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Thread: Help with this Image

  1. #1
    Mac Wheeler McDougal Jr.'s Avatar
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    Default Help with this Image

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    I am not sure this is the right place to ask this question, but here goes. Does this image have any appeal. Obviously this is a picture of a herd of anitilope that I shot in Wyoming this summer. Should it be cropped, you are looking at the full image no crop. I perposely included the vast amount of grass in the background as I thought it gave the country a big look, but I am not sure it worked. The animals seem to be fairly well focused and there is a little sharpening using NIK Sharpener. I hope you will take the time to cretique this as I am not sure whether there is a decent image here. Shooting data follows:
    Nikon D3S
    300mm f/2.8 with 2X extender
    600 mm efective
    1/640 sec @ f/11
    ISO - 1250

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    Three things bother me. I see green tint in bodies of the antelope, not just belly reflecting grass, but topside also. The image seems to be tilted clockwise, although certainly could have been a hill side. And too many views of rumps and body "merges". And I would crop it but not sure how much. Just my (minority) opinion as you asked for.
    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Graham; 10-17-2011 at 10:55 PM. Reason: added words

  3. #3
    Ken Watkins
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    Wheeler,

    I find Pronghorns to be a beautiful animal even if I have only seen them via images on this forum. To my mind this has the potential to make an interesting image cbut not a winner.

    I think that the main thing to do is a crop, in this case I would choose a pano, here is a very rough idea of what I mean, the quality is not as good as it could be starting from the raw, because I have started with a pretty small file , it is still a little too green.

    Please let me know what you think

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Wheeler when I see images or take images along these lines I try to ask myself what is the picture of. In other words is it the landscape, the pronghorns or is it the two together.
    If it is the two together:
    is the landscape interesting?
    is there sufficient detail in the pronghorns?
    For me your image falls between two stools as it were. I can clearly see the pronghorns but they are not in a vast open space, they are merely in some space - which is not particularly attractive. I feel this shot needs to be cropped - much as Ken suggested or alternatively if the opportunity arose I would try to get an image with much more space around it - but also try to get a closer shot too. Hope this helps?

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    Lifetime Member Jay Gould's Avatar
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    Ken, I like your line of thought; all good except for the continued green cast.
    Cheers, Jay

    My Digital Art - "Nature Interpreted" - can now be view at http://www.luvntravlnphotography.com

    "Nature Interpreted" - Photography begins with your mind and eyes, and ends with an image representing your vision and your reality of the captured scene; photography exceeds the camera sensor's limitations. Capturing and Processing landscapes and seascapes allows me to express my vision and reality of Nature.

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    Mac Wheeler McDougal Jr.'s Avatar
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    Thanks everyone. Your thoughts are most appreciated. Give me a few hours this morning and I will repost one from the Raw with you suggestions. Thanks again.

    Mac

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    Mac Wheeler McDougal Jr.'s Avatar
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    Default Repost

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    Again thank you all for the help. Here is the redo with your suggestions implemented (I hope). I must say that I am having a terriable time with the green cast that you all agreed that the image had, as I can't see it on my monitor. Is there an easy way to determine this? I like the image better with the pano type crop as I think you would. Johnathan, that was a great thought on the background and I will keep it in mind as I continue to photograph, thanks. Let me know whether I have made it better as I have been known to screw them up in subsequent repost.

    Mac

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    While I prefer the crop of the RP, I see a distinct magenta cast on my monitor. Is your white balance around 5500K?
    Andrew

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    BPN Viewer Tom Graham's Avatar
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    Here's a stepped gray scale on BPN - http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...-color-balance
    All levels should look gray on your monitor. But, FWIW, digital color balance for me is both a blessing and curse .
    Tom

  10. #10
    Ken Watkins
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    Wheeler,

    I think the crop works well, I also think the comments of Andrew and Tom are correct, the cast is slight but it is there.

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    Hi Wheeler, I also agree that the pano crop works quite well here and I like it with the extra room on either side as in Ken's repost but more off the top as in your version.

  12. #12
    Robert Amoruso
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    Mac,

    I reposted with the following fixes.

    Gray Point Balance using my method in the CD I have given you during our workshops. See this path on the CD "Wildscape Images Materials\Workflow\RAmoruso_PSCS Setup\Actions". PDF in this directory called WSI_Workflow-Actions_Rev01 has the how-to. I am assuming that the CD I gave you used this directory structure.

    Using this I got rid of some of the green cast but wanted a warmer look. In the Levels correction and using gray dropped I clicked on the white rump in the middle of the pack. I then used Selective Color to tone down the yellow some.

    Preferred crop also made. I am due for a monitor calibration but I think it looks good. Have you considered that you might be a biot color blind to certain colors and/or hues?

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Hi Mac,
    I've been trying for the last 4 years to get a good image of a bunch of these guys looking at me while still capturing the wide open feel of the prairie and the simple beauty of the prairie grasses. Being a skittish animal used to using speed to escape, its difficult to get them to look your way. Getting the group to cooperate with nice head turns is also unlikely. Having them in their best coats surrounded by lush, green grasses is also unlikely to happen (at least around here) since they'll be shedding their winter coats as the grasses change from green to brown. All that being said, I still like the shot. The FG grass provides a nice line across the herd and contrasts well with the smoother OOF grasses in the BG. I like the fact that the one that appears to be the dominant buck in this herd is the one looking at you. Prefer the pano crops, color looks most familiar to me in Robert's post although I've had difficulty myself accurately representing the colors on shots I've taken similar to this.

  14. #14
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Wheeler - looks like a difficult bunch to get some cooperation out of .
    Robert's repost is the best of the lot for me.
    Morkel Erasmus

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  15. #15
    Mac Wheeler McDougal Jr.'s Avatar
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    Thank you all for the help on this image. First, Robert I had thought that it might be that I am slightly color blind as I sometimes wonder whether I am seeing the color as others do. I guess I will have to find out if that is the case although I am not sure I know where to test it. You CDs referances are right on and I will be paying a little more attention to them. Second: Steve I have seen many of your images of these animals and have greatly enjoyed them. We obviously share a love for these animals. I have been viewing them since I was 6 years old when I first visited the dude ranch in Wyoming some 68 years ago. I started photographing them about the time I retired, 10 years ago. Since then I must have hundreds of images of them, some quite good and others not so good. Thanks for your thoughts about them. Thirdly: if you have never been on the plains of Wyoming and Montana you can't image the beauty of these grass lands and the vastness and that was part of what I was trying to capture, obviously I have not succeeded, but I will continue to try. Again thank you all for your thoughts and with your kind of positive critiques I will become a much better photographer.

    Mac

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