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Thread: Not the squabble I was waiting for...

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Default Not the squabble I was waiting for...

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    Hello Friends,

    Here is my favourite lioness trying to prevent her sister from touching her warthog kill Bear in mind, she has five hungry cubs waiting to eat as well.

    Original format was landscape - I expected the two lionesses to interact and put up quite a show. But my girl decided to grab the warthog and jump forward instead, oh well...

    Consequently a large crop during PP (about 50%) to remove some dead space and also one cub ( only partially included in the frame) who suddenly entered the scene.

    Notice the sister behind the kill as she waits for things to calm down. Eventually she was allowed to eat as well but the situation remained tense for a while, must say one hour later everyone was happy to share

    Nikon D850
    Nikon 200-400mm F4 @ 240mm
    ISO 1000
    F8
    1/2000s

    Not entirely happy with composition here but had no choice. I also think the massive crop affected the IQ to some extent. Well, you be the judge...

    And yes there are other issues with this image, like the tall grasses in the FG, and BG not ideal. Not quite the 'clean' image I would like to have but such is nature. Of course I like the pose and expression very much as well as eye contact and that swishy tail - she's gorgeous, isn't she?

    Feel free to comment and RP or make suggestions, I always appreciate your input.

    Have a great rest of the week,

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

  2. #2
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, love the intense stare and front paw on the warthog 'it's mine'!!!!

    Cropping isn't too much of an issue as you have the 850, but I can't help feel that folk crop now, rather than frame in camera, but there always times that you have no option. I feel the narrative here is key to explain wha's happening and why you have a hint of lioness under the rear legs. Having the LH front leg trailing is not ideal if it was a bit more exposed it would be better, but that's in an ideal world and other elements may not have been as good.

    The bright grass stem on the leg draws my eye and you can address that within PS, I might also loose the small dark area top left, again just for continuity.

    Techs and I appreciate you were not expecting this, I for sure wouldn't, but I may have had the SS a tad faster, taking the ISO to 1600 or 2000 just to nail the fast action or if the two females kicked off. I like the overall colour and you have created some nice depth & tone.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you very much Steve,

    This time I did not quite anticipate what was going to happen... the lioness grabbed the warthog in her mouth, trying to drag it away as she jumped. There is another frame from this scene with the warthog a bit more off the ground

    For me cropping is a bit of an issue because I feel the subject is 'boxed' somehow, needed more space especially at the top. I did remove the grass stems as you suggested and it looks better. And next time I will make sure I have even more SS.

    Here's another version, I played around a bit before removing the grass, this is slightly different in colour/tone and I also reduced contrast further in LR.

    Have a beautiful day!

    Kind regards
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Easy to say with hindsight re SS Gabriela and we all sometimes get caught out, however no harm in having a bit more providing ISO does go too mad.

    I think just those two tweaks have helped, can't really comment on Tone/Contrast at present, don't mind the framing.

    Enjoy your day too.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    I am careful with ISO on the D850, it's not quite like on the D5 or D4 Wondering what the D6 will be like...

    And yes the tweaks have helped - thank you!

    OP is 'cooler' and maybe closer to what it was like at 7 am. But I prefer the way the lioness looks in the RP in terms of colour, although the grass might need a tweak or two.
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    My initial reaction was the first post looked a little cold,I prefer the repost. I know what you mean regarding the grass it can be real pain to get the hue correct at times!

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan Ashton View Post
    My initial reaction was the first post looked a little cold,I prefer the repost. I know what you mean regarding the grass it can be real pain to get the hue correct at times!
    I completely agree with you, Jon. And yes, the grass definitely needs a tweak. Just didn't get to do it yet, been doing updates on LR and PSCC the whole day. Things are very slow at the moment, been told that Internet (usually not too fast but acceptable) is now affected by the load shedding. A bit painful, living in rural Africa right now...but this is where the wildlife is, so I'm not leaving
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela , this is a stunning action shot !!!
    Glad she moved towards you and gave you that gorgeous look into the lens , makes the image for me !!
    Must have been quite nice to witness and something like this , makes me envious at times .... LOL .
    Not ideal you had to crop that hard and it is visible ... indeed . I thought with that kit and the pixels you can crop hard .... staying on the black side . Well well .....

    Regarding color and tone .... i do like the OP more and if you would warm things up selectively it would be perfect to me .
    RP is too warm for my taste , all does look the same .... IMHO , looking flat if you know what i mean . But as color is subjective ... i leave it to you

    Still a very special image that i enjoyed looking at ...

    TFS Andreas

  9. #9
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Andreas, and glad you liked the scene!

    Yes it was awesome to be there, just glad she did not jump into the vehicle with the warthog We did not actually stop the vehicle near them, they were dragging the kill about and ended up fairly close to us.

    Not much I can do about the crop unfortunately, too many pixels gone. Even the D850 has its limits. But I can work on colour and tone and improve this, I quite like the lioness in the RP but I think the environs look more natural in the OP.

    And yes I remain on the 'dark side' for now...albeit very disappointed with the arrival of the D6, seems it has nothing new or exciting to offer

    Chat soon Boetie, thank you so much for feedback,

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Hi Gabriela -- Loved the pose and intense stare, this is a special sight indeed. I can understand why you went landscape but this crop works and IQ isn't an issue at this size at least. I definitely prefer the colours in the RP because of the warmth but still a matter of taste.

    This makes for an lovely image for the pose and the look on offer, intense frame .

    nice one, Tfs !

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    HI Gabriela this is a super shot, great intensity, action and that stare with tail up really is next level! I like the RP better.

  12. #12
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Many thanks to you both, Haseeb and Sanjeev
    Gabriela Plesea

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    The pose is right on here. Love the eye contact. Nice to have a good view of the warthog as well. The repost looks great.

  14. #14
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you very much John, appreciate your time to view and feedback
    Gabriela Plesea

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