Got bored, shot Africans!

Irritable_Rabbit

Irritable_Rabbit

Junior Member
Messages
450
Edit My Images
No
As mentioned in my previous thread, Got bored, shot African birds http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=67946 here's the latest from my back porch. Obviously, I'm using my humungously long lens that allows me to take pictures of other continents without straying too far from my own bathroom here in good old Blighty... :)

This time I had some engineers in to fit a couple of 1,000,000 joule flashguns to the top of the house. This was so I could set up some nice portraits and control the lighting somewhat.. Worked nicely but I apologise to the neighbours for the power outages. :shrug: I won't do it again. :naughty:

So here we go... A few of the locals who you could feasibly meet while on safari in the not so darkest regions of Kenya.

Kenya09.jpg


Kenya10.jpg


Kenya11.jpg


Kenya15.jpg
 
1&4 for me. Funny we americans write our weapon number in yellow on the butt too... Anyway the colours are striking!
 
Irritable_Rabbit said:
....here's the latest from my back porch. Obviously, I'm using my humungously long lens that allows me to take pictures of other continents without straying too far from my own bathroom here in good old Blighty... :)
Click to expand...
Well for the extreme focal length you must have needed,
I would say they are pretty damned good! (y)
 
Very good set of images. No2 is my favourite like the composition and colours that are so vibrant. Next no4 for the interesting subject. Scares me and fascinates me at the same time (y)
 
Great colour and processing. ... nice punchy shots. (y)
 
h.r.ford said:
1&4 for me. Funny we americans write our weapon number in yellow on the butt too... Anyway the colours are striking!
Click to expand...

I think the Kenyan armed forces generally follow British military doctrine, but in this case this chap was part of a U.S. sponsored Ranger station. That may have something to do with it even though he is armed with a German made weapon. :thinking:

When I was doing the shoot with him, it was obvious that he was very proud to be a Ranger. (y)

And thanks again for all the very kind comments, I aim to please. ;)
 
I love this entire series, so different from the norm. Love it, and the "aiming rifle" is awesome.

Guessing the US will sell weapons to anyone, hence the yellow number? :D

Gary.
 
Love the colour intensity on these, intruiging thread title too! (y) :)
 
I love all of them except the last one, but that's only because I hate guns! The colours are awesome. (y)
 
Interesting and surprising set, but then I have never been to Northants ;)

Colour looks off to me in 2, it has a strong blue cast. I like the decorated crumpler bag in 2 and the tribal bangle on the soldier. I don't know much about guns tbh but that rifle stock doesn't look very well placed in the shoulder :)
 
the gun is an AK-47(y)
great shots btw:clap:
 
hmm-thought it was...maybe an assault rifle?
 
The gun is certainly not an AK - although Rangers in Zambia do use the Kalahnikov, it's not the best choice for wildlife policing.

Great set Mr Rabbit. I'm guessing number 2 is a young Samburu?
 
bailout said:
Interesting and surprising set, but then I have never been to Northants ;)

Colour looks off to me in 2, it has a strong blue cast. I like the decorated crumpler bag in 2 and the tribal bangle on the soldier. I don't know much about guns tbh but that rifle stock doesn't look very well placed in the shoulder :)
Click to expand...

Northants is not this interesting. It's the huge lens on the kimberly mount I'm using from the back of the house. ;)

And I'm glad you mentioned the colour in number 2. If you are seeing the blue colour in the background then that is 200% intentional. If it is particularly strong on the young Samburu (well done and thank you Mr Grumpybadger (y) ) then that's not quite right as it's not strong on the original, my screen or prints.

It does give me a chance to explain how it was all done in camera with very little post-processing. This is a photo forum and someone might be interested. ;)

It's a very simple technique to use. Has to be for me! All I did was pop a full CTO gel on the flash and set the camera white balance to 3200k. This would mean that anything hit by the flash would have the correct white balance. Everything else being hit by the sun would look colder in comparison due to the 5000k-5400k colour temperature.

Why would I want to do this and risk a blue cast comment? :D

1) The colour temperature difference creates a deep blue sky that is different to the skies you get with a polariser.
2) A cool/warm contrast that along with the sky helps smack your viewer in the face with colour.
3) A contrast that helps emphasise the main subject.

So I've been monkeying around with flash and white balance. All this is part of a two college projects submitted for marking so the blimmin lecturer had better still like the shot when he's grading it all. :thinking:

For all the shots here I have used flash in one way or another.
1) Ambient and one flash.
2) Ambient, one flash and the aforementioned white balance game.
3) Single Flash, second curtain sync.
4) One flash with reflective brolly as main, second flash as fill and very little ambient allowed to leak in.

And yes, it's a H&K G3 7.62mm assault rifle. Good for shooting those nasty poachers. :D
 
Last edited:
Explains the blue cast but I think it affects the guy as well. I have had a quick edit just adjusting the white balance through a dropper reading of the white headband, result below. Also the technique you used with the flash won't cover the grass which results in that having a blue cast in the composition you used.
 
Last edited:
bailout said:
Explains the blue cast but I think it affects the guy as well. I have had a quick edit just adjusting the white balance through a dropper reading of the white headband, result below. Also the technique you used with the flash won't cover the grass which results in that having a blue cast in the composition you used.
Click to expand...


:D In hindsight, a slight blue cast could be expected on the warrior as under the circumstances some ambient was bound to spill on him. I was only using a 580 exII rather than a 500-750 joule lamp on him. Of course that's the kind of gear I'd love to use on location! Another 1/4 cto on top would also have warmed him up somemore. I could certainly cure the blue a little in the raw conversion by adjusting the colour temp up from 3200k to somewhere nearer 3600k, but I was happy with the result, especially when printed, which was the output I was aiming for.

And I know about the grass. :D That's the whole point of just illuminating the foreground subject. Probably a bit similar to HDR around here. You either like the effect or you don't. ;) I'm also not overly concerned with accurate true to life colour rendition. I go for a look that pleases me. In other work not shown here I've done some very odd things to people's skintones. ;) Obviously it doesn't work for everyone. :)

What you have done does look right, (y) but I don't feel it would have the same punch the original does printed up and stuck on the wall along with other images. I'll have to do a double blind test or something with some unsuspecting punters. :thinking:

But thanks for the input. :)
 
Superb (y)

I really miss Malawi, a friend of mine who still lives there just told me she has Malaria, again :( Guess I dont miss it that much :D
 
I just looked back at this and noticed that that you don't have the edit box checked so have removed my edit. Sorry, I should have checked first but have just got used to most people having the box checked.

It is certainly a nice result as is, it just doesn't quite fit with your aim of 'correct' wb on the subject and 'effect' wb on the background but then we are just seeing the web version and you have obviously played with it a lot and edited for the print result.

It is interesting to hear of the technique you used and why you did it and also to see something that is going for a more considered and different result than just 'correct' standard settings :)
 
a lovely set, and thanks for sharing the details about the shots especially no.2 very interesting. (y)
 
bailout said:
I just looked back at this and noticed that that you don't have the edit box checked so have removed my edit. Sorry, I should have checked first but have just got used to most people having the box checked.......It is interesting to hear of the technique you used and why you did it and also to see something that is going for a more considered and different result than just 'correct' standard settings :)
Click to expand...

No problems re the edit. :) I tend to think on people's comments and go do it myself if I want to. Happened recently with one of my previously mentioned skintone adjustments which was a little too radical for some. :LOL:

It is sometimes nice to try something a little different with the colours. It's educational for me and can help avoid a look that's too similar to the perceived normal. Even if the change in camera or with PP is subtle. And sometimes, just sometimes, when I try to nail an idea and don't quite manage it, the end result complete with mistakes or lucky happenstance turns out better than my original thoughts. I'm always happy to go with those ones. (y)

And to the latest posters I noticed since my last visit, spencer, lee, and Betty, along with all the previous people, thank you. :wave:

And to Betty. Malaria. :puke: ouch. I've seen the natives deal with it without drugs and it's not good. I always wondered what I'd do if I was out there for a year. :thinking: Twelve months of Malarone is a bit expensive.
 
Irritable_Rabbit said:
And to Betty. Malaria. :puke: ouch. I've seen the natives deal with it without drugs and it's not good. I always wondered what I'd do if I was out there for a year. :thinking: Twelve months of Malarone is a bit expensive.
Click to expand...

My parents had it when me and my brother were 7 and 3 respectively. We didnt realise the seriousness of it at the time, they pulled through eventually, but Ive just recently learned, they were read their last rights :eek::eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top