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Thread: A Tender Moment (C)

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Default A Tender Moment (C)

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    There were 2 more baby gorillas born at the Bronx Zoo this past January and they just went out in the exhibit for the first time at the end of last week. They joined the ones born last year so there are now 4 youngsters each with different mothers. This is of one of the newborns with its mother. Gender of the youngsters is not yet known. Shooting conditions are awful. The people are inside viewing the gorillas who are outside through glass. Some of the glass is badly scratched and other areas are clouded with children's and/or gorillas' fingerprints and smudges. The worst part is that people's clothing and cellphone covers all reflect in the glass and ruin a lot of the images. It's also crowded so moving to get a better angle is not usually possible. That being said it is still a great place to try out new equipment and experiment a bit. Although I took the 7DII and 100-400 II to Yellowstone, I had only had one outing with it before that trip and did not do much with high ISO shooting. In this shot I had to expose for the baby who was mostly in the shade but the top of its head and some areas of mom were getting very bright highlights.

    Canon 7D2
    100-400 II @ 330mm
    1/500
    f7.1
    ISO 3200
    HH, ff, levels, curves, luminosity mask, selective dodging and burning, selective color adjustments, Nik Detail Extractor at 6%, sharpened in CCPS.

    C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

    Rachel
    Last edited by Rachel Hollander; 04-20-2015 at 06:23 PM.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dearest Rachel,

    I take my hat off to you for doing such a great job under those difficult - if not impossible, conditions. Despite everything (cellphones and dirty glass and fingerprints) you did capture this special moment so beautifully - a very powerful image in terms of content.

    This is one of those images one has to stop and think about...No eye contact with the subject, but this is no ordinary photograph... two pairs of eyes and they are closed, what is most important ( to me) is the connection between mother and young - I just love the way she looks at him, her mouth so close to his forehead as if about to kiss him.

    Umm...I hear nothing behind the thick glass, out there where the gorillas are it all looks so silent and beautiful... but I can hear the noise in the room you were viewing from:) I hope the other people present at this sighting saw what you saw through your lens - I certainly do.

    I know you do not clone - if you did, I would ask you to remove the grass bit on mom's elbow:) Otherwise, I am happy with the entire image as is

    Hope you have a wonderful evening,

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Hi Rachel
    A lovely image under difficult circumstances, agree with Gabriela comments...

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel,

    I like the moment as well. Read above and grass disturbs me as well. I miss something in there and attention gets dragged away, when NOT reading the intro. usually I look and then read.
    My take on the image would be: see image

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Gabriela, Peter and Anette, much appreciated. Anette - I think you've gone too dark though perhaps somewhere in between would work.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    BPN Member Anette Mossbacher's Avatar
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    you always can pull back

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Such a beautiful moment you captured here Rachel. I had to have another look tonight... this really moves me.

    I like what Anette did, and yes you could pull back a little from the RP and go in-between, certainly going darker does add a very dramatic feel.

    My question to you: how did you feel when you pressed the shutter? How do you want to portray your characters? Is this meant to be a sad scene? Or is it a "mother-and-child" moment ? The OP shows you had "cheerful" emotions when you witnessed this scene. To me it is the darker BG that changes the mood... it is up to you where you want to take this...I love it either way

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Gabriela - that's an interesting observation because it was very much a joyful mother and child moment rather than a melancholy zoo animal moment. The 4 mother gorillas all seemed to be taking pride in their youngsters and showing them off a bit. So maybe that is why I went more for the lightness of the op.

    Thanks,
    Rachel

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thought so:) Our processing is often influenced not only by what we saw, but by how we felt - one tends to forget that...

    In the end it is all about finding the balance between what we want and what the audience wants to see. Your image made me think about such things - another interesting experience, so thank you again Rachel:)

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Well, I thought I was finally going to get my "pet peeve" in, but others beat me to it I have to agree with the distracting bit of "stuff". I agree with your "lighter" version of this image. What I find when I look at the two, the lighter and darker, is very much joy/wonder/laughter vs. moody, the lighter one makes me smile more. We were at our local zoo years ago and were looking through glass at a new mother and baby gorilla. Suddenly the mother turned to the glass and held her baby up, facing us all. Wow, what a feeling, I don't even remember if I got a shot or not, but I don't care, I have the memory.

    Great moment in time, the only thing I would do is to remove that bit of distraction, but that is overall a nit.

    Very nice, I am still smiling.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Bill, much appreciated. In general, with the exception of dust spots, I don't clone preferring to keep my images true to the scene as I saw it.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Completely understood, Rachel. I often find myself torn as to "how much is enough", for me it comes to disclosure if I alter something materially, such as add clouds to an otherwise blue sky, or replace a gray sky with blue. Even the PSA Competition rules get a but fuzzy on, when they use the word "material".

    In the end, your image speaks for itself, I think we often get too hung up on some of these 'Nits' myself and lose site of the end result. The old "forest for the trees" thing.

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    Hi Rachelle ! Tremendouse work to capture this image in such a challenging condition, Anette's version is bit dark but yours is too bright so as you said some where in between will surely work. I really liked this touching moment . The closed eyes of the gorilla baby perfectly conveys the the message of safety and security in mothers lap.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Thanks Haseeb. Bill - your ethics are in line with BPN Forum rules which require disclosure if you have added or removed elements or substantially altered your image. We also require disclosure if an animal is captive or if it has been baited or attracted with calls.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

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    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel
    I found with the lighter version my eyes settled first on the eyes of the little one,
    with the darker RP it goes to to the BG....
    Love the moment...
    Well captured..
    Regards

    Andre.

    www.gappimages.com

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Rachel, a nice capture, but agree with the others, the grass goes and the image will be much better for it.

    I like the overall composition and lighting, but you can increase the Blacks quite a bit before clipping, and so my initial thought was along the lines of Anette's, but not as dark. A simple vignette would do the job nicely. I think you did well given the conditions.

    TFS
    Steve

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