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Thread: Madikwe Plains Sunrise

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Madikwe Plains Sunrise

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    Hey everyone...this will be my last post for a while as we are off in 30hrs for a 2-week foray into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park...needless to say I am giddy as a schoolboy about this one...

    This animalscape was shot on our short trip 2 weeks ago in the Madikwe Game Reserve. To read the interesting tale of how we almost became his breakfast, check out my blog post about the incident HERE! (Gotta try and drive SOME traffic there! ;))

    Cropped to exclude the road in front. I held my hand down the side of the Landy for a lower angle and used Live View to focus and compose.

    Thanks to everyone who makes the BPN Wildlife Gallery such an amazing community. Keep posting some gems in my absence!

    Techs:
    Canon 7D with 10-22mm USM @ 22mm
    f4.5 @ ISO-400
    Kenko PRO Circular Polariser

    This is a blend of 2 exposures - one for the sky and mountain and one for the lion and plains.

    Even 1024px doesn't do this scene justice...
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 05-30-2010 at 08:31 AM.
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    Cant wait till feb 2011 when I will be in African continent :)
    I liked this image very much as posted , Mighty fine
    TFS

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    A moment to remember, Morkel, and the photo is a great memento. I love the closeup face of that old warrior in your blog.

    I still have to get used to this extreme HDR compositions, at first sight the lion almost looks "pasted" there, but that's totally subjective. Stunning in any case.

    Enjoy Kgalagadi, one of my most wished-for destinations.

  4. #4
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    thanks Harshad & Ignacio...

    @Ignacio - don't understand why it would look pasted, as the section I blended in from the darker exposure is only the sky and mountains, the lion is as shot in the zero-exposure shot...the light from the horizon was just beaming on him directly before it reached the plains which were slighly lower (he was lying on the edge of the road)
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  5. #5
    Alfred Forns
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    Hi Morkel Looks good would just tone down the lion a bit !! Blending images is a good option ... basically not that much different than using an split ND filter !!

    Have a great trip and stay safe !! Looking forward to your images !!!

  6. #6
    Ken Watkins
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    Morkel,

    I agree about the "pasted" look, I think this does not look entirely natural to me, although the PP has more than likely made it more interesting.

    What is the dark shadow at the bottom of the Lions leg?

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    BPN Viewer thijs broekkamp's Avatar
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    Amazing shot! I really like this one!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    @Ignacio - don't understand why it would look pasted, as the section I blended in from the darker exposure is only the sky and mountains, the lion is as shot in the zero-exposure shot...the light from the horizon was just beaming on him directly before it reached the plains which were slighly lower (he was lying on the edge of the road)
    Seems I misinterpreted the HDR. But as I said, a stunning mage.

  9. #9
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    thanks Ken, Thijs and Ignacio

    Ken I will have to respectfully disagree with you - don't have my harddrive with me now so will see if I can upload the out-of-camera shot for you. The light was gorgeously golden that morning and the colours all round were just so rich and stunning. The shadow on the lion is from the grass on the other side - the sun was literally just gleening over the horizon here.

    Ignacio - no problem. This one was manually blended in photoshop by masking out the brightest highlights to reveal the darker exposure underneath. In this case it was only the furthest part of the plains, the mountains and the sky.
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Morkel - Hope you're having a successful time in the bush. I like this image a lot. I think the clouds really add to it as well. The story on the blog is just great.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  11. #11
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    thanks Rachel, appreciate it!
    Morkel Erasmus

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