Rwanda Mountain Gorilla

[Katie Rupp]

With some help from the porters, I made the trek to visit the Mountain Gorillas at the Volcanoes National Park in Runhengeri, Rwanda. This young Blackback charged us just as I was taking this image and we quickly fled down the mountainside. Our guide said that if the Silverback had been there, instead of up the slope a bit, the young male would not have tried asserting himself. This is full frame...lots of adrenaline for sure!

C&C encourage and greatly appreciated.

Canon 7D; f7.1, 1/1000; Manual exp. ISO (auto) 3200; 24-105 at 96mm

[Andrew Aveley]

a really intense moment..........super sharp ;) I would love to hear from the senior members here if there is any way to bring out more detail in the darker areas around the face? A truly amazing experience to see these endangered animals.

[Valerio Tarone]

As up, an amazing adventure. i think you pointed well in expressing the atmosphere of a huge animal. Some debris on the head only increase the reality of the situation.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Katie,

Greetings. Wow, that's quite a shot & at 96mm! If it were me, I would (as an aside) crop to the eyes and pp for my reflection. It looks like you might be in both eyes. :cool:

I should add that the eye contact is great, mesmerizing. Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Bhushan Dalvi]

Katie,looks like it was a great intense moment and you captured it very well. Love the drama and the look in those eyes.

[Harshad Barve]

this is excellent image as posted but if mine I would try vertical tight crop, VWD here
TFS

[Raymond Barlow]

Extrodinary image!! congrats, and I hope everyone is ok! the missing hands would have been nice to see, but, no complaints!

[Steve Kaluski]

Colour looks good and it does convey an 'intense' moment. Would like to see a bit more detail around the darker areas of the eyes, but guess that's being picky :) A wider POV incorporating the hands would have perhaps give more drama from an awesome character.

TFS
Steve

[Ken Watkins]

Details are fine to me as Gorillas do have dark fur. I would have preferred the top of the head to be there, but given that it is missing the crop suggestions may well add a lot more impact.

You might try some slight NR on the face and more on the BG.

[Steve Kaluski]

ou might try some slight NR on the face

IF you do you will lose detail within that area as it flattens and smoothes out the selected area. Depends on what you want to do/achieve within the image, but NR is not advisable in detail areas.

[Rachel Hollander]

Katie - well captured in an intense moment. I too would prefer the top of the head and the hands but in the heat of the moment it is not always easy to compose the image the way we want. I might crop tighter as an alternative.

TFS,
Rachel

[Katie Rupp]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions...I got four frames before the guide grabbed my hand and pulled me away. This is the second and has the most intense, direct look. I too wish the hands had been included as he was actually thumping his chest but it all happened so fast!! I will try some of your crop suggestions. Thanks again, it was an experience I will never forget!

[Ken Watkins]

IF you do you will lose detail within that area as it flattens and smoothes out the selected area. Depends on what you want to do/achieve within the image, but NR is not advisable in detail areas.

Not in my experience, I suppose it depends on how you do it.

[Morkel Erasmus]

this is really intense Katie! nicely exposed overall (I do see Steve's point), can imagine light being tough in these rainforests...if you'd included the hands it would have been next-level! :)

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Katie,

Greetings. I sent my sister-in-law a link to your post & she took a look at the image. She's been a researcher with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund for over 15 years. She writes:

Hi Michael,
I just registered to see the photo, and indeed the photographer got the moment the blackback was doing a chest beat display. Nice photo! It is VERY hard to get facial shots with some light to bring out the features of a black face. Each gorilla has a distinct 'noseprint', which is a bit hard to see on this photo. This blackback was mostly bluffing I suspect, and trying out his 'stuff'. That's the job of young males (in our species too).

Thanks for the link. I wonder if the photographer would like to post some of her shots on Primate Field School website (starts this summer).
http://studyabroad.arizona.edu/datab...m.aspx?id=1805
or www.wild-minds.org

BTW, her name is Netzin Steklis (her bio is on the wild minds link in the quote). Sounds like from a gorilla expert's view more detail in the nose is desired... looks to me like you have some detail there that could be brought out with a selective contrast curve.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Andrew Merwin]

I like the OP. The darkness around the eyes draws the viewers' to the gorilla's eyes. Also the lightness of the nose leads the viewer's eyes to the gorilla's eyes. For me, this image is about the eyes & the intense look that I find captivating. If it were my image, I would leave it as is.