I thought I would take a break from posting bears to post an image to start us off on July's Theme of Multiple Species in an Image. Here's one from the waterhole in South Luangwa N.P. Cape Buffalo, Croc and hundreds of oxpeckers in this one.
Canon 7D2
100-400 @ 120mm
1/800
f8
ISO 400
HH from safari vehicle, cropped to pano, brought the sky back a bit in Nik, levels, curves, color adjustments, sharpened in PSCC.
Hello Rachel
I like it a lot!
Situation is ok and also detail
I no like too much the sky (no cloud...) and so you could reduce it.
Also, if you want the left side could be reduced (ok there are 2 buffalos caming but the action is in the centre and right side)
Nice!
Hi Rachel, I don't mind the two Buffs on the LHS I think they do add rather than a crop and I also like all the OxP on the Buffs, nice addition. As they were on the move, I would have gone straight to ISO800 for more SS. Depending on your angle (albeit you could have moved I guess without disturbing the herd), popping on a Polariser would have been a help.
For me, the IQ looks a bit off on this one, looks a bit 'grainy' wth no real clarity/sharpness for me on the Buffs????? The image also looks a bit 'thin' (perhaps due to the time of day?) with the water being very washed out. Not sure why you choose NIK, as you could, as you know, used ACR for both the sky and FG. Just check, but the shadow blacks are clipped in case you wish to revisit.
I quickly took it back into LR as it has the same Module as ACR (so you can make any changes to the RAW in ACR should you wish) and just made some adjustments to both FG & BKG, with a bit more punch to the vegetation.
Hi Steve - I struggled with the pp on these so thanks for the rp. Nothing really conveys the massiveness of the herd or the feeling of seeing them all move to the waterhole. I prefer a few I did conversions on because of some of the deep shadows. It was late morning, the light was harsh, the waterhole is about 50 meters wide if not a bit more with only a few places opposite that you could pull down to the water's level rather than be up on a bank.
I appreciate that Rachel and yes, often hard with large herds, but it's the FG/BKG I think is the main issue as I said (which I think you can address if you wish), plus the main Buffs don't look sharp, but that is just my take .
I for one have been very impressed with the IQ of this lens, not that I will get one, so I am surprised.
I've never seen anything like this in life ,I find i'm drawn to this image. I really like Steve's repost..... alot !! It's what he picked up on in an image of mine strengthening the foreground. It's really made your image sing. With such harsh light the shadows are so strong on the animals I think the foreground needed to darken to add balance.
Rachel I like the comp I like the way the buffolo seem to almost funnel to the waters edge and spread out,it seems, dare I say natural, that they would do this.
He he are the BIF's oxpeckers or did you sneak someone else in.
Rachel why the lower SS,. with the herd moving I thought you might be higher??
As above drawn to this,to me it does convey the herd moving to water !! That goal you achieved,not so much the massive size though,could you have gone much wider here would that have even been an option?
I like the way this images holds me Rachel,from the calf with it's head almost buried, to the oxpeckers and next thecroc just add so much to this one
Thanks Stu. As far as I know the BIF are more oxpeckers. No reason to go wider, there just would have been empty sides then with not much interest. Also, they were lumbering to the hole so 1/800 at 120 mm with that lens is plenty of ss.
When I opened this thumbnail I thought for a moment this image was taken in the Kruger Park, so familiar the scene looked to me. The light was harsh indeed but such is the time when buffalo herds come to drink and wallow and I think you did your best under the circumstances
A well exposed image and I am happy with the framing, the inclusion of the two characters on the LHS helps balance the image. The environment seems quite dry and vegetation in the BG is covered with dust, oxpeckers in great numbers. It all comes together so nicely for me, this is a typical representation of an African scene. Any photographer who has experienced such lighting conditions in this type of environment would have a dilemma as to how to process such images, whether to play or not with the truthfulness of the colours, shadows or tones. I certainly like Steve's RP - the colour of the sky looks better and there's a tad more "punch" on the subjects. As you know, I see photography as a form of art and therefore I believe one does not always have to reproduce exactly what one had before one's eyes. Not talking about cloning or major changes, I just feel that at times one could use colour arbitrarily in order to express oneself more forcibly, the purpose is to bring subject/s to the fore while still keeping things real.
Lovely Theme image and I truly enjoyed viewing. I did not go into technical details as they have been covered already by Steve and you know I love to dwell on the arty side of things:)
Waterhole
Rachel Hollander thanked for this post
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