Lop Eared Doe

[Glennie Passier]

Eastern Grey - Macropus giganteus

I have been watching this little girl for a little while. Her "mob" is quite small. Just two joeys and a very big buck. (Also with a lot of damage to one ear - I am unsure why.) They live on a golf course...maybe that explains the ears.

This image was shot before the discussions of the last few threads, but only now, processed. So I realise the techs aren't so great, but I'm hoping I haven't overdone the PP. I've used the KISS theory.

When I saved for web posting the file could only manage 257kb, at 100%. (Most of the images I post are just over 400 and I have to reduce the 100% quality). Is the lower kb because of the limited amount of information in the file? All the blank space? Or the square crop?

11.00 am - very bright sunlight. Doe was in the shade.
In ACR - Tint -16 Exposure - just over 1 stop Highlights -5 Shadows +55 Blacks -2 No clarity or Vibrance Hue slider - Yellows and greens -38 and -48 respectively.
In PSCS6 - One cloning mask for OOF tree on RHS . (Hence the crop) and cloned in extra BG for top edge that was very bright. No curves adjustments. NR over background. Smart sharpened roo for web positing.

Cnon 5D2
Sigma 150-600 Sport @ 600mm
1/800 sec @ f6.3
ISO 320
Hand Held

Self Critique - I think a bit soft because of the hand holding...or maybe because of the telephoto length @ 600mm? I wish I hadn't cut off her hands! This image more about the PP than the techs. I'll go back soon to try my luck.

C&C Always welcomed and appreciated!

[Jim Keener]

We had rabbits in Texas that big.

[Jim Keener]

I think your lower file size is due to the almost monochromatic palette. The less detail, the fewer the colors, the smaller the file. I think.

I like the way you modified your background and blurred it. How did you select against all that fur? You're right. The hands are a problem. Very engaging face. It seems that you two were relating. This is a far better image of a rabbit than I'll make this year.

[Jack Dean III]

I think it's lovely Glennie.

[Glennie Passier]

Thank you Jack. And thank you Jim. I think you could be right about the small colour palette. Some of our rabbits are that big also!

I ran NR over BG. I better come clean. I experimented with the "median" tool. Under Filter-noise-median. I picked a VERY small number and it seem to work. Then painted around the edges with a soft brush to bring the fur back a little. When I select - then modify - then contract or expand (depending on what I am try to do..only by about 3.

I'm sure there are better ways. Jim, I play a lot with PS. Sometimes I surprise myself. The "median" NR was just another experiment.

[Jim Keener]

I ran NR over BG. I better come clean. I experimented with the "median" tool. Under Filter-noise-median. I picked a VERY small number and it seem to work. Then painted around the edges with a soft brush to bring the fur back a little. When I select - then modify - then contract or expand (depending on what I am try to do..only by about 3.

I'm sure there are better ways. Jim, I play a lot with PS. Sometimes I surprise myself. The "median" NR was just another experiment.

You're far more patient than I.

[Diane Miller]

Cute!! And a good illustration for when to go with a vertical camera position. (Or course, I was born knowing that and didn't have to learn it the hard way.... ) Otherwise, looks great to me. Of course, a web JPEG doesn't show what you can see at 100%.

Processing looks great as far as I can see. That face would make a great portrait! Can you get that close to them?

My only real impression of these things is that we ate roo steaks about 100 years ago at some outback station (Tenant Creek??) and they were like old running shoes that had been boiled for about 12 hours.

I'd consider removing about half the empty space on the left -- otherwise great!! Good job removing the trees!

[Glennie Passier]

Thank you Diane. I will try and get back there soon and track them down. They are fairly used to people, because they live on the golf course. If I keep low and crawl on my belly, I should be able to get close enough. I am always a bit wary of the big bucks that are always present with the does. They can disembowel a human very easily with their toe nail!

Who ever cooked that roo steak obviously didn't know what they were doing. You need to boil for 12 hours, with a good size rock. At the end of the 12 hours, take out the roo steak and eat the rock! It will be tastier.

Have you tried the "median" blur for NR? Of course you have! Does it offer any thing else than the normal NR?

[keith mitchell]

Glennie it does look a little soft but nothing that a little more USM would not sort out, think if it was mine I would try cropping it as a portrait which would focus the viewer on that floppy ear, just my personal view of course,lovely capture.

Keith.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Glennie, would agree with Keith, also try 10x8 working up from the bottom RHC with the crop showing you RoT's, as you drag up, let the eyes rest on the top third, too much dead space to the left.

How good is your masking, by all means try Median, but it can look odd and long winded and so like anything, keep numbers low.

Steve

[Diane Miller]

I tried Median Blur a couple of times and wasn't impressed compared to Nik Dfine. It is sophisticated enough that I rarely need to mask the effect. There are other blur options too, which I haven't compared carefully. Maybe I'll have another look as it's raining today.

I like to push results in cases like that and inspect at 200% to really see any ugliness. It may never show in a web JPEG but I want my master files as clean as possible.

[Diane Miller]

Good crop suggestion by Steve. I'd go a little tighter which would put the eyes a little below the ROT line, though. I'd want plenty of room for that ear not to crowd the top. Lots of room for personal taste in portrait crops.

Please don't get disemboweled by one of these things! I hear that's a hazard with ostriches, too. I'd rather take my chances with Texas-sized rabbits.

[Diane Miller]

Just had another look at Median (under Filter > Noise). Found a worse-than-snapshot of a sparrow against a rock with some dark crevasses. A radius of 2 pixels in Median did about half the job on noise in dark areas that Dfine did. It also blurred feather detail badly, so major masking would be required. One pass of Dfine on its auto settings removed the BG noise (mostly in darks) much better (excellently, by my standards) and left fine feather detail virtually untouched.

[Glennie Passier]

Thank you all. And I do believe that a portrait crop like Diane has kindly done for me works well. (I didn't have to bother with all that bloody cloning!) In the cropped version it looks like cutting off the hands wasn't an accident. I'll try a little USM like Keith has mentioned.

Thanks again!