Photo of the Day

Lioness in a Tree

Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa. November 2010

Nikon D3, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/400 @ f/7.1, ISO 800

Photo of the Day

Rhino and Oxpecker

Mala Mala Game Reserve, South Africa. November 2010

Nikon D3x, 200-400mm f/4 VR, 1/640 @ f/4, ISO 800

Photo of the Day

Metsi the Leopard

Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa. November 2010

Nikon D3, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, 1/250 @ f/3.2, ISO 3200

Photo of the Day

Daughter of Mambirri, chasing a warthog

Nikon D3x, 200-400mm, 1/640 @ f9, ISO 800

What a wonderful morning today at Exeter River Lodge here in the Sabi Sands. We followed this subadult female, and she stalked and attempted a kill of a family of four warthogs. She missed, but she got darned close. I knew that I was going to have autofocus issues in the tall grass, so I stopped down to f/9 just in case the autofocus point missed the mark during the chase. I am very glad that I did, as I needed all of the depth of field I could muster in an attempt to also get the warthog’s shape in the frame. I didn’t use my D3, primarily because I wanted a larger file to crop from in case the chase happened in another direction from me. Awesome day, and I still have yet to post images from the past 3 days.

Photo of the Day

Lioness and her CubSabi Sands, South Africa. Nov 2010Nikon D3x, 200-400mm, 1/800 @ f/4, ISO 400

Today was a mildly warm day, which is unusually cool for this time of the year, so we took advantage of the cooler weather by heading out of camp early to take advantage of the soft light overhead. We tracked a pride lions into the thick bush, and had a difficult time getting any clear shots of them. After an hour or so we only came away with a few useful images, however we loved watching this adult female track vultures overhead. She was quite attentive and wouldn't take her eyes off of them.

I enjoy photographing big cats when they look upward, as it opens up the shadows beneath their eyes, and it also shows that my subject is interested in something. Sleeping or lazy lions doesn't make for good photography, so one has to find other poses to help get good photos.

Another Safari Begins

I arrived last night into Johannesburg, South Africa, and I am taking the day off for a day of rest today. Tomorrow I head to the Sabi Sands for another safari, my last of 2010, and we will be spending our time with leopards and lions as our primary subjects. We are, of course, opportunistic photographers, and will photograph whatever presents itself in front of our lenses. This safari is a unique one for me, in that this is the first time in quite a few years that I have lead a small group of photographers: 7. I will operate the safari out of only 2 Land Rovers, and every person on the trip will have his or her own row.

My gear for this safari is fairly spartan:

• Nikon D3
• Nikon D3x
• Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR
• Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR
• Nikon 1.4x teleconverter
• Sony NEX-5 for grab shots and video
• Gura Gear Kiboko bag

After 8 nights in the Sabi Sands (Exeter River Lodge and Mala Mala Main Camp), I will be spending a few more nights at Tswalu in the Kalahari Desert (hello, can you say freaking HOT at this time of the year?). If you are familiar with Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet, you know the place. This is a scouting trip, and I am sure it is going to be a worthwhile extension.

I may have the time to post some of my daily photographs from bush, provided I have the time to do so. Stay tuned!

Yours truly on Nik Radio

If you have 47 minutes to spare, you can tune in to Nik Radio for a recent interview of me. Host Scott Sheppard and I have a fun chat about my safari and workshop business, Gura Gear and some other fun topics.

Nik Radio interview with Andy Biggs, streamed

Nik Radio interview with Andy Biggs, on iTunes

My favorite Photoshop Plugin: Nik Software's Viveza 2

I have been chugging along as a happy Adobe Lightroom guy for the past 4 years (since the beginning of the public beta program), and I really thought I had all of the control I needed within 1 application. Well, that changed a few months ago when I downloaded a demo of Nik Software’s Viveza 2 plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom. I am not stupid when it comes to complex masking techniques in Photoshop, but I really don’t enjoy the process and I the process just takes too long.

I don’t want this to be a formal review of the product, but rather I would like to quickly illustrate what a before and after may look like with a few challenging images of mine from Botswana.

Image #1

Challenges: overall contrast, subject is too yellow, need subject to pop from background and surroundings

Solution: I added control points in all corners and darkened the corners, I cooled off the background to make the leopard have both a hue and luminance contrast when compared to background (leopard is warm and background is slightly cooler, and leopard is brighter than background), and I increased the contrast on the leopard. Oh, and I also slightly desaturated the leopard, because big cats tend to look too yellow / orange when the global saturation is increased in an image.

Before

After

Image #2

Challenges: Similar to the image above, I had issues with overall contrast, subject is too yellow, need subject to pop from background and surroundings

Solution: Similar to the image above, I added control points in all corners and darkened the corners, I cooled off the background to make the leopard have both a hue and luminance contrast when compared to background (leopard is warm and background is slightly cooler, and leopard is brighter than background), and I increased the contrast on the leopard. Oh, and I also slightly desaturated the leopard, because big cats tend to look too yellow / orange when the global saturation is increased in an image.

Before

After

I am now evaluating Nik’s newest offering: HDR Efex Pro. There are definitely circumstances where I can use such a tool, and based on my experience with Nik’s Viveza 2 I am certain that I am going to be happy with it. I am currently a user of Silver Efex Pro 2.0 for all of my black and white work, and I am finding new ways of working on my images right now. It’s a great feeling to see that I can get the quality that I need in a short amount of time, without all of the long steps of complex masks in Photoshop for each and every adjustment.