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Thread: Buffalo Surrender

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Buffalo Surrender

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    The Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve is a place I have often visited over the past twenty years or so. Therefore I used to not look around properly. The sight of a buffalo used to leave me indifferent, but all that changed after having some experiences that occasionally stood out with an impact that overwhelmed me and forced me to pay attention. Some would say I am crazy to call this animal "beautiful" - after all, he does not have obvious features which we normally associate with beauty. But making use of this word is my way of saying this formidable creature has made an impression on me, especially since its features were enhanced by such wonderful light. I take advantage of this month's theme to share this with you.

    Apart from the dreamy relaxed pose of my subject here, leaning onto the side of another buffalo - which is something I hope you will like - I anticipate some possible comments regarding colours in this image. One of the reasons why I captured this was indeed color, or the way I perceived colour at the time I pressed the shutter. The afternoon light was gorgeous and illuminated the face of this resting buffalo beautifully. Later during processing I carefully reduced some of the colours and enhanced others, until I found the warmth I remembered and a reasonable range of tonalities. There was quite a bit of gray present and I liked that, I felt it helped subdue the yellow and orange to some extent, which you would otherwise find too overwhelming. You might still find the yellow and orange too much, but I believe this is a fair representation of what I had seen. There are only about ten minutes of this strong golden light on a winter's afternoon and I wanted to capture it, my reason for being there on that day and I desperately needed a subject for the light to shine upon - what delight to have had the buffaloes all around!

    Almost FF, with only a tad taken off from the RHS. Processed in LR and PP CC, no special effects of other software used, removed two grasses across the cheek of the buffalo.

    Nikon D3S
    Nikon 500mm F4
    ISO 1000
    F6.3
    1/800s

    Shot without support, other buffaloes present near the windows and all around the vehicle, big and small, silent and relaxed. Any noise I made by moving things around would have spoilt that. I did not even change my camera settings, shot with what I had. A while later, as I was looking through my images, I wondered why the park was so quiet and free of visitors. I then felt sorry for those who sat at home dozing on that golden afternoon, having missed all I had experienced and seen...
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Quite a stunning image, Gabriela! Love this closeup! The image conveys a strong sense of of calmness and peace. I like the compositional lines in the image...the angle of his right horn mimic by the throat and the left horn curing across the top of the image. Perfectly composed to keep the eye within the frame. And the LIGHT! Sweet! Golden. I am also a sucker for fine details such as this. The inside of his ear interrupts the color hues and is a bit bright - pulling the eye to that spot. Perhaps de-emphasizing that area just a a bit would work. But, to me this is an exquisite image, without a single change.

    And thanks for a great example of capturing a small part of the scene to convey a sense of the larger scene!

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Gabriela, beautifully captured and conveyed with words...
    Great light, textures and peaceful expression makes this stand out.
    Perhaps crop a sliver from the bottom?
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you Karen and Morkel for kind words, really appreciate it:)

    Morkel, I tried cropping that sliver and it does work. Then I had this thought, that I could darken the area instead of losing that bit, burn tool with midtones and highlights as well, WDYT?

    Wishing you a wonderful evening,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Gaby, sweet, sweet light, and you have captured a Buffalo's serenity at it best. You have brought out the finer detail so well, sharpness spot on, and I quite like the 'touch up' to the small injury in your RP.

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    Dear Gabriela,
    The light is just so awesome here and the pose, the chin resting and that eye closed conveys a sense of calmness and all is well. The detail and sharpness is fabulous. Very well done.
    Sanjeev

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    Hi Gabriela -- THis is just superb !! It appears that the Buffalo is meditating and that light is adding so much to the image . Nice use of words also . enjoyed this one . TFS !!

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    Exceptional image with a very lovely and unique pose of the buffalo! In spite of being big and burly and not cuddly, they have feelings and you have captured that less obvious aspect. Awesome details, awesome lighting and awesome composition! Good repost.

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    Love the repost. That spot no longer steals my attention from the contended face!

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    For me, an excellent image needs to have great techs, composition & emotional interest. Your image ticks all these boxes. It is exemplary. I prefer the OP because I like the light portion of the buffalo's ear.
    Andrew

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dear Stu, Sanjeev, Haseeb,Nancy, Karen and Andrew,

    I really appreciate your thoughts and grateful for the time you took to view and critique, thank you from the heart.

    Really enjoying this Theme, will be back with more

    Hope you all have a wonderful week,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Lovely, Gabriela. Such wonderful and magnificent animals you photograph. You truly have a gift for capturing images that are interesting and hold the viewer's attention. Thank you for sharing.

    Be safe and well in your travels...
    Joe Przybyla

    "Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams

    www.amazinglight.smugmug.com

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela - Sorry to be late to the party here. I had connectivity issues this morning (nothing like your rolling shutdowns though). You know I like this one. Lovely light, detail and comp. The rp takes it up a notch. Well done.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you dearest Rachel,

    You're never too late to the party, LOL.

    Whew, lots of wonderful images lately and I am spending more and more time viewing, I am loving this month's Theme

    See you around...I cannot wait for the week-end, it looks like it is going to be a long one, next Monday is a public holiday!

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Oops my little sister , very late and here comes a (sorry ) not that nice comment , but i know i can tell you that .
    I really like this shot from the whole technical aspect , well done with all your capture and edit work , but for one simple reason this is not grabbing me as a stand alone image . i just miss the eye contact .
    If this would be a part of a sequence , different story and different output , well this seems to be an exclusive opinion from my side but ....... this are my 2 cents .
    Sorry Gabriela .

    Cheers your bigger boetie

  16. #16
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hallo my Bigger Boetie!!!

    You can tell me - and you must tell me always - exactly how you feel, I would not want it otherwise!

    First of all, I admit I often seek your approval in terms of techs, knowing you are not just my Boetie but also my Great Nitpicker, LOL. So I am rather happy with your comments:)

    Allow me to explain my thinking behind this frame, for interest' sake and also, because I want you and others to understand what made me decide to share this:

    I do have other images - close-ups - with those buffalo. Some with really nice detail on the eye, fully open. I chose this one instead, and for many reasons. One of them being, I wanted to prove it to myself and others that the "eye" or "eye contact" is not everything. In this instance I waited for the subject to close its eyes before I pressed the shutter because I had this idea on my mind...I saw this beautiful, serene scene that somehow satisfied me and I had to try it out.

    I personally feel there is more "connection" between my subjects when the eye is closed. Indeed a very subtle connection, and I do not expect everyone to see it, or like it. There's a certain pleasure my subject derives from leaning on its mate, which would not be that obvious if the eye was open (in other words Boetie, pleasure equals "eyes closed" sometimes, LOL). I do understand aesthetic tastes vary, and mine are obviously less rigid than one would expect. My relationship to this majestic species is often related not to the mean, wild look in their eyes, but towards the gold in their horns and other features:)

    I do feel that some photographers - despite their acute sense of observation - often overlook certain things because it never occurred to them that there are elements worthy of appreciation, other than the eye and facial expression. I do not dare qualify my work as "successful", but in my mind successful work draws out features capable of exciting a sense of beauty and interest in the viewer. Here I was trying to foreground elements usually lost in some of the images we view daily, I also wanted your eyes to wander all the way from the boss/horns to the nostril and not stop in the middle, as it usually does.

    And I am not disappointed with your comments Boetie, on the contrary - I am ever so grateful for your honest thoughts, not only you give me reason to explain myself but also plant a seed of doubt: " ...am I doing the right thing? Have I failed to give justice to my subject?" It is exciting to have these conversations with you, you do move my mind a lot, right now I am thinking I must go back there and keep an eye on my Buffaloes this week-end, let them surround me once again and I shall see what to include and what to leave out...

    Hope you have a wonderful evening, week-end is looming and Monday a Public Holiday here, let us meet again and chat some more?

    Warmest regards from your SA Sister,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hey Gabriela all ok with your thoughts , as always , it is you the photographer who is having this personal feeling /emotion when seeing things . And if others like all of us share your thoughts/emotions ..... well you have done a great job by getting the attention of others who have not been there at the time of your shooting .
    Anyhow thanks again for your personal view of your thoughts .
    I simply love your way how you describe things ,very detailed and fully understandable .
    So keep your way of seeing stuff the way you see it , and more important ...... do post them !!!!

    Well yes chatting ... sounds good , lets try that more if time allows .

    sending you myself my warmest available regards

  18. #18
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you Boetie,

    Will be around at the week-end, and Monday also (Public Holiday here).

    Have a wonderful day tomorrow,

    Hugs from wintery Africa
    Gabriela Plesea

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