Hello everyone ! Thank you for all your comments and suggestions on my previous post , as always much appreciated .
Here is my contribution to this months theme, a black and white image of a Tigress (Rajbehra Female), very dear to me. I am some how blessed to see this tigress in the wild whenever i have visited Bandhavgarh and had some special sightings with this beauty. We sighted her on an early morning drive when she was moving quite a bit awkwardly for her speed, almost limping. We didn't found out the reason and saw her again in the evening drive walking perfectly alright. Our guide told us that sometimes sitting for long hours in the same position and immediately walking after that leads to the limping movement.
It is a very early morning shot , the light was quite low so decided to go for the conversion. I had left the noise as a matter of personal taste . Sharpness i feel could have been better and I would have liked some more space at the top and especially at the foot which could have been achieved by going vertical but it happens when there is a Tiger in front of you !
DPP 4.5 , CS6, curves, levels, sharpening .
Canon 5D MK III, Canon 500mm f4 IS II , Bean Bag.
1/2000 sec; f/4.0; ISO 5000
All your C&C's are most welcome and highly appreciated.
Haseeb, I'm impressed by your collection of tiger photos. Hopefully I'll get to see one in the wild one day myself. I'm sure it will be a remarkable experience. The direct stare is excellent in this shot and great that you've caught a moment where there are no obstructions of the tiger's head or much of the upper body. I note your comment about more at the top of the frame, which I agree with but I'm happy with the bottom of the frame where it is. I think you could lose some of the left of the frame as I don't think the detail there helps. The neutral tone of this looks fine (is it a straight B&W conversion?). I like the tonal range on the body but not so sure about the head which looks a little too contrasty to me and feel slightly less contrast would work better for me. Still a great frame and thanks for sharing.
Hi Haseeb - Great eye contact from this beautiful tiger. I agree with your self-critique, particularly about the space above and below. With body slightly angled I probably would have gone for a little more dof too. Glad to see you experimenting with the conversion. A lot of the choices with the a conversion and toning come down to personal taste.
I shall start by telling you what I like most in the frame, this being the negative space you allowed on the LHS: it works so well for me:)
A busy environment indeed but the tiger stands out nicely. I guess Glenn is right in saying the face of the subject is a tad too contrasty. This may appear so when compared with the rest of the body.
I must say I like your image and find it quite thought provoking. Those leaves scattered on the ground add a certain feel - or mood - to the image, the word that comes to mind is "charming".
Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope you have many more photographic opportunities in the future with this special Tigress. Regarding limping, I guess she might be an oldish lady and perhaps a bit of arthritis here and there, glad she was ok in the evening when you saw her again.
Thank you everyone , your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated. I guess, I should have tried to work on the face and then rest of the body but as matter of personal taste i would prefer the contrast in this case. Will try more of my hand on this moths theme , in the process will get to learn a lot reg, the BW conversions.
Hi Haseeb, certainly more space as you mentioned would have been good, backing the vehicle up if possible would have helped, you just too close here. I don't think the noise in the image is beneficial and would apply some NR. I also feel the image is just a bit too 'contrasty' especially the blacks in parts, check the Histogram as some parts are clipped Haseeb. Adding some NR, backing off on the contrast and then tweaking the sliders in the Exposure module I think will help balance the image better.
Love the eye contact here.
TFS
Steve
PS what's happened to the 1DX MKII, you would have nailed the image far better and IQ would have rocked!!!
Thank you Steve , while processing the image i went for something near about your RP albeit NR , but i felt that it is looking thin so went for a contrasty look, but certainly your RP looks way better . This image is taken while i was yet to buy the 1DXmkII, hence the 5DMK III.
but i felt that it is looking thin so went for a contrasty look
Contrasty won't give you the depth, but pushes the Blacks & Whites. If you get it looking right in the RAW, then using PS can help you build on that. I think you need also to be a bit more selective when you leave noise in, it can give the image 'Grittiness' like pushing the Clarity, but it's all about being selective Haseeb. Get the B/W looking good and well balanced is key, giving it a colour is simply just giving it a tickle with a brush because you have a good platform in the first place. Any further enhancement is purely 'cosmetic' as you can then take it in any direction you choose, but it has to enhance the capture further rather than applying an 'action/recepie' that is current, in vogue etc, Split toning, Duotone, Bleach bypass, HDR, Desaturate... however it's fun experimenting.
Got your points sir , hoping to build upon gradually , as you said it is fun experimenting . Thank you for all the suggestions, very very helpful indeed.
Black and White Stripes !
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however it's fun experimenting.
