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Impala Dawn
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Impala Dawn

by James Campbell

Gallery: WildlifePosted September 28, 2011306 views13 comments
I had been waiting for an opportunity like this for ages - precisely lining up an interesting subject with the sunrise. The idea was to achieve an abstract feel by underexposing (a lot) and being left with the impala fur caught in the sunlight. A subtle shift in either direction meant the contrast was not strong enough for this to work. It also helped that the background to the scene was still heavily shaded, adding additional contrast. I have removed a blade of grass in the foreground that caught the light - not totally unpleasing, but somehow detracting from the simple feel...

Impala Ewes
Nikon D700; Sigma 50-500mm @ 500mm; 1/2000s; f6.3; ISO 200;

Thanks for looking :smile:

Comments

13 comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on September 28, 2011 at 7:42 AM
Impressive image! For me, I find it just a tad too dark and the OOF impala distracting. These are just minor concerns. It is a strong image and I am glad you finally got the combination of animals and light you were looking for. This is an image I feel needs to be seen large to fully appreciate. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on September 28, 2011 at 7:52 AM
I like the effect you were after, but wished that either their rims didn't overlap or there was a single deer.
I wonder why you chose 1/2000 ?
Jagdeep Rajput
Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments
Comment posted by Wick Smith on September 28, 2011 at 8:51 AM
James,
I like it just the way it is. It's a superb capture & I applaud your pre-visualization of it. The thumbnail and the small version don't do it justice. It must be seen large to be appreciated.

Great thinking outside the box!
Registered on June 12, 2009, 91 Posts, 379 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on September 28, 2011 at 9:38 AM
James, this is awesome! If it were only one impala (which would also have been a nice image in its own right) I would have liked to see a rim light at the top of its muzzle as well, but the second OOF mirrored impala silhouette makes up for the absence of that and actually makes that mirrored one 'work'. :toast:
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on September 28, 2011 at 12:06 PM
Ever since the winning polar bear image in the BBC WPOTY awards a few years ago I've seen quite a bit of images that tried to get a similar result. I didn't like most of them, but here I do like the addition of a second subject and the repetition. I suspect, looking at your tech specs, that you still had to considerably underexpose the image in post to get this amount of blackness? Well done.
Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on September 28, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Pretty darn cool. I wish there were a third animal! :wink: It is always good to see creative efforts, too!
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on September 28, 2011 at 2:57 PM
Awesome creation James ! Love it to the core :toast:

Its hard to get one of these guys in such a setting , you bagged two and in synchrony :toast:
Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments
Comment posted by Max Waugh on September 28, 2011 at 3:56 PM
It's an interesting concept, and I think it's fine that there are two of them here. However, I agree with the comment that overall it's almost too dark. Perhaps this is because there's too much black canvas occupying the frame, and the lines are almost drowning in the darkness. I actually think this would be more effective with a tighter crop: either square or at least cropped in from the left and bottom. That would help bring out the glowing contours a bit more, IMO.

Max
Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments
Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on September 28, 2011 at 6:51 PM
Dramatic to the extreme. You have achieved a fantastic juxtaposition of these animals that adds very significantly to overall impact. Wonderful work.

Charlie
Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments
Comment posted by James Campbell on September 29, 2011 at 2:06 AM
Thanks everyone for your comments - some good contructive perspective for me to consider. This image has definately brought out some interesting opinions.
Jagdeep - 1/2000s was simply the speed required to create the underexposed image I was after, if anything , I perhaps could have shot it a little faster.
Marsel - that polar bear image is just amazing! Yes, it still needed further underexposing and then a push to bring the brights back up a little. Andy Rouse shot a lioness in this style, but included the glowing cold morning breath - that, along with the polar bear are my two favourite examples...
Registered on January 12, 2009, 48 Posts, 377 Comments
Comment posted by Paul DeCesare on September 29, 2011 at 3:25 AM
Everyone has posted such intelligent comments to this amazing image, James, not much else to say except


Ba Da BING! :toast: :toast: :toast:
Registered on August 31, 2007, 29 Posts, 202 Comments
Comment posted by Oscar Dewhurst on September 29, 2011 at 4:12 PM
Love the rimlighting, but I agree with Jagdeep that I wish the rims didn't overlap :toast:

Oscar :wavey:
Registered on August 6, 2009, 85 Posts, 502 Comments
Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on October 3, 2011 at 4:29 AM
This works beautifully James! I can see this doing well in the abstract/creative category in competitions! Congrats
:toast:
Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments