Dear all
Cheetah Markings , Paradise plains , Masai Mara
D300 , 300/f4 at f6,3 , ISO 400 , HH
All C & C are most welcome
Harshad
Cheetah Marking Territory
Dear all
Cheetah Markings , Paradise plains , Masai Mara
D300 , 300/f4 at f6,3 , ISO 400 , HH
All C & C are most welcome
Harshad
Terrific behavioral image. IQ looks great. One little nit--because the cheetahs are looking to our left, the composition seems a bit unbalanced. I'm not sure, however, that cropping from the right will help in this case. Perhaps a square crop??? I always look froward to seeing your work. You are head and shoulders above the rest of us mere mortals.
Superb image Bhai.. loved the moment captured...
An image not normally shot or posted, so congrats on that one Harshad, as scent marking is an important role in their life.
Would agree that it's a little too central, easily resolved, but to me, the yellows & greens look rather saturated and the soil mound above the left cheetah draws my eye sadly. Again, easily resolved, but I know your thoughts on PS. ;)
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Harshadbhai, great sighting, and I feel your central placement works well. I still neeed to get a cheetah image in my files.:o
Harshad - good capture of behavior. I don't mind the comp given the activity.
TFS,
Rachel
I agree here Bhai on placing them a little more to the right in frame...wonderful moment and I like the OOF wildebeests in the BG
how much of a crop is this?
A fine behavioral moment well captured Harshad.
Agree on the cropping possibility and a cooling down of the WB a tad.
TFS
Excellent moment captured, Harshad! Trimming a bit off the right. Well done getting this one.
Looks like the one on the right is making sure the marking is being done right.
Good work capturing the moment.
Great and unusual moment well captured here.
There are times when I find some of the comments very distracting:confused:
Great image Harshad, a different angle to normal spraying images that are commonly taken.
Viewing this on my useless monitor in UK so difficult to comment on the technical aspects.
Termites who needs them;);)
Could you please expand Ken as it would be helpful for All of us, thanks. :)There are times when I find some of the comments very distracting
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Steve,
I am quite frankly puzzled by what is considered to be distracting, without doubt distractions are a constant problem in the wilds of Africa but does not mean that the image is spoiled.
I prefer to concentrate on the subject, if its surroundings are less than "perfect" so what, that is what nature looks like most of the time.
Take a look at the Wild Dog image that got highly commended in this years Veolia awards, to my mind very average but to others clearly not.
Ken, 'distractions' come in all shapes and forms and will vary from one viewer to another, likewise the level of distraction, but is NOT just related to the wilds of Africa. Some will leave distractions in, others may remove them, but obviously to how far you go depends on the individual, their PS skills and their conscience.
In making comments/feedback and observations it is there to aid hopefully for the future and that the author may be aware of things more in camera and that by a simple adjustment in moving will avoid the 'distractions', however there are times where this is not possible and this is part of the environment/habitat and we all accept that.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Steve,
Who said it was just related to the "Wilds of Africa"?
Given the fact that it was Harshad's first visit to Africa and perhaps his first Cheetah image then it is hardly surprising that he may have been excited and "ignored" the "distracting" termite mound. I do these things all of the time I just concentrate on the subject, which is certainly what I have concentrated on here. Personally I am not a great fan of images of marking, but this at least does not show the spray.
I will reply in coming 12 hrs if mods dont close this thread for comments
Last edited by Harshad Barve; 11-15-2010 at 12:51 PM.
A termite mound is very essential for the Cheetahs in Africa, usually used to locate prey. In this image, it is not intersecting in any way so as to take the viewer's attention the DoF is shallow and the mound is far far away.
I guess Stevie loves clean backgrounds and foregrounds....possible in captivity.
Great image, this is about behavior and not always about clean/empty backgrounds.
Hmmm ,
I am with Ken here , Most of times we get comments about distractions only howsoever great moment it may be.
Steve , You know my thoughts on cloning ( Though be assured my PS skills are good enough ) but cloning termite mound will kill image IMHO. Termite mounds are essential for Cheetah.
I guess clean images will never give you punch of wild life images. Removing all these things is like removing Sofa , Wall hangers etc from our drawing room and those termite mounds , trees , stones , leafs , grass blades are just like that.
I am afraid to say this but I have great collection of Tiger behavior images which I may never share here as most of their activities are behind bush:p
And after all this is absolute personal choice about gardening and how much we should use/abuse PS , but as a member I must say I am not happy the way we receive comments on distractions
Nothing personal but just 2 cents
Harshadbhai - you know I share the same sentiments as you do regarding cloning/gardening etc. I believe you are right when saying it is left to the individual, something Steve also pointed out.
I do also agree with Steve that sometimes we need to be pointed out these things as it will make us think about composing or moving in the future - oftentimes I have found this with my own pictures, getting caught in the moment and when looking at it on my computer, realising if I had just moved slightly to this side or that, I would have separated the subject more from an OOF BG rock or whatever.
In the case of this image - I believe the termite mound to be an essential part of the landscape and don't mind it placed where you have, it is also still discernible as such, giving the shot context. :D
PS: please do post those tiger images ;)
PPS:Kirk - I don't think your remark was necessary as this thread should never become personal.I guess Stevie loves clean backgrounds and foregrounds....possible in captivity.
First of all nice image Harshad,
Just my 2 cents worth on the debate obove, i do agree with both Ken & Steve on this one, IMO some disractions in a documentary type image like this one are quite acceptable, but when shooting for other purposes, like fine art prints, coffee table book portraits or just your own portfolio, i am with steve all the way, clear backgrounds & foregrounds to me are just as important as the subject your focused on & is one of the first thing i look for before aproching the subject.
Cheers
Ken,
I take it that you believe that "customers" require a different viewpoint to reality, this explains a lot.
Not everybody on this forum is a "professional" photographer and most of us do it for fun rather than profit, in my view criticism based on whether it would sell well to people who by and large have little if any knowledge of the subject is as unreal as a "clean" BG.
Hi KenOriginally Posted by Ken Watkins
The same rules applies to pro's & amateurs not quite sure what you meen about reality all my images are reality i dont clone a single thing out of any of my images, i didn't mention customers or making a profit, its simply about how to make your photography pleasing to the eye for yourself & or others, most of us here like to learn & distracting BG's FG,s are a key factor in your images looking professonal or not!
anyway just trying to help some people on the forum take some more pleasing images
Cheers
A very interesting discussion as to the merit of comments related to distractions in the environment and how they may be eliminated. However, I do not feel all of the discussion is positive as some comments are being challenged in a personal manner not conducive to thoughtful debate.
In debating you can challenge someone's ideas and the merits of those ideas but you do not question the motive of that person. It is a very fine line that is easily misconstrued and many times unintentionally crossed..
Regarding the distraction comments: As someone that has never photographed in Africa and been hindered by controls placed on them related to moving around to get a better angle, etc. I may be naive with some of my commenting. I am more than happy to have the poster clarify his or her restrictions; to educate me. We all learn something. Case in point Marc Molloy's Servals post: I commented to Marc that if he had gotten higher, a FG distraction might have been eliminated. He clarified that he was already standing on a vehicle. Something I would not have guessed. I thanked Marc for letting me know and now have a better understanding.
During my time moderating this forum, I have come to realize that much wildlife is not as easily isolated from its environment as for example birds are. As primarily a bird photographer, I try very hard to isolate subjects in an effort to display their natural beauty w/o distraction. This is much harder to do with animals that live in the bush for example. So I try to temper my comments in light of this realization.
However, this does not make a comment related to moving ones position to eliminate or lessen a distraction any less valid. Using Harshad's image in this thread as an example, if I was standing where he was and had some freedom of movement, and perhaps this was the first time I had seen a cheetah in the wild, I would make an image fast as not fret over the composition. But once that was done, I would try to arrange my composition better if the situation was still happening. An experienced photographer like Harshad knows this, but not everyone does not.
Also realize that we have a large contingent of viewers that never comment, but soak up knowledge of those more experienced based on the critiques they read. I have had them in my workshops and they tell me they dare not make any comments for they feel not competent to do so (something I disagree with), but they learn a lot from those comments they read.
OK, so by now you are saying get to the point.
The point is that BPN's purpose is to offer constructive comments related to improving you image-making. For some, for me trying to arrange compositions into pleasing harmony, eliminating distractions, getting nice OOF backgrounds, etc. are an important aspect of that process. As moderators and commentators in these forums, I feel that those comments are valuable and necessary.
If you don't agree with them, by all means state why. But do it in a manner of friendly debate related to the merits of the ideas and not someone's motivation in making them.
From this point forward, this thread needs to return to image critique and not critiquing the critiques. If someone feels strongly about this, you are welcome to start a thread in the General Photography forum on this subject.
Thanks for all for your understanding. Your participation is most valued and appreciated. Without you, BPN would not work.
Hi Robert, I feel you summing up has capture the essence and content extremely well and to the point, nothing more to say I think?
kind regards
Steve.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
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