Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Pokey

  1. #1
    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Golden, CO
    Posts
    2,658
    Threads
    230
    Thank You Posts

    Default Pokey

    Name:  20220503-Armadillo-Headshot-1-Brian-Sump-BSR59574-Edit-Edit-CROP - Copy-SHARPEN-DN-v8.jpg
Views: 72
Size:  573.8 KB

    During our trip to Santa Clara Ranch in S Padre, Texas, this pokey fella (Armadillo) came in to play at the watering hole. He actually quite startled us as he entered from our right at pretty close to min focal distance.

    He dug and splashed around for a bit, making for a fun shoot. See if you can see a tiny guest hitching a ride somewhere.... :-p

    R5
    600mm
    Tripod
    ISO 4000
    1/1600
    f5

    LR and PS, Topaz for noise. Cropped to vertical and cloned one small white spot in FG.

  2. #2
    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Cheshire UK
    Posts
    17,287
    Threads
    2,653
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Ant on his snout! I like the crop shape and composition, sharp and good details, I would be tempted to enhance the scale like skin using Clarity and possibly a fraction of Dehaze being careful not to make too dark.

  3. #3
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    11,209
    Threads
    1,261
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Heyho Amigo ... good to see you pointed your lens at something different !!!
    Welcome to the different side ....LOL .

    Very cool to see a different subject , nice and tight portrait . Well captured and processed .... including the " Alien Ant Farm " .
    Processing looks for sure basically good , perfect DOF and a ooooh so smooth BG .... a real Sump

    If this was mine I would give the subject more tonal depth and variations in the tones . But I would definitely choose different edits than the ones that Jon suggested .... more delicately within PS , blend modes and lumo masks will do a BETTER JOB , IMHO.
    But your call ... a wonderful image !!!

    TFS Andreas

  4. #4
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    7,831
    Threads
    461
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Wow, never seen this species here, how wonderful, thank you so much for sharing!
    Looks good to me, well composed and exposed, superb BG, love the pose. As well as the tiny ant

    IQ looks great and image is well processed, lovely detail - you should be so pleased with this frame!
    Do agree with Andreas on tonal depth, you could extract more from this if you want to. It is a real stunner IMO and I enjoyed viewing, tremendously. Once again thank you

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

  5. #5
    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Golden, CO
    Posts
    2,658
    Threads
    230
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Super thankful for all the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it overall. Gabriela, this was a first for me seeing them in person - they do not usually venture up as far north as Denver, Colorado area.

    Where would you all add the tonal depth? I think the scales on the face are actually pretty accurate.

    Did do a mids adjustment with lum masks at a pretty good amount early on in the processing flow. If you look at that darker scale on the shoulder, a little below the eye and the ones to the left of that, they are pretty rich and represent the actual tones in that range well IMO.

    Definitely open to further thoughts/perspectives on this one though :-)

  6. #6
    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Golden, CO
    Posts
    2,658
    Threads
    230
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Oh, and Andreas - I shoot my lens at all sorts of places but only birds seem to ever cross in front ;-p

  7. #7
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Dortmund / Germany
    Posts
    11,209
    Threads
    1,261
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Brian ... you seem to be ok with the presentation , you are the artist .
    Without wanting to push you into a direction that you might not see or like .... I just think the subject lacks " form / depth / dimension " , looks more " 2D " rather than " 3D " .
    I am not making a demo .... you know why .

    In the end it matters that you like the output !!!!

    Cheers Andreas

  8. #8
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    405
    Threads
    30
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Cheepers what an interesting creature......The nose, tongue ,claw and 'shoulder?' all in close proximity make for fascinating viewing imho. The IQ is out of this world. So incredibly well presented imho

  9. #9
    Avian Moderator Brian Sump's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Golden, CO
    Posts
    2,658
    Threads
    230
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann View Post
    Hi Brian ... you seem to be ok with the presentation , you are the artist .
    Without wanting to push you into a direction that you might not see or like .... I just think the subject lacks " form / depth / dimension " , looks more " 2D " rather than " 3D " .
    I am not making a demo .... you know why .

    In the end it matters that you like the output !!!!

    Cheers Andreas
    Always value your feedback Andreas. I am newer to general wildlife photography vs avian; welcome all the feedback I can get. Your point definitely makes sense, TY.

    Quote Originally Posted by Basil Dardagan View Post
    Cheepers what an interesting creature......The nose, tongue ,claw and 'shoulder?' all in close proximity make for fascinating viewing imho. The IQ is out of this world. So incredibly well presented imho
    Basil, these words are meaningful. Thank you very much!

  10. #10
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    7,831
    Threads
    461
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Sump View Post
    Super thankful for all the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it overall. Gabriela, this was a first for me seeing them in person - they do not usually venture up as far north as Denver, Colorado area.

    Where would you all add the tonal depth? I think the scales on the face are actually pretty accurate.

    Did do a mids adjustment with lum masks at a pretty good amount early on in the processing flow. If you look at that darker scale on the shoulder, a little below the eye and the ones to the left of that, they are pretty rich and represent the actual tones in that range well IMO.

    Definitely open to further thoughts/perspectives on this one though :-)
    Dear Brian,

    Thank you kindly for reply. Apologies for taking so long to get back to you, stuck at work this evening doing all sorts of backups because of load shedding (in SA we have power/electricity cuts for many hours every day...).

    Must admit I have never seen this species in real life, so maybe it is unfair to ask you to add more emphasis to the subject. Just felt you could add some depth to those scales so that the Armadillo stands out more, you have the skills and know how to do it if you think it's appropriate. Blend modes, lumo masks, curve adjustments, whatever works for you.

    Love this frame and so happy to see you post here, hope to see more from you. Will join you soon, been away for a few weeks and brought back a few images - hope to find the time to process and share them! And maybe find one or two for the avian forum

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

  11. #11
    BPN Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Lakeland, FL
    Posts
    7,533
    Threads
    2,043
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Brian, neat little critter, they are in Florida digging up our flower gardens looking for grubs. Point of interest, they have been known to carry Leprosy. You work differently than me developing images but I would mask the subject in Lightroom/ACR and lower the highlights and darken the shadows a tiny bit. Nice, interesting image, thank you for sharing.
    Joe Przybyla

    "Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams

    www.amazinglight.smugmug.com

  12. #12
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Somewhere in the world
    Posts
    20,688
    Threads
    1,296
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I would add a Curves Midtone to give it that bit more bite/oomph Brain.

    I am not making a demo .... you know why
    Why not make a demo Andreas, it clarifies/bolsters feedback?

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

  13. #13
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    San Mateo, CA
    Posts
    3,643
    Threads
    398
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    I dunno, this looks pretty frickin' sweet as presented. Could you tweak a few things to exaggerate some of the tones/vurves that other have mentioned? Sure, but it's far, far from necessary. I love these little guys so it's a joy to see this guy so well!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics