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My 4000 points giraffe - for RED45

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My 4000 points giraffe - for RED45
Photo Information
Copyright: Radu Xplorator (Xplorator) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 727 W: 58 N: 1536] (7598)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-09
Categories: Savannah
Camera: Nikon CP 8800
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Silhouettes, 40-49 Points (Chapter 6) [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2005-12-10 5:33
Viewed: 2143
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 38
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Dedicated to a great and passionate man I would like to acknowledge and call friend, Grzegorz Wieczorek aka Greg aka Red45. I know you always liked this serie of photos of mine and I thought you deserve a small homage for all the joy you brought to me and the TN so I dedicate this to you. And yes, I hope to pass the 4000th point milestone with this photo! - Radu

This fine ,,Shadow theatre effect,, I should call it, can be produced with fine careful metering and composition. Metering the sky near the sun will get you a picture perfect underexposed of a front silhouette; lock exposure and refocus for a crisp front plan and hope for the best, also try a little underexposure ( meaning go to minus on the EV number)... The aperture mode would be your safest bet to control it !
Again, I have to mention that my upbringing to this type of creations was entirely inspired from the art of Wayang, the Balinese shadow puppet theatre, where a light (the sun here) is placed behind the main chracter or puppet(here, the giraffe); there is always well defined ground line in first plan; to add realism and beauty there are decorations on prime plan (bush branches) well defined, on secondary plan (mountains) and even a third plan (see the ,,African shadows,, photo and look at the distant row of mountains ,,disappearing,, in the horizon).
Here is a link to a photo (not mine!) that will help you better understand the ,,Wayang,, Balinese theatre : http://www.emp.pdx.edu/htliono/images/wkulit1.jpg .
My advice is to always lower your position, even dug a hole like I did at times and shoot from the lowest elevation possible in order to capture large portions of your subject against the sky light. Sunset is incontestably the best time for that if need to mention at all that !
I have no doubts all of you recognize here a African giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis), a large adult, it was the leader of a pack of three, very cooperative from a safe distance, it was amazing to see and capture this giant walking at sunset.
This image is taken with my Nikon Coolpix 8800, at full optical 10x Nikkor zoom, from a lowered point to emphasize the posture and size of characters. No sharpening was done as the camera behaved impeccable, but did redone the light tone color, a bit from a cyan influenced sepia to a foxish influenced sepia, all in Adobe Photoshop 6.0 .
Enough said... enjoy, Radu Xplorator
dew77, scottevers7, thistle, wallhalla15, red45, PDP, gerhardt, duckpond, Robespierre, Robbrown, greghume, Active has marked this note useful
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ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Toucadoo: :)Xplorator 1 12-10 16:50
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Radu
I love this magic lantern show of your African animals, the sepia tone here is really nicely achieved. TFS

This is very beautiful picture!
Superb composition, great colours.
Very well done and thank you!

  • Great 
  • jossim Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1702 W: 5 N: 2122] (11724)
  • [2005-12-10 5:58]

Cette prise est agéable à regarder,belle composition.

Merci!

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2005-12-10 6:11]

Hello Radu!
Very nice capture.Warm colors,POV,framing and composition are wonderful.TFS...:-)

Hi Radu,
Its just a classic photograph! Beautiful composition and light here. Very well done!
Scott

I like my black magic cat more, but that's a nice shot too ;)
Great mood and great colours. The branches are great complement for the girrafe silhoutte.
I like it very much!

Excellent details and sharpness, perfect composition and nice colours. Excellent work! Well done, Radu. Thanks for sharing.
(Congrats for the 4.000)

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2765 W: 75 N: 7513] (25121)
  • [2005-12-10 12:05]

Hi Radu, my friend!!! I'm really honoured by your dedication and very, very kind words! This is what TN is about - not only showing photos but also making friendship! I'm glad that I met many fantastic people here, including you. You're right - I love this serie from Ethiopia. Giraffes and ostrich in BG with magic light. This one is no exception. Great picture took by great adventurer :-) Thank you Radu!

Hi Radu,
Congratulations on hitting 4000, and a cracker of a shot to get there with. Now this is a Nat Geo cover shot ;)
Good sharp detail and colours. Great POV.
Nicely composed and good lighting.
Thanks for posting. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2964 W: 366 N: 3848] (11733)
  • [2005-12-10 13:08]

Hello Radu, a lovely silhouette, I love the tones and I like that the patterns can just be discerned. Lovely composition. Very well done.

Well you were right, this is just amazing Radu, beautiful semi-silhouette, I like the tonal layer intervals, the warm colors that create a very pleasant backdrop for this beautiful artiodactyl. :)

  • Great 
  • ridfa Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 89 W: 0 N: 375] (4092)
  • [2005-12-10 14:23]

Magnifique ambiance et colorimétrie superbement adaptée à cette Girafe. J'adore...

TFS

I still love these shots Radu. The marking of the giraffe adds special interest here. Well done.

Tout simplement magnifique

Not too much time for me today, so I'm merely stopping by to reward you with 2 well deserved points! Cheers!

Hiu Radu,
Beautiful picture of this giraffe. Composition and colours are great. I like the detais wich are still to be seen in the giraffes fleece. One of the most difficult things to capture in this kind of pictures. Great job! Regards, Ruud.

Nice silhouett. Good sepia tones here.

Hi Radu
Great handling of exposure and composition - very well done. Excellent advice in your useful note as well.

Awsome picture; I love it.
Thanks for show us your photos.
Hernán

Radu, it`s amazing!!!
Superb fantastic, marvellous and majestic in some way.
Excellent work
TFS:-)
Barbara

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