Emulating a master photographer

[jonnydramashot]

I was curious if anyone has heard of or seen Thomas Mangelsen's stuff (www.mangelsen.com). He is a premier nature photography with an amazing ability take pictures with high color saturation. I was curious if anyone knows how exactly he does this. I know it's not just simply modifying color/contrast or color saturation in photoshop. Is it HDR or very complicated masking? I would love to be able to take photos that have the detail and rich color his has. Thanks

Jon

 

[Overread]

could you link to a few examples of what you consider his high contrast examples - only I am looking through his work and whilst I see some fantastic work, I don't see any that appear to have the appearance that you describe

edit o found one:
http://www.mangelsen.com/store/Limi...ca_Birds___Jewel_of_the_Serengeti___2758?Args

myself I would say this shot looks like it was taken in good lighting (background hints that it was slightly overcast probably - aiding in diffusing ambient lighting) and then it was tweaked in photoshop. High quality and fast prime lenses will also help with giving a contrast boost (depending on the lens) straight from camera. I seen this myself when comparing a 70-200mm f2.8 L and 300mm f2.8 L

That and a lot of practise and skill

 

[tsaraleksi]

Yeah most of the work I'm seeing is high quality, with good saturation and contrast, but nothing out of the ordinary: it is the subject matter, composition, etc etc that make his work. I think a lot of the color in the images comes from the time of day, I think.

 

[Overread]

I would even say that compared to someone like Juza (I know very few "pro" photographers ) that Thomas Mangelsen is actually quite reserved when it come to high contrast and saturation
http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/photo_galleries.htm

 

[Mike_E]

From looking at the twig the bird in Overread's link is sitting upon I'd say the sat level was bumped a fair bit.

 

[ksmattfish]

I know it's not just simply modifying color/contrast or color saturation in photoshop.

How? Notice the obvious saturation pump up between the normal fine art poster called Catch of the Day, and the limited edition version. Some of the photos have saturation that doesn't look particularly real.

Good light, good exposure, good processing, good printing, maybe a polarizing filter.

 

[AlexColeman]

How? Notice the obvious saturation pump up between the normal fine art poster called Catch of the Day, and the limited edition version. Some of the photos have saturation that doesn't look particularly real.

Good light, good exposure, good processing, good printing, maybe a polarizing filter.

Agreed.

 

[craig]

I have met Mangelson (I used to live in Jackson, WY) Basically it comes down to his $25,000 worth of gear vs your $2,000 set up.

Best solution is to shoot slide film. It will eventually give you the colour and contrast that you are looking for. And save you thousands of dollars.

Love & Bass

 

[Overread]

a decent midrange body and something like a 300mm f4 L lens along with good editing should be able to get a similar effect. Remember that much of that budget is going to be on the very long and top range lenses - things like 500mm and 600mm lenses which for most people take a very very long time to save for and are those focal ranges are almost essential for much of the small bird photography. However if you work at hides and also in zoos/parks and such you can get much closer and thus not need the super ranges - then it comes down to your editing.
I am certainly not discounting film, but simply putting that its not the only rout

 

[dxqcanada]

Taking stunning images can be influenced by:

High quality lenses (superior multicoatings, ...)
Imaging material (ie slide film, print film, digital ...).
Post processing (ie printing quality)
Knowledge of the limitations of the imaging materials

and most important ... mastering light and knowing your subject (this is built by experience).

Just a change in the type/angle/colour of light can make a so so picture into something more stunning.