To PS or not PS...

I must admit, for a long time, I have been swept along with "The Mob" declaring that anyone that manipulates an image outside of its existing elements (as in deleting or adding elements, adding effects, etc.) is a heretic and should therefore be burned at the steak! I have always prided myself by producing good photography without manipulation and presenting my work in an almost 'straight from camera' condition.

However, over the past couple of years, my attitude has softened. Maybe I am reading too many Steve Bloom books!? A more likely reason is that I just want that little extra return for the investment I put into my travels abroad and will now consider a degree of 'enhancing' for commercial appeal... who knows!? Please don't burn me just yet! Maybe it is better to explain my POV with a couple of images:

This is a reasonable image of a young cheetah chasing a warthog on the Masai Mara plains. I like the shot, but for me it lacks something. It does not quite convey the speed and the drama of the event. In hindsight, I should have used a slower shutter speed and panned with the motion to create a motion blur (as my friend Paul Goldstein keeps telling me! I will try it next time, Paul). Agencies have accepted this image as is, but one day I thought I would have a little play with PhotoShop and see what I could get out of it. Just as an experiment...

The light was pretty dull when I took the shot and I felt it needed a little pick-me-up. I took the image through Lightroom again and adjusted the contrast, white balance, and saturation - to give the image more punch. Then I exported the image into PhotoShop. I wanted to recreate the image that I had in my head and that required some selective blurring.

I have found by using just the marquee or polygon selector and feathering, the blurring is still to indiscriminate. Natural motion blur requires a sharp head and body, with everything else blurred. Following a line within the edges of their outline, I traced around the heads and bodies of the two subjects and copied them to a new layer. I used the Motion Blur filter to blur the entire original layer (to accentuate the movement), and then realigned the bodies over the top. I think the experiment worked well and produced the effect I was after.
Here is the final product. It turns a 'so so' image into something punchy, dynamic, and dramatic - puuurrrrrrrrfect! I certainly won't be doing this very often - it is just too bloody time consuming and I would still rather perfect the image in-camera.

The Rut

The evenings are drawing in, the nights are chilled and the mornings are misty. This can mean only one thing... The Rut is upon us once again! It is time to get out to the deer parks, the New Forest, Bradgate Park, and Richmond Park and get shooting. Get there early to make the most of the atmospheric conditions.

If you don't arrive until mid morning, you will have missed all the rutting action, the gorgeous light, and low-lying mists. After about 10:00am, the deer head for shade, laze around, and graze just until the temperature falls. Occasionally, a passing stag or hind will instigate some action as the dominant stag chases off or herds in, respectively. This really is one of the best times of year to get and photograph wildlife, so don't delay. It will all be over in a couple of weeks!

For more advice on method and technique, check out my Practical Photography article on park deer - click here to read more

Practical Photography Magazine: New Article

For November's issue of Practical Photography, I've produced a brand new masterclass on flight photography. It is an in-depth 10-page study of technique, dealing with exposure, setting up your kit, and the best methods of capturing birds in flight. The masterclass will also provide the foundation to any high-speed action photography that involves panning. Hope you enjoy it... let me know what you think!