Results 1 to 21 of 21

Thread: Scratching the itch...

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default Scratching the itch...

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    ...and with this many ticks on you, wouldn't you need a scratch?

    This young male lion was part of a pride of 6 in the Kalahari desert (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park). The pride was waking up from their afternoon nap, with the sun already dipping behind the dun you see in the background.

    Techs:
    Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 220mm
    f7.1 @ 1/400 SS @ ISO-800
    Exp +1/3
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 06-28-2011 at 05:45 PM.
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  2. #2
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Auranagabad ( MS ) India
    Posts
    12,833
    Threads
    766
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    very nicely done Bhai , don't know how but you can just add punch to this image
    TFS

  3. #3
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks Bhai - thought so too, just refresh your browser, I was busy replacing the image with one that had more "punch" as you were commenting :)
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  4. #4
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Auranagabad ( MS ) India
    Posts
    12,833
    Threads
    766
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Aha , this looks far better

  5. #5
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    3,911
    Threads
    459
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Interesting pose Morkel. Looks like he is a character.

  6. #6
    Brendan Dozier
    Guest

    Default

    Interesting behavior capture, Morkel, showing the realities of living out in the wild. It's not always pleasant out there. Looks like he needs some relief. Nice comp and like the reddish color to the sand.

  7. #7
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    14,320
    Threads
    929
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Morkel - a different pose and habitat. Nice to see. Comp works well.

    TFS,
    Rachel

  8. #8
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Johannesburg - South Africa
    Posts
    2,114
    Threads
    190
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Morkel interesting pose, flies add very nicely and lovely soft light.

  9. #9
    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Southern California, Orange County
    Posts
    1,116
    Threads
    33
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    How do you (or anyone) determine the "proper" white balance or color balance for an image like this in that kind of light?
    Something I wonder about a lot since many of my wildlife shots are are not in sunlight nor simple cloudy. For example, I would have made your image much warmer, something like this -


    Tom
    ps - maybe a bit too red??
    Last edited by Tom Graham; 06-29-2011 at 03:53 AM. Reason: added ps

  10. #10
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Thanks for the feedback, folks.

    Tom - for me it's like this...your repost does look warm and inviting, yet it is not how I remember the scene (and I know it's dodgy to say I remember the exact coloration of a scene ). The sun was effectively gone so the whole scene was cast in the shadow of fading light. There was no "warmth" to speak of light-wise. During PP I did desaturate the blue and cyan channels because the camera often overdoes those in the shaded areas.

    Maybe mine DOES need a bit of a tweak towards warmer tones , but I would say then it would be 1/3 of the way between mine and yours (more weighted towards mine) given the conditions I remember. For example, this is a black-maned Kalahari lion, and the adjustments you made in the repost take away the first hints of darker/blacker coloration which are starting to develop in his mane...

    Let's see what others say...:2
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 06-29-2011 at 03:58 AM.
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  11. #11
    Ofer Levy
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Morkel, although technically fine aesthetically this one doesn't work for me. Pretty ugly specimen with all those less than attractive ticks - not the best way to show the “king” or something many will put on the wall...

  12. #12
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Ofer. Thanks for your honesty - always value your feedback and critique. I don't think my intention with this would ever be a "wall-hanger" (I would much rather hang Vivaldo's golden-light image of a male in full glory on my wall, as would most of us) , rather it's a moment of natural history documenting the conditions under which these desert lions need to survive. You can see a gash above his eye too, no doubt picked up when squabbling with his pride members for morsels of the infrequent kills these lions make.

    Interesting point overall - that being said, why can some "lifestyle" photographers make such poignant photos from homeless people who look far from "aesthetically pleasing"? Isn't it because the power of the shot lies in the untold story in the person's sad eyes, neglected condition, wrinkles, etc? Now I know a human face has more of a "story factor" than a flee-infested young male lion trying to make it in a pride in which he is the smallest/youngest male and typically will have to contend very hard with his brothers for every morsel they are able to take down...but I'm asking the question for the sake of discussion (as I seem to be prone to this last while )...

    In my example above it would probably be better to relate eg. Brendon's gorgeous "Kalahari Princess" shot with a similar facial photo of a lioness who's covered in battle scars and looks worn with the troubles of surviving......the one might be more aesthetically pleasing, and the other might be more "poignant"...or not!

    Perhaps this discussion is best taken into another forum (general?), but let's see if I get any "bites" on this hook...
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  13. #13
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, South Africa
    Posts
    820
    Threads
    135
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Great image Morkel, agree it need a little more warmth but not quite as much as Toms repost

    With regards to WB, this is something that many photographers debate, basically i feel BW can be used in 2 ways, 1 to make an image look more natural that what the camera processes in Auto WB mode as this mode tends to nullify certain colour casts in some lighting conditions that has a negative affect on the overall image. Or 2 to give your image a slight creative edge, most of the preset WB options on DSLR cameras theses days can be used as a replacement to either warming or cooling filters.

    Just adding my 2 cents worth

  14. #14
    Ofer Levy
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    ....
    In my example above it would probably be better to relate eg. Brendon's gorgeous "Kalahari Princess" shot with a similar facial photo of a lioness who's covered in battle scars and looks worn with the troubles of surviving....
    For me, this is it!
    In this image there is nothing special IMHO - no special BG, composition, light, eye contact etc.
    In those "lifestyle" images there is usually something special - angle, BG, light etc which makes it effective.
    Last edited by Ofer Levy; 06-29-2011 at 08:09 AM.

  15. #15
    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Somewhere in the world
    Posts
    20,551
    Threads
    1,285
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Morkel, agree it's perhaps not the greatest looking lion, but it is a behavioural POV and I do feel with all those flies anyone would be entitled to a good old scratch.

    I do feel the BG colour looks a little flat and certainly there is a bluishness to the lion, but certainly Toms is way to yellow in warm things up sadly. However Morkel, and this is only a suggestion, but if the BG was a bit more punchy and you tweaked the Blues (selective on the lion only) and just opened the face up a bit more then it might give a little more presence?:2 I would also contemplate doing a little gardening on some of those twigs too.

    Can post or email my though if you wish.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

  16. #16
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Thanks for all the feedback and discussion folks.

    Steve - you are most welcome to post any adjustments on here (or mail - whichever is fine )

    Does this repost have the "pop and warmth" spoken of in the critique?
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  17. #17
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    George, South Africa
    Posts
    1,462
    Threads
    255
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Morkel
    I think you are defending the non defendable. Agree with Ofer , you cannot seriously convince people that a lion scratching himself is a natural history moment which is going to enlighten people on the lives of Kalahari lion...

    " why can some "lifestyle" photographers make such poignant photos from homeless people who look far from "aesthetically pleasing"?

    The key word is poignant !!

    Seriously Morkel, since you posted this image.

    Can you tell us what redeeming qualities that you believe this image has?

    I think that would be a better discussion , than going off on a tangent and trying to compare it to social documentary photography...

    its ok to admit to having a bad image , we all do , its just being able to differentiate between an image you keep or one you should delete...

  18. #18
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    14,858
    Threads
    1,235
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Hi Peter...

    Sometimes - as we have in times past - we can respectfully agree to disagree. I disagree with you that this is not a "natural history moment"...a lion scratching himself is no less such a moment than a lion merely walking through long grass or staring into the camera with nothing else particularly going on . I did not mean the scratching conveys something about a Kalahari lion, but perhaps the haphazard appearance of what should be a young male in his prime does?

    With all due respect, I think you missed WHY I made the points above, as you say "went off on a tangent".

    First off, I AGREED with Ofer that this is no "wall hanger". It will never be...but honestly, how many images do we see that we would REALLY consider worthy of hanging on our walls? It'll be a precious few that are deemed good enough to adorn someone's living room and/or office etc. So I did not post my "rant" above as an objection as to why Ofer did not particularly like the image.

    My response was aimed at his comment that the lion itself is "a pretty ugly specimen". Hence my comment about "homeless people photographs". I was pointing out that photos of people who's facial features might not be particularly aesthetically pleasing can also turn out to be good images, so being an "ugly specimen" shouldn't be a base for prima facie rejection of an image's appeal (again, I said this without claiming that my image was something special - I was merely challenging the reasoning ). So I used the word "poignant" here not because I feel MY image is poignant, but because of the comment on the actual look of the lion. Ofer's second comment was more precise in terms of lighting etc. Hope it makes more sense now.

    Secondly, with that said and my reasoning explained - I am not sure what you mean by "redeeming qualities"? Does it have to redeem something? Why can't it just be a photo about a young lion in the Kalahari?

    I don't think there's merit in you implying I don't know when I have a "bad image". You might think so...it seems Ofer thinks so...but others who have commented here do like it...and that's fine, it also shows that taste differs. Like I said, I don't believe it's a wall hanger. But that does not mean I think it should be binned. We might have different standards on which images we keep and which we bin, which is also fine (and I do bin a lot of images).

    So, I like this. It's not a competition winner or a wall hanger but I am still allowed to like this.
    Morkel Erasmus

    WEBSITE


  19. #19
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    George, South Africa
    Posts
    1,462
    Threads
    255
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Morkel Erasmus View Post
    So, I like this. It's not a competition winner or a wall hanger but I am still allowed to like this.
    Yes, you are Morkel....

    and yes we have to agree to disagree once again .I shall pm you.

  20. #20
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Pretoria, South Africa
    Posts
    510
    Threads
    118
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Will not join the debate but it sure is an image that tells a story - which is most probably what Morkel intended! I have mentioned before that it is not always about the "technicals"...

    Is this one of the southern pride which hangs around Monro? He surely seems to be in bad shape! If it is, I must say that on our recent visit in May they were all in tip top condition! When was this taken?

    Great image!

  21. #21
    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    5,444
    Threads
    444
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Like the extra "punch" to your repost. Still retains the shadowed look of the conditions you described but without the cool tone.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics