Weekly Photo Challenge: Beloved

There is a story behind every photograph:

ISO 1000 173mm f/16 1/200

In this case, it is a story of a young zebra napping near its mother:

ISO 1000 90mm f/16 1/200sec

Then a car starts, and nap time is over:

Getting there…

Swinging into action

What?

Almost

For this story, I have left the smaller images of the zebra composing himself in their original as-shot state. The two larger images I have edited. They have been cropped and sharpened.  This past week or so, I have been experimenting with curves in Photoshop instead of levels which is my usual go-to for white balance. Earlier in the week, I had been using curves to get a black and white image to pop a bit, so it wasn’t really a stretch to see how that might also work in a color image of a zebra.

I created the first image as a stand-alone, and I think it works on its own.  The images taken together though tell a story. To some, it may have an aww factor since it includes a young animal. To others maybe it tells the story of a mother’s care for her offspring. For me, it is also an expression of my love for wild places. On a more practical note, it is also a bit of wild for the wildcard in week 5 of my Dogwood challenge. What, if anything, does it mean to you? There are a lot of ways to correct or creatively edit white balance, do you have a favorite?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!