I must admit, lately I seem to spend more time viewing and writing comments than processing images. Due to work commitments I missed out on my "Kalahari time" this September, so nowadays I have to really "dig deep" to find images to process. Nevertheless, I feel I must share something from time to time so here is a Kalahari Gemsbok taken in 2015. I have not much experience with toned or B/W images so this is truly an experiment. Feel free to critique, I welcome your comments - be it of a technical nature or otherwise.
Nikon D4
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 500
F5.6
1/1000s
+2/3 EV
Cropped out about 30% of the original frame. I do not have any plug-ins so I did my best to play with colours to achieve a degree of toning. Let me know if this works for you:)
Sorry to hear you haven't been able to get out much, Gabriela but with an archive like that to mine, I'm still enjoying your posts a lot. This one is no exception. A beautifully framed portrait in great light. Excellent background and great separation of the Gemsbok from that. The only thing I'm hankering for is a little more detail and tone above the nose and eye to lift this to an even greater level... but lovely frame as it stands. The eye and catchlight make this. Thanks for sharing.
HI Gabriela -- i really liked this one, the subject is so regal and the conversion also works with that wheatish tones. Nice details and sharpness , would have liked the horns in its complete form but as presented it still works. A very fine image .
Hi Gabriela, I quite like the framing, but also wish to have had the choice with all the horn in. Blacks look good, but you can fractionally open the whites a bit more to boost that end of the scale I think. The toning is subtle and delicate, with some nice detail coming through.
Hi Gabriela - This works very well for me. You said you cropped 30%, did you have the complete horns? The toning works as does that nice bokeh. Good suggestions above.
You are so kind with your comments and suggestions, I appreciate every word
I have a few different versions of this particular frame. Some are toned to a lesser degree but none with complete horns (they are just too long). The whole idea about this portrait was to get closer to the face and see detail in the eyes, muzzle, etc. But just to please you all I will share at some stage some images of the species where the horns are included.
Steve, I am with you - I do have one you might like more in terms of the whites, kindly spare a moment and let me know if this works better.
Hey Gabriela always reminds me of 2014.... this kind of images .
Well done ...on all counts from my side .
Love the conversion , tonal range and the toning . Well might be not as good as masterclass ...from somebody else , but worth while to experiment .
No nits from my side to the OP .
I shall never forget those days we spent together in the KTP:) Glad you like this, not a masterpiece by all means and to me an experiment, still playing around with those kind of images. Been learning a lot from " somebody else " this month, just by looking at the images
No nits is good, LOL. I guess if there were some you would not be shy to tell me, Boetie
Have a beautiful day, thank you so much for viewing and comments,
I like this shoot:
composition is ok, for me, and no problem for horn.
this is a particular b/n with very soft tone ..but I like it becouse it is right for this kind of portrsit; I love it ...give me the right idea of the animal and remember me the Kalahari!
Well done!!
Kalahari Gemsbok Portrait
Reply With Quote
). The whole idea about this portrait was to get closer to the face and see detail in the eyes, muzzle, etc. But just to please you all I will share at some stage some images of the species where the horns are included. 
