Browsing Kudu Cow
Straight question, Does this work or not. I deliberately captured this knowing that I would be posting this with a subject in a busy BG. I could have spent hours cloning out habitat, but this is how it was. I did play with the exposure in this, to show more detail from the shadows. Dont be shy to pass your opinion, I need to know how other photographers see this as an image.
Canon 50D
100-400 L IS USM @ 400mm
1/320
F/6.3
ISO 400
Exp Comp +0.67
Hand Held from the car.
Stuart,
The biggest issue is the mixed light. For me it can work if the subject does not have to compete with a bright BG or BG with uneven light and dark portions. Here the bright BG above and right of the head does draw the eye as does the dark tree.
The branch near the mouth is a distraction to me but not the one near the neck. Reason: I am first drawn to the eye and spy the branch near the mouth as I examine the face, so that distracts me more the the neck as I look that way only after looking at the eye and face.
I think you handled a difficult exposure well. Overuse of Shadow/Highlight corrections will make the light look phony - not the case here. You could tone down the highlights more using a selection converted into a layer with a Multiply blending mode (see here for Blending Modes http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=20434 and here and for some highlight selection methods http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...d.php?p=161168).
Would also recommend selecting the eye and using a curves adjustment to lighten it some to draw the viewers attention to it more. Sharpening the eye selection too can also help.
Thank you so much Robert. I fully understand your comment, and it all makes sense. The dark OOF tree in the BG did bug me too, but I left it, as per my original statement. I now have something to work with, with regards to composing another image, while viewing in camera. I have captured others, and will review them before processing. Cheers, Stuart.
I can't really give advice better than Robert has given and I actually also need to know how to handle shots like this. Kudu's rarely give you a long chance of shooting them in the open so we take what we get, right? ;)
Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus
Good point Morkel. If I had limited opps to get and image of a hard to get species, I would do the same. Never walk away from the image.
Hi Stuart,
Dappled sunlight is ok on this one for me. Would prefer a lit up eyeball rather than one in shadow. The dark branch in the BG and ULC are a little distracting but otherwise I'm fine with what you have.
Thanks a lot for your constructive feedback guys. Much appreciated.
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