The old grey kangaroo doe came out of the undergrowth just on dusk. I have spent a good deal of time in PP but the processed image doesn't look much better than the RAW file.
I would have liked the roo to just pop a little more. I don't mind the darkness of the image, but maybe not to everyone's taste. I don't usually place subject in the centre, but thought this looked alright.
Canon 5D mk II
EF100-400mm f4-5.6L IS USm @ 375mm (Hand held)
1/1600 f6.3
ISO 2000
Spot metering
No crop
Levels and Hue/Saturation layers
A bit of dodge and burn on longer facial hair??!!!
Sharpening to doe and BIG NR on BG
C&C Welcomed and Appreciated
Glennie
Last edited by Glennie Passier; 11-25-2015 at 03:01 AM.
The backlight gives you lovely rim light, but lowers contrast a lot in the shadows, which is, of course, the doe. It's worth checking if the front of the lens is as clean as possible. I wouldn't use any sort of filer when shooting into the sun -- it will only lower contrast and contribute another element to flare, which is caused by light bouncing around inside the lens, including light reflected from the sensor. Always use the lens hood, too.
I like the pose and expression -- the audience has the subject's attention. The BG is very pleasant and the bit of grass suggests enough of a foreground. There is a brownish cast and generally low contrast, which can probably be addressed somewhat by the Basic sliders in LR/ACR. (I don't remember what you're using for a raw converter.) Here's a quick tweak. Layer it in PS with the original and you'll see a much more dramatic change than it will look like here.
Here are the LR sliders. Of course dramatic lighting like this won't render colors accurately -- the light is a very strong influence.
Last edited by Diane Miller; 11-25-2015 at 12:23 PM.
Any direct light striking the front of the lens will degrade contrast. If light is striking part of the lens despite a hood, you can often add enough more shading with your hand -- just keep it out of the frame. Easier to do if you're on a tripod. Walk around the front and see where your hand needs to go, then try to get the same position from behind the lens. You'll see the contrast improve as the light is blocked.
(All this might even elicit a better expression from your subject!!!)
Hello Diane and thank you once again for your comments and massive assistance! I feel like I have a private tutor.
I must admit, I would have had a filter on the lens....and it may have needed a clean.
I am using ACR. Your "tweaking" looks great. I saw a dramatic difference in your version compared to the OP.
I have reposted and like the RP a lot better. I like the look of any image with backlight and appreciate all the problems that come with it. I'll keep practicing.
I'll put this image to rest in my "fatally flawed" file and wait for the day when the old doe comes out of the bush again.
Your RP is very nice -- I'd just relegate it to the Needs Some Big Processing folder. Every image has limitations when it's shot, and some are more difficult than others to work with.
Diane, the thread on filters was interesting. (Once again, I haven't explored all the tools in ACR. I've never even looked at the gradient tool!) I liked your comments.
Many years ago I trained horses, and soon worked out to get the best from a horse was to use as little tack as possible. Figuring out which filter to use and how is another burden on my already diminished brain.
My philosophy about filters is the same as yours about training horses. I'll use a polarizer if a scene has bright reflections from leaves. If things are still I may shoot one with it and one without, and I'll experiment with how far I rotate it. I'll use a solid neutral density filter to get a slow shutter speed for water or for intentionally blurring subject movement such as running water or wind blowing branches.
As for grad NDs, I find they make very nice conversation pieces as coasters. I'll shoot the needed range of exposures and composite in PS -- it's completely easy and flexible. That's my idea of getting it right in camera, because the dividing lines of the areas of different exposure will almost never follow the straight edge of the grad filter, much less match the amount of gradation or the density of the dark area. The only use I would find for a grad ND might be when there is subject movement and you need to capture the shot is a single exposure. Then the filter will likely cause a compromise anyway.
Filters were much more useful back in the last century, but things have changed, and so much for the better now! The difference between an 8-bit scan of a piece of film, and adjusting tonalities from a 14-bit capture in a raw converter that can handle all the tonal information, is enormous.
I need to do one more focused on compositing different exposures. The tutorials from many contributors that were on the Adorama site have been lost in several redesigns of the site.
Thanks Diane. I have used filters out in deserts here only to find when I got back home (because I didn't check) the darkened skies are all on the left instead of the top! I was looking for a new set of coasters. I do sometimes bracket; maybe I should do it more often.
I have seen your "Layers-Basic" and in fact, printed it out. I need to work on an image with your text next to me. Once I've done something a few times, I catch on.
Old Doe
