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Thread: sub-adult(short-tail)+pride

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    Default sub-adult(short-tail)+pride

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    Nikon D3 200-400mm lens 1/1250 f8 iso 500.........

    its not often you find a sub adult in charge of a pride....

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Peter, again another interesting image, portrayed in a different way which I find rather refreshing.

    The almost square crop works well and the composition, IMHO is well balanced, all elements gelling nicely. The 'graphic' treatment warrants displaying big, to enjoy and get the full impact of the overall scene. The medium of harsh, bleached, sharp, OOF, blurred components just seem to be the right call for this, nice to see you found the USM brush.

    Love to see this printed on a matt stock (Permajet MattPlus) to add to the overall effect.

    Be interesting to read Hilary's take later.

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

  4. #3
    Robert Amoruso
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    I like the crop and the juxtaposition of the pride with the main subject. The image was a nice flow to it FG to BG.

    What processing technique(s) are you using to obtain the look of the image?

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    I quite like the bleached process here Peter, seems to suit the harsh reality of the struggle for survival. The curved line of pride is well depicted also.


    Quote Originally Posted by peter delaney View Post
    its not often you find a sub adult in charge of a pride....
    Not that uncommon in Sth Luangwa NP unfortunately Peter, where quite a few mature males end up getting shot (under hunting license) whilst crossing the river into the GMA.
    Leading to 2/3 year old males taking over. They are slowly learning to avoid that confrontation.
    Will be visiting there in 2 weeks.
    Last edited by Marc Mol; 10-10-2011 at 05:41 PM.


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    Excellent comp Peter. A story teller.

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    Peter, not that my opinion is any more interesting than anyone else's, but I really like this. It has an ethereal quality about it from the way you have processed the grasses and the background lions are almost ghostly. The sub adult is not majestic and this fits well with the composition. The look on his face is almost comical (like a teenage male), pride in what he has achieved with 'his' pride, and apprehension about the responsibility he carries. At least, that is what I see when I look at it.

    As for the crop, it is refreshing to see a square crop as it suits the composition and sometimes we should see it more in wildlife but I know that many just don't like it. I would always like to see the crop fit the comp. 3 square images together in a triptych makes a very pleasing display for the wall, imo. One thing about this image which I found lacking in the Etosha elephant and zebra is the retention of image quality which you have here in spades but which I felt was reduced in the other image. Just my 2 cents worth.

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    Ken Watkins
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    Peter,

    Very interesting processing,which I hope you will share. Is this Etosha the grass certainly looks dusty enough. We only saw 2 adult males on our last visit, which is strange.

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    I really like the colors and the contrast is spot on for my tatse...Great mood. I like the OOF lions in the BG....Very nice and different!

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    thanks everybody for your comments .. I will try and address all the points raised....

    Etosha is probably the harshest Sub Saharan terrain I have the pleasure to photograph in... While I was there in Sept early spring .. we had 35 degree dry heat... ..the dust is the biggest factor .. as it effects all your images... there is no early morning/evening glow as the suns rays struggle to penetrate the dust clouds that hang around .. so you eventually get light an hour after sunrise... this dust effects not just the colour of the sky from grey to blue/purple you rarely have blue sky this time of the year... but the trees ,shrubs, grasses are also covered in this fine grey/white dust/chalk .. we also had 10k hectare bush fire .. so we had soot falling everywhere too... photographing during the hot part of day can be very rewarding as most of the plains game come to drink ... but the heat haze bouncing off the white ground is difficult to deal with.. Auto focus is a no-no so is VR/IS .. manual focusing produces the best results.. but you are not going to get a super sharp image .. no matter how good your equipment or technique..


    Robert,Ken .. with regard to my thinking behind the processing ....both Steve and Marc were spot on with there assessment .

    "I quite like the bleached process here Peter, seems to suit the harsh reality of the struggle for survival." ''The medium of harsh, bleached, sharp, OOF, blurred components just seem to be the right call for this''

    so I just wanted to enhance the already harsh colours in the image.. just used curves (soft blend mode) a little bit of vibrance and a little bit of sharpening.. to keep Steve happy!!

    The square crop I sometimes use in my work.. is always about aesthetics (I agree with Hilary that it should be used more within wildlife) ..


    "I really like the colors and the contrast is spot on for my tatse...Great mood. I like the OOF lions in the BG....Very nice and different!" thanks Dumay!!

    It is really nice to get positive feedback .. I don't necessarily set out to be different..we all view the world differently .. it is just my interpretation.. there is no right or wrong way..
    I photograph with my heart(creative side) and try to balance it with my mind(technical side).....I believe as photographers we should evolve ,constantly pushing ourselves in artistically and technically ..
    My philosophy on photography is probably best summed up by Minor White "one does not photograph something simply for "what it is", but "for what else it is".

    Thanks again !! to everybody for taking the time out to comment!

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update Peter, a good insight and background to the image. Obviously your own 'unique' style, couple with the location lends itself very well and probably won't work on the majority of images I guess.

    I think you and Hilary have a lot in common, both in terms of thinking and how to portray the image to the reader.

    Hope to see more in the coming months.

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

  12. #11
    Ken Watkins
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    Peter,

    I agree that Etosha can be a very difficult environment, and you suffered even more with the big fire.

    It is nonetheless a wonderful if challenging place, certainly the heat haze and white rocks are hardly conducive to "picture perfect" images.

    I have not had much opportunity to post many images from my last trip yet, but the Black Rhino I have posted , does I think show the strange effects of these "problems" in particular the BG.

    Cheers

    Ken

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    Ofer Levy
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    Interesting image. Since I am not particularly keen about square crop here is a vertical crop which I feel works nicely. I also feel it tells a slightly different story.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Peter - I'm a little late to the party but really like this. You have told the story and the harshness well. I also don't mind the square crop. I also appreciate you having shared your thought process and vision here.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Robert Amoruso
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    Original post is my preference as you need the room in front of the leader.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    This is a great shot IMHO, Peter...something different as far as lion images go, and the "bleached look" worked out so well .
    I too prefer the OP crop choice (though I normally shy away from square-ish crops, this might make me consider using it sometimes) .
    I need to get to Etosha!
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    I need to get to Etosha!
    Join the queue Morkel OP for me too.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Thanks Robert and Rachel...for comment s ... agree about crop too.

    Ken .. will check out your post..

    Thanks Ofer for your input..

    .."something different as far as lion images go, and the "bleached look" worked out so well " thanks Morkel.. ! you would really enjoy the photography opportunities in Etosha ..long drive 23 hours for me.. did 7000kms in total for 3 weeks....drop me a pm if you do decide to go...not really a family destination though!

    Mr Kaluski...thanks for kind comments.. might bump into you in Etosha soon then ! you do know they dont have bears?

  19. #18
    DanWalters
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    Very unique lion image. Does give a harsh look to the image and I like the other lions in the background.

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    very nicely done Peter
    TFS

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    many thanks Dan and Harshad..

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