Photography – Page 24 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

October 6, 2019

2019-10-06: Feasting Leopard

I said this month was going to be freestyle for my Sunday posts, and as I was going through my catalogue earlier in the week, I was taken by images of this leopard and decided to edit a few to share.

One of the things I love about being in the bush is witnessing some of the drama that unfolds. This sighting was definitely more than met the eye at first glance.

The previous evening, we had very briefly driven to this area, as there was a leopard on an impala kill. It was getting dark though, so we decided to carry on and make this area our first stop the next day. When we headed out on our morning drive from Chitwa Chitwa, other vehicles were already at the sighting, so we had to wait a bit, but when we got there, we found a different leopard on the impala kill. So, sometime during the night, the male leopard that we initially saw left, and this female snuck in to have an easy meal.

Things were made even more exciting by the fact that she had a cub who was also nearby, but you’ll need to check back next week to see some images of the two of them together.

DSCF4403 copy-Edit — While it doesn’t look like there is much left on the impala, it was still a valuable, and free, meal for this leopard.

XT3X3215 copy-Edit — She was really working to gain access to a new spot on the carcass.

XT3X3237 — The tracker on this vehicle had *nerves* of steel. The leopard came down the tree, and paused in front of this vehicle and stared up at the tracker for 5 – 10 seconds before making her way off. It doesn’t sound like a long time, but witnessing it, it sure felt like it. The entire time he did not flinch or move a muscle.

More of this beautiful leopard next week. Until then, wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

October 2, 2019

2019-10-02: Wordless Wednesday

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September 30, 2019September 29, 2019

2019-09-30: Monochrome Monday

It seems like it has been a while since I have played around with tinted monochrome images. This elephants looked good in black and white, but felt better with the warmer, coffee tones you see below. These were taken on different days, but all fairly late in the morning, when the sun was casting harsh shadows. Conventional wisdom says that’s the time to put away the camera, but I’ll keep shooting as long as there is something interesting to look at. The bulk of an elephant and the highly textured skin seem to be able to handle harsh light quite well.

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September 29, 2019

2019-09-29: Photo Art – The Magnificent Seven

This post was originally going to be the big five, but I had images of cheetah and wild dog that I wanted to play around with, so the magnificent seven it is.

One of the reasons I wanted to focus on my photo art this month was to try and learn a bit more about Topaz Studio version 2. I’ve played around with it a bit, and watched some tutorials, but for the workflow I am using, at this stage I will be sticking with version 1. The issue that I was finding is I can’t get files to make a round trip using On1 Photo Raw. I can get the file into Studio 2, and work on it, but the only option for saving is an “Accept” button, which with the workflow I am using, appears to do nothing. I select it, but the file doesn’t get saved, exported or anything else. New software versions are typically a bit buggy, so I’ll give it a few update cycles and then play around with it again and see what happens.

One of the great things about photo editing tutorials is getting the little reminders for things that are outside of the normal workflow. In this case, the reminder was to play around with blending modes when using AI Remix, Impression and textures. For example, the cheetah image below was edited using (amongst other tools) a filter in AI Remix called Neon Rise. But changing the blend mode from normal to luminosity kept the amazing texture that the filter offered, but eliminated the wild and crazy colours for something far more subdued, and suited to the image.

I hope you enjoy the selections below. Wishing you a fantastic week ahead.

You can find some of these images in the Photo Art section of my gallery.

September 25, 2019

2019-09-25: Wordless Wednesday

September 18, 2019

2019-09-18: Wordless Wednesday

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September 15, 2019

2019-09-15: Photo Arts – Birds

As much as I had hoped that my photo art topic would allow me to get comfortable with Topaz Studio version 2, I haven’t actually even tried it yet. Fingers crossed that this week coming up I can make some time to a watch a tutorial or two and get familiar with the program operation, but for now, I have stuck with the original version, and I am really happy with the results of this weeks experiments.

I decided to focus on birds this week, and played around with two basic combinations of software. The sunbird and hornbill were edited primarily using the Topaz AI Remix module, while the rest were done with Impression (along with the usual basic edits to start for tone, cropping, etc.).

Do you have a favourite this week?

I hope you enjoy, and wishing you a great week ahead.

DSCF0865 copy-1-Edit — Lilac breasted roller

DSCF1710 copy-Edit — White bellied sunbird

DSCF1880 copy-1-Edit — White backed vulture

DSCF2554 copy-1-Edit — African wood hoopoe

September 11, 2019

2019-09-11: Wordless Wednesday

September 8, 2019

2019-09-08: Photo Art – Giraffes

I’m focusing on photo art this month, and decided to start things off focusing on giraffes. The easily recognizable shape of a giraffe meant that no matter how far I took the editing, the shape of the animal would still be recognizable as a giraffe.

Since I don’t have any natural talents in drawing and painting, creating these painterly interpretations from the photographs that I take is my opportunity to set aside the need to keep an image looking realistic, and instead focus on what the image is saying to me.

I hope you like my selections for the week; check back next Sunday to see the next instalment.

DSCF0209 copy-Edit — I took this image in a lot of different directions before coming up with this final edit. It is almost starting to resemble a photograph of a giraffe painted on the fabric.

DSCF2515 copy copy-1-Edit — The rosy tint and soft focus effects give this image the feel of a vintage photograph.

DSCF2750 copy-1-Edit — Even though they are enormous animals, giraffes have an amazing ability to blend into their surroundings. I wanted to highlight the camouflage nature of the coat in this edit.

XT3X2698 copy-Edit — This giraffe image reminds me of some of the animal paintings I have seen in old stately homes.

August 31, 2019

2019-08-31: Birds – Shades of Blue

Travelling through southern Africa, pretty much any time of year, will provide the opportunity to see a great variety of birds. Today I chose to focus on ones with feathers in shades of blue. I hope you enjoy the variety of images today, and wishing you a wonderful weekend!