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Thread: High Key Cheetah

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    Default High Key Cheetah

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    This image was taken against the sun and as such a decided to play around with Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and some levels in CS5...

    All crits, comments and advice will be highly appreciated!

  2. #2
    Robert Amoruso
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    Compositionally I would have preferred not to have the grass behind the head.

    On the high-key treatment, I feel it is a little too much - a matter of taste perhaps though I am a fan of high-key images and make them all the time. I find the total dropout of whites in the grass distracting given the dark grass is now rendered a midtone. Additionally, the cheetah is flat and in need of more contrast.

    Not sure were to recommend you to go with this w/o seeing the original.

    I like the body pose of the cheetah and the overall crop.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Hi Rudi. I have to agree with Robert's assessment...there's too little 'pure black' in this for me at the moment, though it's something you can adjust in processing. The grass behind the head is less-than-ideal.

    Here's a high key cheetah image I posted a few weeks ago - would love to know what you think as I think this is the kind of look you were gunning for:
    http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...-in-Monochrome

    Do you mind posting the colour version?
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Thanks for the feedback Robert and Morkel - Appreciate your input!

    Here is the original image before I opened it in Silver Efex - just exported it from LR and resized in CS5... It appears that Silver Efex also sharpens the image... Did the conversion in Silver Efex while still in CR2/TIFF format...

    Yip, your cheetahs look great Morkel! Mind sharing a bit of your workflow...? Will be appreciated!

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    I like it but this is how I would go...Let me know your thoughts

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    It sure has more "pop" Dumay! What did you do to get the better blacks and contrast? See that you used my original post?

    Thanks for taking the time!

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Though I like my B&W images with lots of contrast, I would back down on the contrast in Dumay's post just a tad, especially on the face.

    I did much of the same with mine, Rudi...burned the BG but kept the grasses in front. Overall I'm not sure that this works for me in B&W.

    I will repeat something Peter Delaney told me when I first started dabbling in monochrome images: B&W won't save a shot taken in bad light. Harsh but true. Sometimes it works (my BBC WPOTY Wildebeest was taken at noon, but the light was diffused by the cloud cover overhead)...but more often than not a good B&W photo is one that was taken in good or even dramatic light to begin with. There's some rim-light in here which you are not harnassing in your OP.

    I worked from your "colour version"...
    Took down midtone levels to enhance the rim-light without losing all the details on the cat.
    Then converted using a red filter in Nik Silver Efex 2....taking down "structure" to -20 or so, upping brightness and contrast to +6 or so.

    What do you think? A bit moodier...still not sure if I'm sold on it...
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Not an easy type of processing to balance out for everyones taste, Sometimes less is more. Attached my take on the HK image style. Very Basic preset i have developed in LR 3 with changes to exposure and contrast from BW standard preset in LR

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    Thanks Morkel and Andrew for the input!

    Morkel, the dark cheetah (red filter) does not work for me here and I prefer the takes of Andrew and Dumay. The latter two seem to work well in my opinion... Maybe something from both images...

    Will give it another shot one of these days....

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    BPN Member Bill Jobes's Avatar
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    This is a perfect image for a high key experiment, Rudi.

    I echo the sentiments on the grass to the rear of the head.

    Compositionally, the photo works well for me.

    Personally, I favor Andrew's interpretation.
    Bill Jobes



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  11. #11
    Jacques de Klerk
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    Rudi, i have to go with Andrews version here, ditto bit more black needed in your original

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    Thanks Bill and Jacques for the input... These kind of images tickle my fancy, but still a long road ahead!

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