A Giraffe at Sunset

Gallery: WildlifePosted December 26, 2013219 views9 comments

A Giraffe silhouetted against an iconic African Sunset. Image captured near Plains Camp, our base during the last photo tour conducted in Rhino Walking Safari's private concession in Kruger National Park.

EOS 1D Mark IV - EF500mm f4.0L IS II USM - 1/320sec @ f7.1 - ISO 100

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Ronald Murphy on December 26, 2013 at 10:00 AM

The colors and composition are superb. I like the thin cloud-edge scratched across the middle. Not sure about the bit of golden light at the ULC.

Registered on March 13, 2012, 279 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on December 26, 2013 at 3:24 PM

This evokes a thumbs up from me for the drama of blue & orange palette. The saturation of the colors feels stronger than true-to-life, but I like it for the graphic effect.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on December 26, 2013 at 4:20 PM

Hi Mario,

Lon has mostly "stolen" my thoughts on this one - that it has a very nice graphic feel to it that I very much like (almost as tho' it could have been created in an illustration graphics package like Adobe Illustrator) - and those "hyper" colours add to that graphic feel. At the same time, those same strong colours do remove a feel of reality from the image. I'm thinking along the lines of Ronald re: the impact of the sliver of orange in the upper left corner and perhaps a slight crop from top removing that sliver might strengthen the image even more (I'm not advocating cloning it out).

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on December 26, 2013 at 4:43 PM

Thanks for the comments. To give a bit of insight on how this one was captured I will say that it was shot with WB set on K at 3500 to achieve the blueish tone and then brought back the golden tones of the sun shinning through in LR5. I was looking for this result with minimal processing but obviously must agree that the real tones were warmer. I did think of cropping out the ULC ......

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !!

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on December 26, 2013 at 9:08 PM

Hi Mario. The colours are very striking, not outside the realm of possibility and certainly within the realm of artistic license. Last light can really create some very strongly saturated colour. I noticed a couple of things about the photo that concerned me just a little. I'm not too sure about the placement of the giraffe, it seems a bit centered to my eye, especially since he is looking directly at the camera. You may have already optimized the composition considering the tree, orange light in the sky and the giraffe. However if this is a crop, I would suggest trying the tree centred horizontally. The slight slant of the horizon is likely natural, but perhaps it could be straightened a little without throwing off the tree and giraffe unduly. A beautiful scene Mario!!!

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on December 29, 2013 at 4:58 PM

Lovely image Mario.
Happy New Year!!

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on December 29, 2013 at 5:37 PM

Thank you to all for your comments and HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on December 29, 2013 at 6:13 PM

Hello Mario

At first glance it is powerful and an eye grabbing image ! WELL DONE :) Upon closer look agree about the top bright being a possible crop alternative .

great to have looked outside the box on this Attention Grabber.

Cheers to you.

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on December 30, 2013 at 4:17 PM

A wonderful scene you envisioned and captured Mario

Happy New Year!!!

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments