When I set out to take photos, I often think first about which cameras I am going to take with me. When the answer includes my Canon 50D, the next question is which lens to bring. For my trip to the Serengeti, the answer included my 70-200mm lens, which broadly speaking, was chosen to help me get close up photos of animals that were a bit farther away from our vehicle. However, there were times when after taking a closer shot at 300mm, I would put the lens to 70mm to get a shot of the animal in its environment. And what a beautiful environment it is. This week I was editing one of those shots:
ISO 1000 70mm f/14 1/2000
This version shows the giraffes we had been watching amble away from us in black and white. Here is a color version:
ISO 1000 70mm f/14 1/2000
Both of these versions were edited first in Photoshop. I did my basic edits there, cropping and sharpening. Then both were sent back to Lightroom which I use for cataloging my photos. Lightroom is also a fairly powerful editing software package and I often use it on its own. For these photos though I have used the plug-in, Google Nik Collection. I’ve added the link to the free plug-in version that I used. The top photo started in the Silver Efex Pro and the bottom in the Analog Efex Pro. The plug-in has a lot of nice preset options which I think are good starting points for further editing.
At this point, it would be fair to ask why I have chosen this image for a post called Silence. These giraffes were amazingly quiet as they made their way through the landscape. We were quiet too as we were watching. Well mostly. Our driver was cleaning the windshield. The noise of the wipers attracted the attention of the giraffes. They stopped to take stock of the situation before deciding to move on. It was a reminder to me that these animals depend on all their senses to stay alive. It was an interesting moment, and I got a few photographs as well.
What do you think of my edits? Do you have a preference for either version? At the moment I’m happy with both. The lens used here is not generally used as a landscape lens. Do you sometimes use lenses outside of there “intended” range?
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
Enjoyed reading this and all yout techniques. My preference is the colour image because you have such gorgeous shades in there. Thank for the link. My macro is quite good at times for cityscapes
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A macro lens for cityscapes, now there is something I haven’t ever thought of, thanks for mentioning it.
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I really like the black and white version – it seems to have more depth
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Thank you, I also used a curves adjustment to adjust the white balance which I think helped with the depth in the photo. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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Adjusting curves makes such a difference in black and white edits! My preference is the monochrome version too. ☺
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I was just looking at a little tutorial this week about it and so gave it a whirl 🙂
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I think that this is a perfect image for the challenge. It screams silence so beautifully. I like the color version better because it feels like I could walk right into it and have the gentle winds blow through my hair as I stand silently observing the majestic scene so as not to disrupt it. The black and white is lovely, but doesn’t beckon to me in the same way
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Thanks for your thoughtful response on this. It was a beautiful scene. The color edit was a bit of challenge to me because I was not only trying to represent the actual scene but also the feeling of the moment.
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Well your succeeded 👍
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Agree with Laura. I like the coloured version, and I think the lightness of the foreground brings out the dark sky. Brilliantly framed too. So true that we have to be selective about what camera gear to take with us when we’re on the road. I used to go out with a mirrorless. Being a small person, that actually got hard to me to carry and these days I carry a point and shoot – unless someone is there tagging along and doesn’t mind carrying my gear 🙂
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Ah yes, who doesn’t need a sherpa? I agree though, that a lot of times the weight of my gear is a factor when it comes to deciding what to bring. It is unusual for me to bring more than one lens when I will be walking, for example. However, because we were in a vehicle, I had the opportunity to bring two lenses.
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Two lenses are usually ideal because you just can’t predict what you are going to shoot until you see it. But you also don’t want to bring something and don’t use it, and it drags you down and makes you tired.
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I agree, and in this case, it was both easy and possible to have two lenses.
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Both photos are really good. You used beautiful colour composition in your colour photo. Therefore, my favourite is black and white giraffes, maybe because I love black and white photos.
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Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
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As a kid, I had many dreams of going there to shoot for NG.
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Yes, it was one of those trips that envokes the whole NG photographer dream 🙂
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Both pics are nice😊
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Thank you for your kind comment.
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Wonderful images, Amy. I especially love the B&W. It seems a bit more silent than the colour. 🙂
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Thank you, black and white to me has always been more likely to conjure up the idea of silence.
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Nice…
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Thank you.
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We just need to colour to see the grass is mostly brown, but the B&W image is very striking, Amy. I’m too old to lug my DSLR and lenses around much! I can still have fun with my Sony RX100M2 and my Canon SX50HS which zooms to 500mm. The latter weighs less than half the DSLR with two lenses. Of course, the iPhone is ALWAYS with me, and very adaptable 😉
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Thank you for your thoughts on this. It was easy to take multiple lenses on this trip because I was based in a vehicle for all my shooting. The only lugging I had to do was at the airport, so much easier in that regard than most of my trips. I also had my iPhone with me and got some very nice shots with that as well. I pretty much always carry that too.
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K- that is a good point about the color image revealing grass color – glad I read this it changed my view a little
🙂
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Agree that Ken’s comment also made me look at this photo in a new way.
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isn’t that fun when this happens.
and great pictures do this – ha
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Or maybe it just takes a great viewer 🙂
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that was so sweet and I hope Ken reads it…
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🙂
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Amy
such an interesting point about how the giraffes depend so much on all of their senses…
reminds us how vulnerable they are – and maybe we are too –
anyhow, I like both images but after reading K’s comment I think I favored the color one – there is something vertical behind the giraffe on the left and the color version shows this a little better – ya know?
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Yes, we are all vulnerable, even when we really don’t like to think about it 🙂
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🙂 so true…
and a while back I saw some videos of giraffes running – thunderous – and well – this was silent and so calm compared to that
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The edited version looks really good, Amy! I should be using the Efex more often. 🙂
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Thanks Amy, I do like Efex, for me it is a very nice starting point for creative editing.
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Oh! Those clouds, Amy. They look somewhat menacing. Was it thinking about rain, or just an average day out on the savanna, with distant clouds. 🙂 Looking forward to more of these photos from your trip!
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Yes, those clouds were far off and never made it to us. They did, however, make for a beautiful backdrop for the giraffes. This link is to the 100 photos that are my better shots, none have been edited in this album, feel free to look, or not. Some will eventually turn up in edited form here and on Instagram.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/marantophotography/albums/72157691053668384
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Thank you for the link! I would be glad to take a look. I can see what you mean about the clouds being a backdrop for giraffes. 🙂
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🙂
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Your photos take me back to Africa Amy. So gorgeous each o them. I totally agree that the giraffes can be ever so silent.
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I love looking through the photos too, such a nice memory.
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I love the color version. Our winter is white and black, but mainly white, so I love colors.
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Thank you very much, I can see how this time of year, you would love color 🙂
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