I don't know why you shot a landscape at f/6.3. Did you need the high shutter speed to compensate for movement of the animals? In any case the soft grasses and out of focus background seem to work well. The elephants are the sharpest part of the image and help to draw our attention.
I am not sure what we are supposed to see regarding "does it work". This is an image of elephants grazing and/or walking across a grassland and is, I expect, a nice reminder of your trip. The past couple of years I have done lots of traveling and taken lots of travel pictures. They mean a lot to me but it has sometimes been difficult for me to realize that they mean less to others and when it comes to improving my photography what was important to me has little bearing. Would we be expected to have any different comments and critique if this was an image of cattle in Wyoming?
Camperjim wrote:
I don't know why you shot a landscape at f/6.3. Did you need the high shutter speed to compensate for movement of the animals? In any case the soft grasses and out of focus background seem to work well. The elephants are the sharpest part of the image and help to draw our attention.
I am not sure what we are supposed to see regarding "does it work". This is an image of elephants grazing and/or walking across a grassland and is, I expect, a nice reminder of your trip. The past couple of years I have done lots of traveling and taken lots of travel pictures. They mean a lot to me but it has sometimes been difficult for me to realize that they mean less to others and when it comes to improving my photography what was important to me has little bearing. Would we be expected to have any different comments and critique if this was an image of cattle in Wyoming?...Show more →
Thanks for the detailed comments Jim.
F 6.3: the distance to the subject + no tripod + movement of the elephants. Which I think is the reason for the softer elephants on the right.
Does it work in terms of enough interest overcoming technical short-comings.
Goal is an effective, engaging capture of sense of scale, place (which to me is exotic). No aspirations here for a unique image.
sbeme wrote:
Is the reaction to the background and engaging element?
Scott
To me it is a distraction - I think in part from the - what appears to me as - unusual coloring. Likely because that is what I saw first while scrolling down for the image.
To me it looks a bit overexposed and the highlights looks a bit washed out from it. I get the field vs. elephant contrast in play, but I think you can pull the field down some (I masked elephants) and still have sufficient contrast between them.
Took a stab at it, then partway (80%-90% ish) through some of my own, I ran into Dan Margulis action(s) @ PPW Bigger Hammer and PPW Sharpen 2013.
First time I've ever tried using them, and on top of my tweaks, I had to dial them back some ... thoughts?
Mister Bean wrote:
I think it does a pretty good job creating a sense of place. I looked at it for a few seconds and thought, I can imagine being there.
I find all the re-works interesting and the additional room above the elephants helpful.
Still enjoying the BW interpretations, something I will likely revisit on many images months down the road when I have completed some major culling and vetted more of the originals with your ongoing input and patience.
Meanwhile, I hope you folks are having fun with the reworks, as I am aware that my daily images could readily dominate the forum.
Kent,
I like the alternative color play in the grasses.
RustyBug wrote:
To me it looks a bit overexposed and the highlights looks a bit washed out from it. I get the field vs. elephant contrast in play, but I think you can pull the field down some (I masked elephants) and still have sufficient contrast between them.
Took a stab at it, then partway (80%-90% ish) through some of my own, I ran into Dan Margulis action(s) @ PPW Bigger Hammer and PPW Sharpen 2013.
First time I've ever tried using them, and on top of my tweaks, I had to dial them back some ... thoughts?
FWIW I prefer the softer aesthetic pre-actions. Now how it might look in print is another matter, suspect the actions would benefit the printed image.
sbeme wrote:
I find all the re-works interesting and the additional room above the elephants helpful.
Still enjoying the BW interpretations, something I will likely revisit on many images months down the road when I have completed some major culling and vetted more of the originals with your ongoing input and patience.
Meanwhile, I hope you folks are having fun with the reworks, as I am aware that my daily images could readily dominate the forum.
Kent,
I like the alternative color play in the grasses.
Mostly some multiply and saturation/hue @ the grasses. A touch of blur to the bottom of the image to try and give a kiss of depth perspective, along with a little bit of burn here & there (up to that point).
Adding Dan's actions on top was a "bit much", but I still found it interesting. Not sure if I was able to do anything to increase the "expanse" vibe ... here's the continuation from my pre-action above with some additional screening/blur to try and extend the expanse vibe. Feel like I'm missing something @ how to optimize pp "expanse" ... any hints at technique from the classic art realm would be appreciated. I've tossed a touch more screening at outer edges to try and draw us "outward" with tonal value secondary to the contrast @ subject.
BTW, no worries @ dominate ... we always have the antidote at our disposal, i.e. more of our own images.
