Another Kalahari Queen

[Morkel Erasmus]

Every time I process an image taken with my Nikon D7000, I am amazed at the quality this APS-C sensor puts out. Puts my old Canon 7D to shame, really...:eek3:

This female had newborn cubs stashed near the Dalkeith waterhole in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in November 2011. She had the cubs high on the dune on the Namibian side, but we saw her drinking at Dalkeith almost every day on her own. This was late one afternoon (just after sunset) at the top of the main road overlooking Dalkeith, in the shadow of the dune. She was walking alongside our vehicle for quite a while.

Techs:
Nikon D7000 with Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR-II @ 200mm
f5.6 @ 1/500 SS @ ISO-3200
SB900 flash fired
slight crop and rotation in PP

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Beautiful image and great IQ! Esp at ISO 3200!!! I am envious as a 7D owner :-( though I really like my 7D a lot. Morkel, will I get better IQ if I upgrade to a 1DMK 4 or 5D3?? Have invested in canon lenses so cant make the shift to NIKON!!!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Beautiful image and great IQ! Esp at ISO 3200!!! I am envious as a 7D owner :-( though I really like my 7D a lot. Morkel, will I get better IQ if I upgrade to a 1DMK 4 or 5D3?? Have invested in canon lenses so cant make the shift to NIKON!!!

Thanks, Sanjeev. By no means did I imply that the 7D is a "bad camera"...I got some great images out of mine...it just requires good technique and a specific workflow to get the best out of it. I find it easier to get clean images with good IQ from the D7000. The 7D has the edge ito framerate and buffer size - the D7000 buffer size is a bit limiting if you use it solely for BIF or action images, but I find it a great support body to my D3s in the field.

For sure, there are many folks here on BPN that will attest to the fact that the 1Dmk4 gives great quality images, as does everything I've seen from the 5Dmk3 (you just can't beat a full frame sensor for outright IQ :Whoa!:).

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thanks for your reply Morkel, Canon has just announced the new firmware for 7D that will be released in august, and it looks like a huge upgrade. Wonder if it will do anything to the IQ??
I will most likely trade one of my two 7D's with either the 5D3 or 1D4 in the near future. Artie seems very happy with the 5D3!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel,
good IQ,exposure spot on,excellent clarity on the face.Like the subtle colors here.
I remember Steve saying missing a bit of `oomph `,i would say this the case here.Just a tad.
Did you sharpen these beautiful clear eyes selectively ? If so what settings do you use to achieve this clarity.
Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, not much to add, but very nice, good detail and clarity where it counts. Would be interested to see the IQ when printed at these hi ISO's. I can see andrea's point about a little oomph, but the soft, subtle colours work, it might lose it's charm & character is pushed a bit more.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Morkel - I quite like this. For me, it is all about the eyes and that stare. The subtle tones work well to highlight the eyes. Comp and pose work well too.

TFS,
Rachel

[John Ippolito]

Morkel, certainly a lovely portrait as is - in detail, soft shaded light, and I like the bit of OOF brush in the BG.
I have been experimenting quite a lot with the D800 in various crop modes as well as full frame. In DX mode it is like having a D7000 on board and the IQ is quite nice.

[Rudi van den Heever]

Just love these lion shots in the soft light that you seem to get every time! Super detail and... those eyes!:S3:

I already have withdrawal symptoms - "kalahari siekte"...:e3

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks a lot for the kind comments everyone.
Andreas - I played around with it but came back to this "soft subdued" feel for a change, I felt it better reflected the mood and time of day in the shade of the big dune, and it made the eyes stand out. Regarding the eyes, I only dodged them slightly...

Rudi - I don't always have this kind of light haha - and if you think Kalahari "siekte" (withdrawal) is bad, wait till you feel Mana Pools "siekte" :w3

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Morkel,
WOW, another magic Kalahari lioness in wonderful soft light. Lovely detail and eye contact. All the points have been mentioned above. I have "Mana siekte" after looking at your wild dog images. So on Monday will be making plans for wild dog images next year in Botswana.
Thanks for sharing, thanks for the motivation and best wishes,
Mark.

[Sid Garige]

Brilliant portrait Morkel. Complementing background and great head turn. Excellent post processing too.