Cebras Grevy III

Thanks to photonet for choosing this picture as photograph of the week. Thanks for your trust in my work.

 

I'm very happy again, this is the second time and I hope no the last one...

 

I'm grateful also for all your commentaries:

 

Patrick, Mike, Jesus (lo tuyo fue premonitorio, gracias), Max, Boris, Miguel, Luca, Guillermo, Bill...

The energy created by the interaction of the zebras' stripes is wonderful. The swirling dust heightens the sense of movement. I suggest toning down the bright halo light, because it conflicts with the high energy of the zebras.

 

Thank you for sharing your photo, Marina.

What a stunning photograph!

I personally cannot see any flaws no matter how hard I try. Its such an overwhelming result...

Looking at this photograph discussions over manipulation come in mind. I am not sure of the amount of it here but its almost obvious there has been some skillful post processing.

However, in contrast to the photograph of the previous week post processing here does not "make" the photograph nor it takes away its glory by becoming the center of attention of the viewer.

Looking at this I never felt compelled to wonder what kind of PS has been used here? Its one of those works that you do not care, because the photo has a life of its own instead of depending on PS to attract attention.

So picturesque and graphic, yet so far from kitsch or stereotypical

Marina you have my admiration for this result. I will call this a personal favorite. Well done!

I would never even dream of taken such captures as this one, as well as the most of the distinctive images that Marina Cano has achived so far. So congratulations Marina! Now on that partcular, i'll try to add my thoughts. As George mentioned about a successfull post processing, i agree of course...i only want to say i'm curious a bit about the kind of it. But its not really an important thing indeed. What i'd like to mention about aesthetics is that: The sizes of the dark space till the edges of the frame all around, are very similar to the sizes of the limps the bodies and the heads of the zembras. That, i thing increases the abstractness of this image which is already strong due to the patterns on them. This may...i say may...not help the eye to consentrate to the emotional moment. In this point of view i need to add my trust to the aesthetics of the photographer by thinking that there might be a spesific reason for that framing, for example a detracting part of dust to the right or even to the left. And all this saying, by trying not to forget how difficult must be to take this capture. Well, maybe i needed more space as a conculsion. But only my opinion. I may be wrong. Congratulations again for the whole series. Excellent work. Nature's photography in its best!

Without the marvelous tones and wonderful light, this image would have stood out as a great portrait of a family of horses. The combination of the sensitivity of the portrait with the setting almost makes this an allegory. Just a wonderful image, and certainly desrving of the picture of the week honors. A visit to Marina's portfolio proves this is no fluke.

Very nice Zebra combo ! I like the atmospher it presents and the effection the 2 zebra are showing a great capture it is. I do how ever see things that appear to me to be not so great post processing ,the hot white areas on the zebra chin and head , plus on the ground , it also appears to be a fair amount of burning done to mute the light some, it does have a good effect , but to me it looks obvious but not extremely obvious.Also I would clone out the tail thats coming from the belly of the zebra , it looks awkward , removing it would improve the composition , as well as adding more space to the bottom and sides, I think its a bit tight . Congrats On POW !

Great shot Marina!

Finally a truly magnificent photo has been selected for POW!

 

POW, WOW!

I think this is overall an amazing shot. Beautiful subject, perfect lighting. An Excellent image.

Well caught the position of their heads and feet, good placement on the frame, and sepia conversion. Light has an airy feeling. very beautiful image. Congratulation Marina.

Absolutely magnificent! The contrast, background and simply the whole composition is great. I have to agree though that the second zebra's tail should get 'lost' to make it perfect.

If the overall image is shown here as seen & captured through the lens (rather than a product of manipulated post-editing) then this is an exceptionally fine example how important the "decisive moment" can be in photography. While the dramatic lighting, and the Zebra's equally strong markings all help set the stage, it's the dance of the smaller Zebra's hind legs, exquisitely featured within an inner framework of the front legs of both Zebras, that makes this image sing.

my mistake...upon closer look it's a dance with of one the larger Zebra's front legs and one of the smaller Zebra's hind legs...

at any rate, it is the interplay and movement of these within the image that is really striking to me.

I don't understand the lighting. The highlights appear to be back lit, so how do the zebras manage to be front lit? Flash?

I wanted to ask this all along, so thanks Carl for raising the point about the front lighting.

 

Was it shot at night, and the zebras artificially lighted? Or was it in sunlight and processed afterwards? If Marina could enlighten us that would be great - otherwise if someone more knowledgeable than me can chip in that would be appreciated.

 

Marina, very good photo, well lighted (whichever way)and captured.

Thanks to Maribel, Carolyn, Georgios, Kostas, Emmanuel, Robert, Phineas, Carolyn D, Pnina, Joe, Robert, Carl, JH de Beer, for your comments.

 

About light, it's natural without flash. It was taken in June 2006 with the sunlight, cross-light. So I processed afterwards.

 

I thought to remove the tail, but finally I preferred leaving it him.

Vertical & Horizontal lines..... X cellent...dusty highlights..makes so warm...congrats marina cano you have good eyes.

I think I would like to hang this on my wall as a conversation piece. When viewed from a distance, it becomes a puzzle to figure out. Rather like a Rubik's cube. I think I would leave the tail in the under belly of the zebra, just to add to the puzzle.

 

I would love to see the original to find out how you managed to get the light to work this way; that is, to make the zebras stand out against that background of the same color. It has a slight greenish tone to it on my monitor. I think I might like the tones to go just a bit more to black.

 

very interesting treatment of an interesting capture of the animals.

Superb lines, composition, lighting and expression of motion! Simply magnificent! 7/7 and no doubt about it!

Beautiful shot! I really love the black background. The dust and zebras really jump

out at the viewers. Just proves that wildlife photography can be art!

For me this image veers too much towards graphic art. I suspect this is because it has a contrived quality where the lighting is concerned. A bit too much digital manipulation for its own good. Pleasant as the result is I cannot rid my mind of countless similar (painted) images in weekend craft markets and car boot sales. I think it would have benefited vastly from a simpler treatment.

Graceful and energetic. An excellent photo. The general feeling of the photo, for me, is a 'studio portrait' although I understand it was shot with natural sunlight. In other words there's a contradiction, in so far as you have wild animals in a controlled studio setting. That's how the image 'feels' for me. Yes, I also agree about removing the small tail. The next flaw for me, is the pair of legs in the middle/right. They read in an ambiguous way. I first read the two hooves off the ground, as belonging to the same younger zebra, and then I went on to untangle them in my mind. I don't know- maybe that's not a bad thing, but it counters the 'gracefulness' of these beautiful animals, taking my attention away from the flowing lines and excellent graphic qualities.

somehow the unnatural light and all the digital manipulation overwhelms the subjects

As a photograph, it's intriguing - largely because of the combination of backlighting against the dust plus what looks like frontlighting on the animals. It's also rather good fun working out which leg belongs to which zebra. But like David Malcolmson, I'm rather put of by the aesthetics - as David says, it looks like the very worst type of popular painting, what is so often called the Elvis on black velvet approach. This is a matter of personal taste, of course, and there's nothing wrong with popularity. But the essence of popular art is that it shows people what they already know - it takes no risks, doesn't challenge. I se a chance here to push the envelope and challenge perceptions, simply by converting to black and white (which will concentrate attention on the graphic elements) and cropping hard to remove visual clues - in other wordfs, concentrate attention on the which leg belongs to which animal question. As someone else mentioned above, there would then be room for several pictures within this one, and they would hold the viewers' attention longer and more strongly.

Muy plastica Marina, felicidades

Un poco tarde, para variar, he andado fuera un poco liado ultimamente y ya sabes que lo mio es llegar siempre el ultimo :=)

 

Muchas felicidades por el galardon mas que merecido, menos mal que en contra de la lacra de los de los treses, alguien sabe reconocer el talento donde lo hay.

 

Para mi, probablemente tu foto de fauna que mas me gusta, el manejo de la luz es sencillamente alucinante, asi como el momento y la oportunidad.

 

Creo que son muy poquitos los que tienen la medallita dos veces, date un poco de tiempo y caera la tercera, recuerda lo que te dije de la foto de la burbuja :=)))))

 

Lo dicho, muchisimas felicidades y un beso.