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Thread: Kudu Vector

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Kudu Vector

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    Something a little different. This kudu male was walking along a ridge against the morning light in the Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa.
    I deliberately underexposed to get this effect, and the rest was just some tweaking in LR3, CS5 and Nik Silver Efex 2.

    Techs:
    Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 400mm
    f8.0 @ 1/2000 SS @ ISO-400

    Your thoughts? Let me have it
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Morkel, I like the effect a lot. Simple and strong contrast, and the kudu makes for a good silhouette. One nit, that clump of brush that is in front of the kudus back leg is bothersome, it looks as if it is attached to his leg. I think you may need to lift your self-imposed cloning ban for this one, seeing as you have already turned the kudu pitch black!

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    Lifetime Member Marc Mol's Avatar
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    Effective silhouette here Morkel, nice use of the contrast with B&W, agree on the back leg/bush issue.
    TFS


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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks Marc and Grant.

    The bush is actually behind the kudu's leg (note the ridge of light along the calf ).
    And I did not turn the kudu pitch black in processing, actually...I merely converted to B&W which cause the kudu to darken, then added a hint of contrast.
    Here's the out-of-camera shot, no processing applied at all...as you can see my underexposure here did the work for me.
    That being said, I have no qualm in doing a bit of "gardening" in a B&W image like this which has as its main goal graphic appeal and an artistic twist...will get right to it
    Morkel Erasmus

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    Hi Morkel,
    Beautiful silhouette image.
    VPN

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  9. #6
    Ofer Levy
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    I am afraid this doesn't work for me. I feel that all those NIK effects and B&W are over used in WILDLIFE for some reason. If I will post a B&W image in the AVIAN forum it will probably be moved to OUT OF THE BOX - where it belongs IMHO.

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    Ofer, just wondering why going back to b&w (where many of us began our wildlife photography days) should be considered OOTB. Is b&w not still a legitimate method of presenting our photographs, where the form, texture and tone can be shown without the distraction of colour? I sometimes wonder why there needs to be different camps who should niggle at each other for lack of artistry, or lack of purity, or for using different tools to extract out of their image what they, the photographer chooses to show the public. I would have thought that there was room for us all, without fear or favour.
    As for me, I really enjoy seeing how different photographers show what they have seen out there in the great outdoors and the different perspectives and presentations are part of the experience.

    As far as this image goes, it is perhaps a little stark for my tastes and I feel more drawn to the out of camera shot which shows a little more detail.

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Thanks folks.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ofer Levy View Post
    I am afraid this doesn't work for me. I feel that all those NIK effects and B&W are over used in WILDLIFE for some reason. If I will post a B&W image in the AVIAN forum it will probably be moved to OUT OF THE BOX - where it belongs IMHO.
    Ofer, as always, I value your input. But I think we need to agree to disagree here. As shown above, nothing much was done to the image except straight conversion and contrast adjustments. Whether you feel all B&W imagery should fall in "OOTB" categories is an opinion you are entitled to (doesn't mean I agree), and is something you are welcome to take up in the one of the general photography discussion threads. If I had added many elements to the scene and applied all kinds of crazy filters here I would certainly have put it in the OOTB gallery.

    By the way - I posted a B&W avian image in the Avian galleries a while ago...and it was not moved...
    Morkel Erasmus

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  13. #9
    Roman Kurywczak
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    Besides the bit of "gardening" already mentioned.....I like the B&W effect!

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    Hi Morkel,
    The approach is inventive and neat. As mentioned the bush does spoil, but I am sure you will have another image up your sleeve. Well done and TFS.
    Best wishes,
    Mark.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Morkel - I have looked at this a couple of times now and think that I prefer the straight out of the camera post. The OP feels a little harsh to me, maybe because there is so much open white sky. I think the b&w might work better for me as more of a pano crop with some of the space from the top removed.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    I agree with Rachel, I prefer the OOC version. Its the warm color of the grass that provides just a touch more depth and detail that works for me.

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  21. #13
    Ofer Levy
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    "Ofer, just wondering why going back to b&w (where many of us began our wildlife photography days) should be considered OOTB. Is b&w not still a legitimate method of presenting our photographs, where the form, texture and tone can be shown without the distraction of colour? I sometimes wonder why there needs to be different camps who should niggle at each other for lack of artistry, or lack of purity, or for using different tools to extract out of their image what they, the photographer chooses to show the public. I would have thought that there was room for us all, without fear or favour.
    As for me, I really enjoy seeing how different photographers show what they have seen out there in the great outdoors and the different perspectives and presentations are part of the experience. "

    Hi Hillary, I have no problem with B&W and or any other significant effect as long as it is presented in the right forum. I am sure the OOTB forum is there for a reason so why not using it? In my opinion colour is an integral part of nature and it can not be considered as"distraction" as you put it. In this forum as well as in the AVIAN forum we supposed to present our photos as close as can be to the way they were taken. B&W is a radical manipulation as nature doesn't look like that.
    Not long ago I have seen an image in here that was manipulated in a way that made me wonder where we draw the line. It was a B&W portrait with the eyes in full colours. Lovely image but it doesn't belong in this forum IMHO.
    Having said that, this is how i feel and I respect different opinions of others.

  22. #14
    Mario Moreno
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    Other than the bush, everything works for me and I would of approached this image in the same exact way. Maybe I would of lightened the sky a bit to get rid of the grayish tint but again, this is my personal taste.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ofer Levy View Post
    I am afraid this doesn't work for me. I feel that all those NIK effects and B&W are over used in WILDLIFE for some reason. If I will post a B&W image in the AVIAN forum it will probably be moved to OUT OF THE BOX - where it belongs IMHO.
    Totally agreed with Ofer & Plus one here
    TFS

  25. #16
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Harshad Barve

    Totally agreed with Ofer & Plus one here
    TFS
    Thanks for your views, Bhai...
    But I still don't agree with either you or Ofer. None of the BPN guidelines state that B&W conversions per se need to go to OOTB. If a substantial amount of changes had been done to make the image content differ from the original capture, yes. :)

    I have even posted B&W images in Avian which weren't moved to OOTB by the mods there.

    You are welcome to engage with the greater BPN community by starting a thread about this in the General section.
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 02-22-2012 at 02:55 AM.
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