Title fight for the heavyweight crown

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Two African Buffalos spar in the great Mara arena. Tried the B&W route which I felt suited the scene. Hope I did a decent job of it. Any suggestions are welcome & appreciated.
7D II
100-400mm @ 182mm
1/800
f/5.6
ISO 1600

[haseeb badar]

Hi Sanjeev -- This what they do the best , nice sparring moment captured. The BW conversion looks nice as the Dark forms are well separated against the pale grass. Would have liked a bit more separation from the BKG but not a deal breaker. The body of rhs buff appears a bit smooth lacking those fine details. But all in all i liked this image as presented .

TFS !

[Steve Kaluski]

Sanjeev can you please post the colour version, also was this converted via PS or NIK, but agree with Haseeb initially?

If you do this again, change the Picture style in camera to B/W you will then see the tones far better when shooting, you'll hopefully then know if it's going to work.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Steve I will post the color version but since I am out for for the weekend I will post on Sunday evening.

[John Mack]

Pretty neat looking animals. Like the interaction between the buffalos.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Sanjeev,

Lovely Buffaloes in great condition and the sparring must have been quite an impressive sighting! Well captured, great timing too. I like the visible eyes and shiny boss (horns).

IMO B/W conversion would have worked better in the absence of the dark vegetation in the BG. I am also curious what the colour version would look like, if you have the time. Agree with Haseeb, the bodies of the subjects appear a bit too smooth - I gather you captured this in low light with not enough SS. Nevertheless a wonderful behavioural frame and I enjoyed viewing, thank you so much for sharing!

Enjoy your weekend Sanjeev,

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Sanjeev - I look forward to seeing the color too. I agree with the others about the conversion and also think you needed a bit more ss for the action.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thank you all for your comments. Here is the RP in colour. I had to reduce the blues & Magentas as it had a strong cast.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Steve this was converted in PS not NIK. I will follow your instruction & shoot by changing the picture style in camera.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, was this image above, before calibration and the additional info on WB I sent you?

This is just sorting the WB out Temp 6 Tint -14, Exp 0.35+then just addressing the overall colour balance but the BKG trees still carry some odd colouring??? The 'green' is personal taste and can go lighter or stronger, but you start to see far more detail within the capture from the OP in colour.

[Steve Kaluski]

Now from the above I just did a straight PS conversion and then added two Curves adjustments and a tad more sharpening.

[Steve Kaluski]

Steve this was converted in PS not NIK.

Good, because at some point NIK I am sure, will no longer be supported.

I will follow your instruction & shoot by changing the picture style in camera.

The Raw will still be in colour when you take the capture, but by changing the Picture Style you can gauge on the LCD, the tones and if it works in a conversion or not, as images shot in B/W I feel are different in the way you see a colour image, as often 'Contrasty' images work best because you have a good B/W range.