Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)
Trawling through some old files, I have posted similar but I don't think this particular one previously. Image capture in Yellowstone 2016. Not ideal framing but previous and post this particular frame were rather close at the base.
Canon 1DX Canon 100-400L LIS II
ISO 500, EV +0.3 1/1250 sec f8
Hi Jon, I remember the image (or close frame), but what it was like compared to now, who knows, but worth exploring old file and the Canon kit delivered along with the trusty 100-400.
For me there are three main elements:
1. Like BIF this subject has passed the camera and so it's added of the viewer
2. Colour (again personal pref) look a bit off, whites look grubby with a slight cast. Rectified in Raw, but not in DXO, only at the Tiff
3. Its all a bit tight in the frame, nothing for the Pronghorn to jump into.
Overall it appears a bit middle ground, I might suggest more tonal range ins the HL's & 3/4 so it has depth. In doing so the subject has more form, not via sharpening, but in tonal range. I think it needs a littlele more USM, but again this is perceptual, this is why I like to have control compared to DXO & sharpening scripts.
Again Jon, Im guessing and making assumptions, but some are based on numbers, other elements on what I see and interpret, let's see what others think.
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Steve, composition I appreciated was less than ideal, it was the processing I was concerned about. Yours looks considerably better, I have revisited the file and finely adjusted the Presence sliders and strangely enough produced something similar to your version. I also did a version selecting the Highlights you indicated but had no luck - but I think I would have had some had I remembered to do some blending!! I suspect that would have done the trick.
I think the light and it's angle produced what appears to be a sharpening effect. There was no sharpening to the image at raw stage none in DxO, none in ACR, when I produce the final jpeg there was next to none applied. Thanks for the feedback, it helped.
Last edited by Jonathan Ashton; 11-11-2022 at 01:55 AM.
No worries Jon, but remember ALL digital files require sharpening, you cannot just not apply anything based on the original capture.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Hi Jon ... i quite like the " running action " , but the action has passed the viewer .... so it is not quite ideal imho.
Regarding color and tone i would just echo Steve´s thoughts , his RP is a way how to present the color and tones .
The finer details look a bit gritty to me , that is puzzling me when you not applied ANY sharpening at all ???!!! .... at least next to none for output .
Wondering what the " presence slider " is doing to the file , sounds like a sharpening thing .
TFS Andreas
What a beautiful creature that I agree is better presented in Steves repost. Obviously the comp/framing could be better however its not a posing tame animal.........
Good evening Jon,
Beautiful creature indeed and an interesting looking pair of horns too. I do remember having seen a similar image from you some time ago. Frame a bit tight, would have liked a bit more on the RHS. I thought colours looked good but when I looked at Steve's RP I liked his even more, there's extra depth and definition to the subject.
I do not quite understand the sharpening issue, am I to understand there was no sharpening at all? And just curious, you mentioned DxO and ACR, do you use both for PP and then also Photoshop, sounds like a lot of work to meHave you got more images of this lovely antelope, would love to see some with more environment around.
Thought of you recently when visiting Kruger Park. Was there only for a few days and had one interesting sighting, three male lions on a baby elephant carcass. Not sure it was a kill or the ele died of natural causes. Conditions poor, hot and humid and overcast, a bit of rain. Lots of tiny bushes and sticks in the way so nothing spectacular in terms of photography. Spent nine hours waiting for some action and eventually a big elephant arrived and gave chase to the lions after looking at and taking in the scent of the ele. Very interesting to observe, sadly not one image worth sharing.
Warmest regards,
Gabriela Plesea
Basil thanks glad you liked it, I felt is was eye catching but for aesthetic reasons not the best, but as I stated thought worth a look at. I have a series of images but the better positioned ones are too tight in the frame.
Gabriela DxO Pure Raw could not be more simple - don't confuse it with the raw converter programme, this is just a denoise filter and optical optimiser. Steve and Andreas don't like software they are not in charge of, I understand and that's fine, each to their own as it were. My view is that for most of the time DxO Rure raw will deliver, that is what it is designed to do for each individual camera for each individual lens it is optimised, it is not like Topaz which is a generic filter which can be modified and used in layers in PSCC.
On the rare occasions it does not deliver I have other options but for Olympus OM-1 files I think it is great and I used it on this Canon file just for curiosity, it wasn't "necessary" as it were.
When using DxO Pure raw you have limited options for good reason i.e. turn on or off sharpening and optical corrections. Output is to DNG format which I open in ACR. I feel the sharpening is not required on OM-1 files, they are usually sharp enough. The optical corrections, well this is where I have complete faith in a multinational company who is regarded as one of the very best software engineering companies - they will do it better than I could, simple as that. The output DNG profile is not the same as would be produced as the one when opening the initial raw file in ACR/LR but that is not an worrisome issue for me. I use DxO as a file optimiser, it produces a clean file and an acceptable profile which I open in ACR I then apply a preset to give me a starting point with less contrast and colour and that works for me. If I had stayed with full frame gear I would not have ventured in this direction at all.
A wonderful example of this species in fine light Jonathan, Steve's RP would be my preference, although the tight framing and pose aren't ideal.
TFS
Not much to add beyond what others have said. Steve's report does look better, so I'm happy to hear you were able to generate something similar afterwards!
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