I know I cannot save the rhino with a few photographs, much I would like to. My images and words cannot reach the people who take the lives of rhino, those individuals originate from foreign lands and they bribe our locals to do the dirty work for them. Perhaps - if I could communicate with those men and women - I could teach them and their children to understand pain, or to fathom the sources of beauty in Nature. With every rhino sighting I am reminded the species is short-lived. I cannot cry out "beware, the enemy is out there" when those awesome creatures venture close-by to investigate, I cannot teach them fear of man. The enemy has powerful weapons with silencers, and these days he does not need to get close, he removes them from the land of living from a great distance and brutally saws off the horn afterwards. The enemy knows the rhino mother has an innocent baby to feed... so does he - but fast money is what he wants. The enemy lives for today.
My passion for wildlife is what drives me to spend time in the bush and take photographs - I could probably share an image and just specify the techs but then it would not be me, so forgive me for this rather long introduction - I have this burning desire which it almost feels like a duty - to remind you of our rhino population diminishing every day. The female here had a tiny baby trotting behind her making sharp little calls, and they both came very close to the vehicle - I suddenly had to exchange the 500mm lens for a 300mm and shoot awkwardly from the car window. It was a lucky one really and I am grateful for the outcome. No time to change settings, I had ISO 1600 and F4.5 on a Nikon D4 attached to the 300 mm lens. It was almost 5pm, winter here and darkness sets in really early... Last night I had to perform a few tweaks when it came to exposure, then levels, burning and dodging helped bring out some of the textures on the subject's face and neck. No more space at the bottom, I am afraid. I could add some canvas, if you like. Cropped from the RHS only.
Wishing you all a pleasant evening, thank you so much for viewing, and please do not forget about the rhino out there...
Last edited by Gabriela Plesea; 07-29-2015 at 02:29 PM.
Dear Gabriela,
i understand and feel your pain about these wonderful creatures. They have every right to live as we do. I wish things change for the better in future. I absolutely love the detail and sharpness here. The comp is fine. I like how the rhino walks with lowered head and these magnificent horns. Well shot, processed and presented.
have a great eve.
cheers,
sanjeev
Hi Gabriela i absolutely love this very fine work of B/W conversion .
The comp is spot on , as are the details and sharpness .
Nice tonal range at first view , but i might be tempted to give the MT a slight boost and a bit more depth after a second look , just only my 2 very little cents .
BTW i like the separation between subject and BG even if the tones are not that much apart in parts , so well done Gabriela .
This is a very stunning image! The DOF is excellent, allowing the BG to recede totally. The texture of the rhino really comes alive. And this conveys a sadness of sorts, consistent with the probably fate of this animal. Of all the animals I hope to see on my first visit to SA, this is the one! Compositionally, it seems a little tight...but it is a great image as is!
Hi Gabriela -- Yes the plight of the Rhino and other animals like the big cats especially the Tiger is indeed very sad but we have to keep trying to save them no matter how unlikely it becomes to save them for generations to come . As far as the image is concerned i definitely agree with the above comments and the tightness of the image works here , very nicely done and TFS !!
Top shot! The BW really works for this, one can appreciate the rough skin texture as if touching it. If one could only expose the poaching syndicates as well as you did this image it would be a start. Well done reminding everyone about the plight of rhino (and others) out there. Mooiloop en vasbyt!
Hi Gabriela - A very moving image in support of a very moving plight. It is so incredibly sad that these giant creatures may not be around in the wild for future generations to appreciate. I love the details and textures that you have brought out in the hide and the conversion to b&w works very well here. I originally thought a little tight below but the more I have stared at it, the more I like the comp as is. Well done.
This is one of those shots that really needs to be seen large and up close as opposed to on a computer monitor. I would bet a fair amount it becomes far more powerful.
Excellent work with the conversion and timing with the rhino having a small gap below the chin working well. This would work very nicely as part of a 'save the rhino' campaign.
I have been working on a number of rhino images recently, this is just one of them. Hoping to find something powerful enough to appeal to a number of charitable people who pitch up religiously at our "rhino evenings". Those are generous individuals who consistently contribute financially to the rhino cause, the money raised is spent to cover expenses such as fuel for the light aircraft surveilling the local game reserves, rewarding community members who have the courage to provide information regarding poachers, etc.
I take this opportunity to thank Rachel Hollander for donating an image for the next auction, my partner Andre also contributed with an image and I am still busy looking for something special - time is ticking so I really appreciate your feedback, I will gladly take all your comments into consideration and make the necessary changes. Shall revisit this image and look at MT and composition according to your critique - I really appreciate you taking the time to view and comment
Lots of good comments ahead of me. This is awesome and powerful and speaks for itself! So very well done and I truly hope you find a path to influence the right people to help the rhino.
The Freedom to Walk About
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