Don't know whether this might appeal to your aesthetic tastes but I would like to find out:)
I almost overlooked this, it was the twentieth in the sequence and I had already deleted a number of frames. At first there was not much that prompted me to consider it worthy of appreciation: two Baboons huddled together, one rather fascinated by our presence and the other quiet and withdrawn. But after having a closer look I thought " there is plenty for me to work on here, let's see if I can pull this off".
Although the surroundings were not ugly, a few moments of further "scrutiny" made me realise I could not find any value in them. So I decided to foreground only those elements that meant something to me, and which - should the image be processed in a more conventional manner - would become lost. I intended to represent the two characters as faithfully as I could, although I used this conversion more "forcibly" in order to create this "mysterious" effect I had in mind.
Hi Gabriela, it is always good to experiment. I love the sharpness of the one in front and the OOF of the one in back giving the image the depth. For my taste, the highlights are a bit bright and draw my eye too much. I'd also suggest cropping the image on the left and move the one in front higher up on the frame if you have it. Loi
Hi Gabriela -- This one certainly works for me . I really liked the positioning of both the baboons and the eye contact is priceless . For me both the baboons are part of this image and should be viewed one after another hence that glitter on the nose and in the eyes of the baboon in the BG are interesting . I would have burned a bit more the whites on the face of the FG baboon and also to me the nose of the baboon is not that sharp as compared to the rest of its face . TFS !
Hi Gabriela - I'm not sure about this one. I like the juxtaposition of the two baboons in the frame but to me it looks a little forced and over-processed. Not sure why but the light and toning doesn't look natural to me with parts recovered too much (the cheek and the arm). I get the feeling of an image overexposed in part and trying to make something of it. Rather than intentionally exposing for key lighting. Sorry. Do keep experimenting though. If you want me to look at the RAW I am happy to do so.
I so appreciate your comments and honest critique - just like you, I like to play from time to time and in the past I kept my most extreme "experiments" to myself. I often felt they were either not good enough or not "clean" enough (as in "over processed"). But we are here to play, to give and receive feedback, to find out what works and what doesn't. Although this frame still appeals to me because of the memory - or rather, the experience - attached to it, I realise it does not have the desired effect on you as viewers and I do trust your opinion. I will not "dump it" as such but store it in my "moments" folder, it only takes a tiny bit of space... One day I will look back and hopefully relive some of those very few good moments from this last trip in the Kruger Park - for reasons I already mentioned I shall not go back there again.
OooooooHHH Gabriela i absolutely love this one !!!!!
Love the emotional side in this frame , well placed and framed subjects and the over the shoulder look is great from my POV . You did very well with this engaging image .
The conversion could be discussed .... i almost like it to 100 % .
Just two things could be handled a bit better for my taste ...... first i would temper back the sharpening ( you are a tiny bit back to the sharper side my sister ) and i would open up a bit more the tonal range on the RHS of the front Baboon . but not that heavy handed just slightly .
Image does look WAAAAY ! better in PS , a lot more detail is showing up .worth to have a look .
Lovely work Gabriela , cheers yours Buthi
Last edited by Andreas Liedmann; 10-10-2015 at 04:35 AM.
Hi Gabriela, a sweet image with nice conversion, the deep blacks, the glossy eyes and the sharp detail with the other baboon in the BG all give a sense of 3D here. Nice comp too. TFS.
Andreas, Boetie - will have another look, I do have quite a few versions of this frame. Sometimes I do go too far, this happens often when I am tired, having done lots of PP work till late at night...then I don't want to "think" too much about the next image and just let my imagination go wild. Think of it as my "treat", my "play time". Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it's fun and relaxing. And I don't mind you guys telling me when you don't like an image - I can take it. I am big girl, LOL
Hope your week-end is a fun filled one, we are off tomorrow to the Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve for a picnic:)
Hi Gabriela, I wanted to wait for others to respond before commenting as you know .
For me Andreas has it the nail on the head with his observations in relation to the techs and I do think sometimes in tackling images like this you may feel staging the process as discussed in previous replies may help the development of the image. I like the black surround and the OOF juxtapose of the two, works for me.
As a 'work in progress' image, this has great potential, I just feel the original capture needs better techs i.e. more DoF, faster SS... but you have access quite easily to a lot of this so hone the capture and then the PP just needs a little refining. The thinking is really good, just plan for the future and try to have a shopping list of what you want, not always ideal as this can build frustration, but just perhaps have things in the back of your mine.
My main concern has always been to "see the moment" and to try to envisage at the time of shooting what the final "product" should look like. In terms of thinking ahead I have already learnt a few things from you, over time I became more mindful of the camera crop (framing images better to avoid post-production cropping) and constantly scanning the scene for something engaging ( I realise people react stronger to "emotion"). But it does look like my "shopping list" is short of a few items so I plan to improve on that, thank you so much.
When I noticed elements in this scene that grabbed me - such as this Baboon looking over his shoulder - my thinking was "I could perhaps force the viewer a strong emotion here ". But I did not think of how I was going to achieve that. I will try remember more often what the camera can do for me and how I can achieve certain effects by, let's say, underexposing, etc. Sometimes difficult when things happen fast, but having a plan will make things easier and less stressful IMO.
Well, you are forcing me to think now. I realise the kind of images I am aiming for require a lot of extra thought, aside from looking at what is in front of me and watching the histogram, LOL. So I am working on my "shopping list"
Thank you again so much for your thoughts, I so appreciate it.
Gabriela when it comes to the technical bits and me forget it, I do like the look on these animals faces and the very artistic way you have caught them, would love to be able to read there minds, appeals very much to me.
Thank you from the heart, as you probably noticed my aim is to move those who love Mother Nature and its creatures... happy to notice I succeed from time to time:)
When it comes to the technical bits I think we should not ignore them completely, to me it is of utmost importance to try and do some good work out there in the field: exposure, DOF critical, SS, framing, etc...I watch the histogram religiously...less PP work needed if all the above are considered and therefore no need for extensions and plugins and stuff, LOL.
Emotion, intention, POV, HA, lighting, so much to think about, but when all come together nicely you have a winning situation, otherwise one has to use some imagination to create something worthwhile, a bit of a challenge but great fun and some thrill waiting for feedback from your fellow photographers, your heart is racing, you are not sure they'll like it...But never mind when they don't - you do (otherwise you would not share it), you also learn from the critique and move on, what hurts most teaches you well because you'll remember next time...I nearly sent this image to the bin, but then thought otherwise...Delighted and surprised some like it, I obviously do...
Don't worry about the technical bits, they come with time...Life is short, enjoy what you see, experience, do your best, share it all. I draw a lot of joy just browsing around on BPN and FB and other places, just seeing the number of species on Earth amazes me, for I love wildlife more than anything. Photography allows us to share our view of the world and its creatures:)
I look forward to see some more images from you, I do not know your world that well and everything is new and interesting to me:)