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Black-backed Jackal
Another shot from Etosha National Park in Namibia. This was a great place for wildlife and this particular day was very productive for photos. Taken in the late afternoon light as we were just about to head back to camp. I like the air of confidence and purpose about this animal as well as its beautiful condition. I have taken a bit off the right of the frame otherwise a full frame. The jackal has been slightly lightened using reduce shadows. Two stems of grass darkened to make them less obvious. I thought about cloning out some of the grass along the lower edge but am more comfortable about keeping it.
Technical: Canon 80D with 100-400 MkII at 400mm handheld. Manual exposure 1/1250, f7.1, ISO 500. Processed in Canon DPP 4 (digital lens optimiser @ 50, Sharpness = 3, crop, lighting adjustments, default NR) then exported 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop Elements with Neat Image NR plugin. NR applied to background only. Sharpened (sharpness, not USM) after final size reduction.
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A fine shot Glenn, I like the light & details with the illuminated eye. The grass dont bother me. Nice clean BG. I might just lighten the mid tones a bit. TFS.
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Wildlife Moderator
Hi Glenn, doesn't get much better, lovely portrait of an over looked species. 
Nice alert pose, bathed in some awesome light. Techs look good and the bokeh backdrop separates the subject perfectly.
TFS
Steve
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Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator
Very well captured Glenn, lovely framing. One of my favourite species, BTW. I like the pose here, the intent on the subject's face, lots of "purpose and confidence" indeed.
The light is truly golden, great BG, grasses in the FG help create a 3D effect. I gather you were quite close so maybe F8 a better option, but good thinking on techs and a well exposed frame. Nice colours and tonality, blacks seem a tad dark in the corner of the eye but the nose has enough detail IMO. I really like this, been absent for a while and probably have missed some of your recent posts - my congratulations on this one, I really enjoyed viewing
Kind regards,
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BPN Member
Hey Glenn just works so well .
Lovely color and tone , nice backdrop with just a bit of variation in the tones .
I think your best so far from the PP POV ...
Personally i think the sharpening could be reduced slightly ....as the coat does look a bit spiky in parts ?!
How do you apply sharpness ??? after final size reduction ?
TFS Andreas
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Thank you Sanjeev, Steve, Gabriela and Andreas for your encouraging words and thoughts. I was excited as soon as I saw this opportunity and framed it up in my camera. Luckily, I didn't bungle the techs here - but yes, f8 or more would have been safer. We saw a lot of jackals especially in Etosha and I came to like them a lot too, Gabriela. Our guide told us they are highly respected animals in the pecking order of predators. I came to appreciate why. As for lighting adjustments, this is an area where I still have a bit to learn. I simply find it so subjective which is one reason I struggle. Having said that, I'm not uncomfortable about a few clipped blacks or whites if they are in places where I think they look natural.
Originally Posted by
Andreas Liedmann
Personally i think the sharpening could be reduced slightly ....as the coat does look a bit spiky in parts ?!
How do you apply sharpness ??? after final size reduction ?
TFS Andreas
The original is super-sharp and the fur very contrasty on this animal. That might be why it looks oversharpened. If anything, I'm usually guilty of insufficient sharpening and this shot is one where I was certainly careful. BTW, I rarely use USM - almost alway use the 'Sharpness' function which is much more subtle and doesn't introduce the artefacts that USM can if not properly used. For this shot, I did my standard workflow as summarised in the OP with digital lens optimiser applied and only enough sharpening in DPP to preserve detail without significantly enhancing it. I can't remember the exact sharpness settings for the final output sharpening after final size reduction but was conscious that this shot could look oversharpened if I wasn't careful so took that into account at the time.
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Great light here with nice detail on the jackal pretty nice frame you have here.
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Lifetime Member
Hi Glenn - I echo that this is one of your best posted so far. Beautiful light, nice comp and detail. The grass doesn't bother me at all.
Well done.
TFS,
Rachel
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BPN Member
Hi Glenn i know this species quite well ....
I know what DPP is doing in terms of the three sharpening methods and even the " sharpness" function creates artifacts , just check smooth areas and see the difference . Before and after .
Still do not understand how you apply final " sharpness " after resizing for web ?
Do you reopen the JPG in DPP and apply again " sharpness" ?
Would really like to know .
Cheers Andreas
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Originally Posted by
Andreas Liedmann
Hi Glenn i know this species quite well
....
Still do not understand how you apply final " sharpness " after resizing for web ?
Do you reopen the JPG in DPP and apply again " sharpness" ?
Would really like to know .
Cheers Andreas
Here are the steps, Andreas:
1. Process RAW file in DPP. This means applying DLO, NR at default levels and setting sharpness @ 3. Lighting and WB balance also done before exporting as 16 bit TIFF file.
2. Open file in Photoshop Elements. Make selections for selective application of NR (Neat Image) and selective lighting adjustments.
3. Resize image to BPN size (or whatever other requirement). Apply 'Sharpness' (not USM) in PSE to recover details from downsizing (for a BPN size image, usually set to Radius = 0.4 or 0.5 pixels and Amount = 50%)
4. Convert to 8 bits and set profile to sRGB
5. Save for web with embedded ICC profile and size <400kB.
6. Upload. I never work on the final jpg after it is created. Always go back to the TIFF file if I need to rework.
Hope that clarifies.
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Andreas, thanks for the suggestion, but first your question: I use the remove Gaussian Blur algorithm for Sharpness which I believe is the only one suitable in this situation. I understand your idea on the two layers - neat approach that I'll keep in mind for the future. But it's probably simpler just to reduce the sharpening if I need to! Having said that, I'm not convinced that I have overdone it in this case after reviewing the original RAW file again. But I do appreciate your feedback and views. As this discussion may not be of much interest to others reading this thread, perhaps we could take any further discussion offline?
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Lifetime Member
A nice portrait here in stunning light. All little poi tees have already been covered, and I for one have learned a bit reading here, so for me it would be a shame to take the conversation off line - we're all here to learn and swap ideas.
Mike
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Originally Posted by
Mike Poole
I for one have learned a bit reading here, so for me it would be a shame to take the conversation off line - we're all here to learn and swap ideas.
Mike
No problems Mike. Being fairly new, I've yet to learn what's appropriate and getting the mix right with what might be best to take into the PM realm. I'll keep any discussion going here for now. So, Andreas, if you have more questions on this, happy to pick them up on this thread.
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Wildlife Moderator
I for one have learned a bit reading here, so for me it would be a shame to take the conversation off line - we're all here to learn and swap ideas.
I agree with Mike
I'll keep any discussion going here for now. So, Andreas, if you have more questions on this, happy to pick them up on this thread.
Glenn, why not start a new thread in Photography Digital Workflow, as you have done previously. Add a line in this current thread saying you have started a new thread and paste the new thread link in too as a directional link. In that way it doesn't take the thread 'off topic' and folk can still learn, exchange and discuss the various points, plus others too may also join in?
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