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Thread: Late afternoon impala

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    Default Late afternoon impala

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    I've posted this as a 'mood' shot. Not sure about this one though but I decided to post as I have virtually exhaused my Africa shots from last May (will have to go back one day). If you look, you will find various imperfections such as the second left animal intersecting with the background animals - bugs me anyway. I have done a little cloning on this one to remove and cut-off animal on the right and a minor tweak on the left edge. Some fairly minor lighting adjustments separately to in-focus animals and background including darkening the foreground and background trees a little more than in the original frame. Almost full frame with just a little off the left and bottom.

    As always, thanks for looking and for any comments you may have.

    Technical: Canon 80D with Lens EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM at 400mm handheld. Manual exposure 1/160, f8, ISO 800 - in hindsight I could have used more ISO and faster shutter. Processed in Canon DPP 4 (digital lens optimiser @ 50, Sharpness = 3, crop, lighting adjustments, reduced luminance NR) then exported 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop Elements. Modest NR using Neat Image plus sharpening in Neat Image to in-focus impala and stronger NR to background. Sharpened in-focus impala only (sharpness function: remove Gaussian blur) after final size reduction.

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    Hi Glenn, These group of animals shots can be difficult with varied poses and head angles. But you did fairly well and what helped was that sweet light. Agree with your self critique reg settings but well we all learn over time. Comp is nice but I wish more animals were facing us.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Glenn - These group shots and of impalas in particular can be difficult. I would consider this more of a record shot if I didn't have other impala images. It's not really working for me for several reasons. As you mentioned, the impala that I consider the main subject with its head up and the nice catchlight in its eye, the head is intersecting the animals in the bg. I also wish there were more animals with their heads up and looking toward camera. The animal with the most of that nice warm light hitting it is the one on the right which is a rearend shot with the head down. Finally, I'm not a fan of the shadow and 2 bushes in the fg but cropping them out and going pano makes it too tight at the bottom of the frame. In this case the beautiful warm light doesn't overcome the shortcomings of the subject matter for me. Sorry. Tech-wise, yes, I would have gone for more ss.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    I like the 'Golden light' Glenn, but the composition/content isn't grabbing me. With two Impala heads down, plus it doesn't appear sharp, it's not a winner for me sadly.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dear Glenn,

    Light is beautiful here. And there's a lovely glint in the eye of one particular impala, which is probably something that grabbed you. I guess you were bitten by the "Africa" bug... You will return

    BTW I came here on a holiday visa many years ago and fell in love with the place. Fought a long "battle" with the authorities who wanted me to go back. I eventually won, Africa has been my home for twenty seven years now

    I admit, this frame does not work too well for me either, for reasons you are aware of and which you described in your intro. Yet I cannot help but feel - or understand - what you saw in it. I see it too. You may call it a "spot of time", or a moment in Nature, if you like. Enjoyment. A memory, something pleasurable you experienced and had to take home...

    Thank you for sharing Glenn. I am sad to learn that you exhausted your Africa shots. But happy to view any image you choose from your folders, and I am sure your country has some amazing wildlife too

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Thank you all for your comments. As noted when I posted this, I was in two minds about it. Sometimes it's worth posting a shot to confirm my own view and that is what we have here. So I do appreciate your frankness. As noted by some of you, I was taken a bit by the lighting and mood but agree it is not enough to lift this much above 'record' status. In that regard, Rachel, I actually liked the framing created by the darker bands in the lower and upper parts of the composition - a bit like a horizontal vignette - and was one of the reasons I decided to work it up.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriela Plesea View Post
    I am sad to learn that you exhausted your Africa shots. But happy to view any image you choose from your folders, and I am sure your country has some amazing wildlife too

    Warmest regards,
    Thanks for the story about how you came to be in Africa, Gabriela. I will pull out a few more Africa shots including some different frames from sequences I have already posted. But I've essentially been through most of the ones that I wanted to post. Wildlife shots, at least of higher order animals like mammals, are a lot harder to come by in Australia, aside from various kangaroo and some wallaby species that is. Many are small and nocturnal. So I'm not sure you will be seeing much of 'down under' from me on wildlife. We have plenty of great birds though and I hope to keep posting to Avian for a while. So head over there from time to time for a peek.
    Last edited by Glenn Pure; 03-26-2018 at 06:09 PM.

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