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Thread: Gunslinger

  1. #1
    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Default Gunslinger

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    This was the first thought that came to mind when I laid eyes on this old bull of the Klopperfontein Herd in the Punda Maria area, far northern Kruger.
    His horns were slung low down his side, just like an old gunslinger from the Western movies, ready for action!
    Waited for him to lift his nose and aim his two barrels (nostrils) at us, giving us that famous look : " you owe me money over 60 days!"

    The herd must have been wallowing somewhere in the Mopane forest, a couple of bulls had more caked mud on them than others.
    It was nice to be amongst a herd again - to hear the grunts and bellows, to smell them and clear the dust from our eyes.

    Nikon D3S with 500VR2
    1/800 @ 6,3
    ISO 720
    0 OEV
    Cam-rack with Gimbal
    LR5 with basics and input sharpening, CS6 masked cures with diff blending modes, D&B layer, Sharpening for web.

    As we were about to leave, we spotted a bull with a snare around his neck, lagging behind - he must have broken off the steel cable with his immense power, but the noose still cut deep into his neck.
    We later reported this to the Authorities, they promised to get a chopper and dart him that weekend, hope they did, hope he survived....
    Regards

    Andre.

    www.gappimages.com

  2. #2
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Andre - Welcome back! I'd like to think the authorities did as they promised and that you and Gabriela helped save that bull. As for this bull the title that came to my mind was "You talking to me?" I like the pose and the symmetry with good detail and sharpness. Personally, I would go a little darker in the darks and shadows, they look a little too light to me. Finally, I wish the other buff wasn't in the bg but understand that this is often unavoidable in the herd. I hope to see more from your trip.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Hi Andre. A very cool image, great set of low-slung horns, nice pose and eye contact. Well framed and processed. Agree with Rachel and will add that me too have so many images of AB with another in the backdrop. Difficult to isolate one in the field. Well done.

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    Hi Andre -- Good to see you posting again . lovely details and sharpness and a nice individual with full of attitude . I liked this image and TFS !

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Andre welcome back from Kruger , good to see you posting and commenting ........ much appreciated .
    Lovely frame with a very cool pose of the buff , heads up high and that look " down" at you is stunning . I like the overall color and the detail you have extracted .
    Without taking it into PS to check the tonal values i think the darks and shadows are ok to me , it is more the 1/2 and 1/4 tone that could have a bit more depth from my side , but only in the subject not the BG . I do not mind the buff in the BG .... too much OOF to cause a distraction from my POV .

    Well keep them coming from this trip , TFS your Buthi , Andreas

  6. #6
    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Thank you Rachel, Sanjeev, Haseeb and Andreas for comments! Much appreciated!
    The BG was dealt on it's own with a separate mask, had to make it less prominent.
    The back of the other Buff in the image was not a problem for me, was part of the BG?
    Regards

    Andre.

    www.gappimages.com

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Nice pose here Andre, does look like things are going down at the OK Corral eh
    I'd like to see it darker/more contrasty in the buffalo's hide?
    I love Klopperfontein, always something happening and nice and open compared to the immediate surrounds. Hope you enjoyed the northern Kruger!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Andre, I like the 'head on' look and with the head slightly titled up, for me it illustrates an almost 'snooty' look down at you. Perhaps a slight move to the left would have provided an almost symmetrical POV, but easily said with hindsight.

    I would have push the ISO for better SS, I think 1/1600 would have created a better file, but that's me . F/6.3 looks good, but again, I might have pushed that too, however I think the sharpness transition to the very smooth OOF areas looks a little odd, too strong, if you have applied any NR or smoothed/applied a filter I would turn that off and then look at it. Now I could be wrong, but I feel there would have been some 'granular' aspect there, WDYT???? I'm just again trying to get you to think about why and when you do things Andre, but as I said I could well be off the right path. I do agree about the comment just upping the darks, not saying it's right as there are better, more effective ways to address this, but an indication is in Levels just move the middle slider to say 0.95 you then see what happens, but this method is less than ideal, just to illustrate things.

    Overall I like this, with some fine tuning it will elevate the image to where it needs to go, good work Andre, looks like again, things are moving in the right direction, lets see more from you.

    Cheers
    Steve
    PS I'm now off for my 200 mile drive so talk later.

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  10. #9
    Lifetime Member Andre Pretorius's Avatar
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    Hi everyone

    Thank you for all comments and suggestions.
    Went back to PSD file, started tweaking the curves and opacity of layers.
    Added some TK Darks 2 and MT2 curve layers for upping the darks and a some more contrast with the S curves.
    Some more Burning and Dodging.
    Steve, no NR applied in OP (hopefully no noise with D3S@ 720ISO) but when sharpening for web I use mask- upped the brush % in buff's torso in RP.

    Am I on the right track, WDYT?

    Steve, have you arrived safely after your drive? Reminds me of my kids.."Are we there yet, dad?
    Regards

    Andre.

    www.gappimages.com

  11. #10
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Looks much better Andre, but only on the laptop , so will let TK JNR have the final say, LOL!

    Like the 1DX, at 640/800 there should be minimal, if any noise, but no idea what you meant about 'upped brush...'


    Cheers
    Steve

    PS Yes arrived, all on 'Auto pilot' which may not always be a good idea as the road is a very fast & extremely busy one, BTW there is an email for you too .

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