B&W CARACAL
In the 3 Months i was in the Mara i spent on a average 70% of the time looking for Caracals to try & build some sort of portfolio on these elusive cats, i located them just 4 times, 3 of these i had them to myself & they were quite relaxed, this is a young Male who i found still living with his sister, taken just before sunrise.
Nikon D700, 400mm 2.8 VR lens 1.7 conv
F/5 1/160 ISO 2500
www.africanatureimages.com
Ken - I like the comp and the intense stare. Curious as to what you used to convert?
TFS,
Rachel
Nice look back and you've got to love those ear tufts. Also like his position in the little gully. I'd like to see another version with a little more NR on the BG/FG for the sake of comparison, not because I think it will improve it.
Hi RachelOriginally Posted by Rachel Hollander
Just converted in PS nothing much else done ect, levels & selective black +5
Hey Steve
i only use NR in LR & i cant use it that well, its someting i need to look at learn a bit more about!! any suggestions??
Hi Ken,
There are others far more advanced and using much more up to date PP software than myself (DPP and PSE3) but a simple duplication of the BG layer, applying a level of NR or gaussian blur to the duplicated layer that you're comfortable with, and then masking/erasing the effect off just the animal and surrounding area (within the same DOF) with a feathered brush works for me.
Very nice Ken, with a wonderful look back pose. Masked NR would certainly benefit here also.
I'd just be happy to have any Caracal image in my files.:D
Would also like to see this in colour if possible?
TFS
That's exactly what I do for my noise reduction Steve with Imagenomic plugin for CS5.;)
Firstly Ken, seeing these animals portrayed well is a great, however to see them as you did, must have been very special and obviously they were very relaxed in your company, not something that generally happens with the normal 'circus' that hounds animals theses days.
Interesting choice of medium as for me, I find tonally it tends to blend in with the surroundings well and therefore is this correct? I like it because it has some rich tones and if printed as a 'true' B/W, it might work better, but can't help wonder if the high ISO is also contributing to making it more contrasty? Again, I like the low POV, pose (looking back) and the characteristic ear tuffs. Certainly some NR would be useful, applied overall, but excluding the animal. Is it a twig or blade of grass that is lying slightly diagonal towards the bottom lh corner?
Ken, might suggest posting the original in colour, as I am sure some people would like to see it too. ;)
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Here is the colour version, just as it was in LR before B&W conv
Mark, this was the morning i give you the tip of a lifetime:( still cant belive no cars turned up all morning
Ken, have to say, prefer the colour one because of the warm tones.
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Colour version is far superior to my eyes, some may not like the small amount of OOF grass, but it does not bother me.
It seems the Mara is coming up good for daylight caracal.
It seems the Mara is coming up good for daylight caracal.[/QUOTE]
yep if you look, you can sometimes find, i have been working together with a good friend
Federico for a few years, (cover shot on BBC wildlife Mag) the time we have put in though is testing our patience!!
I was hoping that day wasn't one of the successful day's Ken :(:(.
................I should never have listened to Dixon our guide.:D:D:D
I also bought that mag edition in Joberg for the flight home, super images BTW.
Colour version for me also.
I like the b&w image. We also got to spend some time with one of these guys on our recent trip to the Mara.
Ken, I am torn between the two for a preference, but leaning toward the color - the eyes really make a bigger impact in color. What a great sighting. In the color version I might be tempted to selectively desaturate the FG OOF grasses. Very nice.
Color version of this image just KILLED me
TFS
I also prefer the color version. I really like the ear tufts, the back look, & especially the eyes. It is a beautiful cat.
Andrew
Ken, I like both versions, but actually tending to go with the B&W, as the eyes seem to stand out more. I would really try and do some NR on the BG, it would make this pop even better.
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