Last edited by Steve Kaluski; 11-28-2014 at 08:41 AM.
[Sorry, meant to add, remember the FP as you move out will not be as good as the centre or surrounding points, they do tail off, irrespective of any calibration. Mine are all done by Canon every four to six months and I know now the limitations when shooting.]
Hi Steve - thanks
With regards to above -Somewhere I have missed the boat totally. I had no idea that the FP's work like this , so will have to find out more to getter a better understanding of this. IS there somewhere you can point me to read up on it?
Carl, I will try and find a PDF I have, this should help, I might also have some links if they are still live, however away at present so it may not be instant. I will be honest, I'm surprised you went for the 1DX and not the 5DMKIII, however I guess you had a very good reason.
Hi Carl very nice interaction you captured .
I like the inclusion of the habitat and the overall tone and colors . I think it would look better with more BG instead of FG .
Steve is well right regarding the FP point selection , my 1 DX really struggled in the heat and dust if the FP was not one of the cross points .The more you go off center the more inaccurate they are .
Still a very nice one to share , just invest a bit more ......... of PP work , BTW what is the Sat layer for ?
Love to see interaction between different species, how wonderful that you happened to be there at the right time to capture it!!!
I like the way you framed this, rhino together, mother and calf under the acacia tree...the tree looks like an umbrella, by the way:) Beautiful environment, so green and lush after that bit of rain we had. I like the crop/presentation and PP work in your RP, although the OP with the cheetah hissing/growling at the rhino has even more "punch" in terms of action.
Carl, sorry, will comment again some more, power cut just now and we are in the dark...See you tomorrow, nite nite!!!
Hi Carl - most things have been said already. I like the interaction and completely understand how the heat of the moment might have made you make some decisions that you wouldn't again!
I wonder if there is a little too much blue in the grass.... I wasn't there but the grass might look fresher if you raised WB globally, or perhaps just adjusted the hue of the greens?
Carl, how good is your internet connect, as the file(s) from recollection could be 8MB a piece, or should I forward to Gabriela for safe keeping as we can do a quicker file transfer? Also can you access PDF's?
Late to this one, Carl - great interaction and moment, well done in nailing it!
I agree with the comments about the OP, and also prefer the 2nd frame. Nothing you can do about the light - some LCE could add some pop to the "flatness" of the tones and contrast? Run USM at 20%, 50px on the high res image or try the tonal contrast filter in Nik if you have it.
Sorry I am so late back here.
Thanks for the comments. I don't believe I would have done anything different with regards to the FP centred on the cheetah. I knew that the cheetah would sit tight until the last second and capturing that action was more important. I think similar results can be achieved in different ways. Thanks again for the input. Steve I misinterpreted some of your comments but thanks for all your assistance re the Focal points covered.
These guys are painful
Reply With Quote
