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Skittish Impala
1st PlaceSkittish Impala
kasaba


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Art of 2018: A Retrospective (Extended Editing*)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon EOS-80D
Lens: Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Date: Jan 30, 2018
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1
Date Uploaded: Jan 9, 2019

[Jan. 17th, 2019 02:06:07 AM]

Thank you for some lovely comments so far. Was well over 7 until this morning and now some grumpy people started voting ;-).

This image was actually pre-planed for a change. Its a composite of 2 images, taken at the same spot within a few minutes of each other. I was sitting at a waterhole in the late afternoon and the impala were coming down to drink, but were very nervous and only came one at a time and then quickly moved on again.
I took several animals drinking and liked this one.Then I tried various options with camera motion to get the blurred background. For me that is always a lot of trial and error, see what happens.
In post I had to do a lot of lightening of the top part of the background, as the waterhole is quite small and the other shore line was visible. When the BG was more or less as I wanted it, I put the impala in and masked out most of the background to be left with the animal and the bit of reflection and grass around it.
The final edit I did in Topaz Black and White, can't recall the name of the exact filter, but there is a whole series of them with a strong light vignette. Some adjusting in there.
Then back into Gimp for some final editing just on contrast and light and all that.



[Jan. 17th, 2019 02:30:53 AM]

So here are the 2 original pics, as you can see, light was already very low and it would have been nicer if the impala had been in a sun spot, but nothing I could do about that.
Also looked at my editing and saw that I stretched the top part of the BG several times to make the water part larger and help with the lightening at the top.
https://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio_edit.php?IMAGE_ID=1231138

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 64
Avg (all users): 7.0333
Avg (participants): 7.0588
Avg (non-participants): 7.0000
Views since voting: 3023
Views during voting: 120
Votes: 60
Comments: 18
Favorites: 6 (view)

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AuthorThread
Nikon Z7II
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
 01/23/2019 05:48:39 PM
Beautiful;congrats on the Blue.*
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/23/2019 01:02:19 PM
Very well done! And since you planned the creation of the image, it is that much more gratifying. Big congrats for the well deserved win!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-80D
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
 01/23/2019 09:46:56 AM
Woohooo!!! Thank you everyone. Back in the bush where I took this picture. Hope to make arrangements for validation!
Nikon D7000
Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR
 01/23/2019 07:21:43 AM
Congratulations on the blue. Absolutely gorgeous!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7200
Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon
 01/23/2019 07:20:28 AM
Great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO M.Zuiko Digital ED
 01/23/2019 02:25:44 AM
so beautiful .. a very deserving blue in a sea of stunning brownish tones .. ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon Canon 1d x Mark II
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 FG HSM Art
 01/23/2019 12:10:28 AM
It was stunning at first glance, one of those captivating images. Glad it won!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D500
Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM
 01/23/2019 12:09:09 AM
Glad this won! Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
OM System OM-5
Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko
01/22/2019 11:45:00 PM
Well captured and composed .. beautiful animal. Love the overall toning.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Ultra
Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH
01/22/2019 11:26:56 PM
the way it stares at me 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R6
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM
 01/22/2019 10:38:02 AM
This is so fabulous. I would love to have taken this photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO M.Zuiko Digital ED
 01/21/2019 03:00:39 PM
WOW .. !!!!! .. absolutely stunning image .. the tones are to die for .. your softness surrounding the impala is so beautiful .. what a wonderful catch this is .. perfection .. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7200
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
 01/20/2019 11:03:38 AM
This one is for the National geographic competition, superb work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon Canon 1d x Mark II
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 FG HSM Art
 01/20/2019 06:55:23 AM
Delightful and elegantly painted, would make an excellent print. Processing is superb.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D750
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 01/16/2019 01:25:43 PM
What a splendid technique. I hope you share how you did this!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300
 01/16/2019 11:38:15 AM
Brilliant! Exquisite! Best photo I've seen here in a long while. 10 and a FAV from me. (Print available??)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Fujifilm X-T30
Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS
 01/16/2019 10:15:43 AM
A clip from an animated feature
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSLR-A550
Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED
 01/16/2019 12:25:35 AM
I thik this is one of the best wildlife shots on DPC 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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