Weathering the storm

[Hilary Hann]

I really wanted to photograph some lions in the rain and although fortunate that we found a small pride in a downpour, I felt really unlucky that it was 6 pm before we did.
The elements can be unkind!

7D 100-400 @ 275mm; ISO1600; 1/160 @ f5.6 Manual exp, bean bag.

PP … tried Doug Brown's method of noise reduction on this one to see how it went. Certainly much better than just using noise reduction on its own.

This boy came very close to our open vehicle about half an hour later when we became hopelessly bogged. He was quite curious and I thought I might get a really close up head shot with the wide angle lens!

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Hilary, nice detail on the lion in such low light, and I like the lions concentration and his far off gaze. Also like the BG. Raindrops are an added bonus here. The image has a blue feel to it which I guess you purposefully developed to create that kind of atmosphere.
Well done for staying out in the rain,
Cheers
Grant

[Dumay de Boulle]

Lovely IQ and you handled the conditions really nicely...I like the feel I get from this image

[Robert Amoruso]

Hilary,

I like the details, the rain drops and the soft BG.

I do feel the image is too flat and blocked up blacks (ear, nose). I reposted a version with a levels correction to expand the dynamic range and removed cyan and blue using a saturation correction.


BTW: What is Doug Brown's method of NR.

[Ken Watkins]

Robert,

What an amazing repost, you have brought the image to life

[Rachel Hollander]

Hilary - while Robert's repost has more punch, I think it has lost the melancholy feel that I think Hilary was going for in the OP. I like the detail in the mane and the far off gaze.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

nicely captured here Hilary...Robert's repost corrects the colours that bugged me in OP
I like the streaky raindrops and the ISO was well handled in these light conditions

[Kurt Bowman]

I agree with Robert's assessment and the repost really hits the mark for me....great shot though to begin with!

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Robert, this is Doug's thread with his workflow.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...th-Tutorial%29

I wanted to give it a try so used one of my very noisy images as a test. This is my first attempt. I actually didn't do any levels or curves on the initial image as I was concentrating on the NR technique which was silly, but there you are. I agree that the blacks could be opened up a little but I think that the re-post has gone too far as the lion's muzzle looks like it has started to posterize. This may not be the case if I go back to the original file and do a levels adjustment on the larger size so will have a look. The colour cast has certainly gone and you have given my lion a much better colour representation. Thanks.

[Russell Johnson]

Good mood to the image, Hilary.

Perhaps the final image inbetween the two? I'm a fence sitter

[Hilary Hann]

Good mood to the image, Hilary.

Perhaps the final image inbetween the two? I'm a fence sitter

Fence sitting can be dangerous to men … thought you should know!!

[Steve Kaluski]

Roberts repost certainly shows the potential of this image Hilary and perhaps this is the turning point for raiding the 'piggy bank'.

Nice to see a different environment and setting and the rain steaks certainly conveying that. I might be wrong, but can't help feel that I want to be a fraction more to the right for the angle, I feel the Lion is slightly at an angle looking away from you, rather than a complete side profile?

Love those deep, thick manes.

TFS
Steve

[Hilary Hann]

Steve, you are right about the head angle so will explain what happened. I had actually set the vehicle behind the lion as I wanted a particular image which was the mane with a very slight head turn to just catch the profile and a hint of eye, rain in the background and a feel for the environment. A different perspective which I had been wanting to capture for some time and in the Mara North off roading is allowed so I could move anywhichway around the animal as long as we weren't too close. I got the shots I wanted, but then the lion turned his head right for a brief moment and naturally I took that image as well.

Why did I post that final image rather than the one I had spent a long time trying to get?

Mainly because (sadly in my view) most of the contributors here prefer a very traditional image of an animal and I weighed up whether I would get any positive comments on the other photo or whether I should go for something safer. I went safe.

[Ken Watkins]

Mainly because (sadly in my view) most of the contributors here prefer a very traditional image of an animal and I weighed up whether I would get any positive comments on the other photo or whether I should go for something safer. I went safe.

Can you elaborate further on this, as I fail to get your point?

[Hilary Hann]

Just answering Steve's post explaining why I chose this angle. As you said in one of your threads recently, discussions such as this are better continued in the general discussion forum rather than clog up a photo thread. If I get time soon I'll try and explain my comments further under a new thread in that forum.

[Ken Watkins]

Hilary,

You should have been a politician

My suggestion of discussing "conservation" outside of the critique forum has little similarity to my question relating to your comments about "contributors" needs, in relation to the critique forums.

[Hilary Hann]

Ken you are probably right, but the discussion could go many ways and is open to a lot of interpretation one way or another. There are some valid points which could be made but then those points would be lost here. Not trying to avoid a longer discussion.

BTW, politicians are boring!!

[Harshad Barve]

I liked this a lot Hilary , Love the pose , rains , BG and details , here is my re-post , I hope you don't mind it

TFS

[Hilary Hann]

Harshad, you've done a fantastic job. Thank you, I really like it.