Malawi

[Neilmac50]

I've been looking in my old catalogue of photos from my time in Malawi three years ago and had a go at re-processing some of them as I feel my knowledge has progressed since then.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Manfred M]

Great series, Neil. The one thing I wonder about is the B&W conversion (not seeing the colour images, it's hard to say). I suspect the group images might be better off in B&W, but I'm a bit surprised that you converted the shots of the lions as well. You were so close to the animals and the background is nicely out of focus, I can't help wondering if colour might not have resulted in stronger images.

[Downrigger]

Very appealing set, well captured and processed - hard to pick a favorite. I like your B&W PP very much - you have eschewed the common tendency to push contrast and fine detail aggressively and I think your subjects benefit from that restraint in these great images.

Like Manfred, I'd find it interesting to see how the images started in color, - but that's a common curiosity for me when B&W is posted (and often I'd like to see the RAW when color is posted - for that matter). But unlike Manfred I'd guess that I would prefer the lions as you have them here.

[Neilmac50]

Thank you for your comments on this series,the first lion image is of Tango who at that point was around 7 months old, being a white lion there was little difference between b&w and colour! The second lion image is of Amayi at that time a 2 year old female and I must admit this was taken late afternoon where the light was of that golden hue.

[Manfred M]

Thanks Neil, both versions work well and personal preferences are, well personal. In this case, I do prefer the colour version as I find that the B&W conversion does not do justice to the big cat's eyes.

[bnnrcn]

Great images, I prefer the coloured version of the big cat too

[Downrigger]

Right. Beautiful light. For me, still a tough call. Here's how I think of it, but I am not sure why... Picture of lion: Color. Portrait of Lion: Black and White. And for me, this is a portrait, in that presents a character, not a creature.