In a way, this week’s photo challenge, should have been easy, favorite place? outside. Then I over-thought it and ended up with a muddle of ideas. But this morning, as I sat down to work on some more of my photos from Tanzania, the muddle cleared a bit:
ISO 800 185mm f/18 1/125 sec
These two male lions, probably brothers, were sitting on the side of the road. For this version of the photo, I made some simple adjustments, cropping, a bit of sharpening, and I moved the temperature slider slightly warmer. Really though, I wanted to keep the composition simple and the photo close to what I really saw. I couldn’t resist though, as it turns out, messing around some more. I was just curious about making a black and white version:
ISO 800 185mm f/18 1/125 sec
I used this tutorial to create a custom vignette in Lightroom. There are lots of ways to create your own vignettes and it’s something that I could use some more practice with. I left the lion’s eyes in color by creating two layers in Photoshop, the color layer is the version that is the first photo in this post. The black and white layer was on top, and I just added a mask and painted in the eyes of the lower layer. It took less time to do than to type out this paragraph since it was such a small area.
What do you think of my black and white version? Do you like the eyes in color like that? Does the color version appeal to you more? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
I definitely love your black and white! š
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Thank you very much!
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I like the b & w, Amy. The addition of the golden eyes layer is marvelous. I will try it too.
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Thanks, it’s a fairly easy technique and I enjoy trying it on various subjects.
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I do love the black and white, because their eyes do pop out more. Great photo.
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Thank you very much, this is one of my favorite photos of the trip.
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Very special with the eyes! But love both shots.
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Yes, it is a bit different with the combo of color and black and white. I’m fairly happy with this version though.
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I like the Black and white version wit the yellow eyes.
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Thank you very much.
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I like your B&W and the edits, Amy. And the paw on the back – priceless.
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Yes, that pose was really something else. I was so excited when we pulled up to this scene.
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What an awesome capture. I like both!
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Thank you Amy š
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I like the BW version a lot. The lions shine so much more compared to the colour version which looks a bit oversaturated.
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The tones in the grass, that is what I am struggling with the most in my color versions of this photo.
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The greens did look quite garish…almost like the background becoming the foreground. But overall great work.
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Who would have thought it would be difficult to make the grass look natural? š
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I like the color version best but the b/w version is also interesting. Especially with those eyes!
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Yes, certainly there is something to be said about leaving wildlife in color š
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I like the color version better. There seems to be more depth to the photo. (However I am on my cellphone!)
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That’s not just your cell phone, the black and white version has a vignette on it, so it does have a softer overall feel to it. Thanks for your honest feedback on this.
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Love the “caring” paw on his comrades back!
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Yes, talk about a “pose” that I was just thrilled to be able to capture!
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I like the black and white version and how the yellow eyes add another playful, intriguing dimension. Thanks for sharing how you did this.
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Thank you for your honest feedback on this.
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Pingback: Favorite Place – Sunrise – What's (in) the picture?
A favourite place and trip for you. Fabulous photo.
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Thank you.
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It’s amazing image!
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It was an amazing scene to roll up on.
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I really love both these shots and the golden eyes are great. I had the same thought for this week’s challenge – outside – but then couldn’t narrow it down so went with a gallery of shots! It’s harder than it looks sometimes isn’t it?
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Yes, I certainly over-thought it. Your choice of going with a gallery was a good one.
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Thanks for that!
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I’m torn! I like them both!
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Thank you š
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What a great shot! I like the black and white version a lot. Wildlife spots in Africa were high on my list too š
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Thank you very much.
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Has it been a week already since the last challenge, Amy! Yes, I guess so! Very cozy-appearing duo here. Takes me there. š
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Yes, either the weeks are getting away from me or these challenges are š or maybe both.
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Hah! And me as well. Iām working on my Little Book of Lies manuscript and I keep thinking, Iāll be done this week…and then another week goes by. But Iām getting closer! š
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Yes, I am hoping that this week will be the week I’m back on this blog for real š Hope your project is shaping up nicely.
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Oh, I’m looking forward to seeing more of your blog entries, Amy – whenever you return to it. (No pressure) And, yes, finally this week I am getting close, very close, to having the manuscript done. It’s a strangely exhilarating feeling! All those little stories in my collection neatly working out as I hoped. It must be like your trying different treatments of your particular images until they work just right! š Thanks, Amy!
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Yes, I think that would be a very similar feeling! š
I’m also in the final stages of my Africa book, it should be done by the end of the month, so pretty excited about that too.
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I’m so glad to hear you’re getting close to done on the Africa book, Amy! I was going to ask. Congrats!
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It’s done! waiting for it to print now.
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Yay! Kudos!
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The color of the grass in contrast to the tawny lions spoke to me. I love how one of them has his paw on the other’s back while both turned to look at the camera. You took a wonderful original photo while in Tanzania. Such a sweet example for “Favorite Place.”
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Thank you, this was a great scene to have stumbled across.
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I like the golden eyes effect with subdues greys.
Question: What kind of vehicle do you travel in when on these safaris? The mechanics must be kept right up because I’d hate to have a breakdown in the field with these hungry guys hanging around.
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So, we were using a Land Rover with closed sides. My oldest child, who has some field experience in this area tells me that the most human-animal conflict in the area involves vehicles with open sides. Really, our most important safety thing was a radio that our guide had to keep in touch with other guides and also park headquarters. He also had a cell phone that got reception in this area.
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Both are gorgeous but the BW speaks to me more. It’s unique and very artsy. I am not sure if I mentioned that The Captain lived in Tanzania for two years in the 1990s. It was the highlight of his life.
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Ok, so I forget if I knew that about the Captain. My oldest was doing some research there for a few months which is how I got the opportunity to go.
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Love your capture with his paw on his back, Amy. I would usually go with color in Africa, but I love the black and white. My personal jury is out on the eyes, honestly…guess I am more of a straight monochrome gal. Fun technique and idea.
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Yes, I am a bit back and forth on this as well. I generally speaking like nature images in color, however, I do run into black and white images that make me re-think that. A combination of black and white and color for nature images I tend to be even more hesitant about. Generally speaking, I think there are other subjects that a combination works better for.
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I’m always a fan of color and in this case because it was as you saw it I feel as though I am experiencing it with you. However the layering technique and leaving the eyes is very creative.
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Thanks very much.
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