Eye contact

[Hilary Hann]

After greeting his brother, this lion turned to look at us quite intently for a short while before heading off to find a good resting place.
Ngorongoro Crater

7D; 300mm + 1.4; ISO400; 1/640 @ f8

Kept him central because of his direct eye contact, slight crop.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Hilary,
good look into the face of the subject with the nicely lifted tail , makes this for me.Lovely background that isolates the main subject.

Some minor issues for me here, the blacks are too choked for my eyes,think the image could be a tad lighter in the mid tones , but with more tonal contrast.I would also run more usm on the lions themselves.

Composition is working for me.

TFS Andreas

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Andreas, I'll look at the blacks again. Lion sharpness looks ok on my monitor on the full file but I'll check as it does look a little softer here.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Hilary - the centered comp works for me here and it's nice that the lions aren't intersecting. I like the raised tail and also the fall off to the bg. Good suggestions by Andreas.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Hilary, I quite like the openess of the image, (breathing space) and the look to camera.

If you do any tweaks I might just look at making the whites a little warmer rather than cooler, less bluish, I think it just lifts the whole image and retains that nice warm light overall.

Nice to see you back posting here again.

TFS
Steve

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Rachel and Steve. I've prepared a number of images over the past few weeks (months!) but I can see so much that I'd improve that it seemed pointless to post them. That's the trouble as you become more self critical and aware.

[Jamie Douglas]

Thanks Rachel and Steve. I've prepared a number of images over the past few weeks (months!) but I can see so much that I'd improve that it seemed pointless to post them. That's the trouble as you become more self critical and aware.

It's a fine line Hilary. Be careful not to allow yourself to become too self conscious :S3: I went through that phase when my processing started going backwards.

I think you did a fine job here but I might be tempted to reduce the magenta in the BG and sharpern the male's face a little.

Jamie

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Jamie

[Morkel Erasmus]

I too love the 'space' here. As well as the depth with the "crater" BG, lovely.
Great light too. Some good suggestions made already, Hilary! I for one would love to see you post more - we'll be gentle :w3.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Morkel, it's ok I don't need the 'gentle' so much as less of the 'self critical'. Or I need more 'ego' to think my images are worth showing … who knows! :bg3:

Or more safaris ...............

[Rachel Hollander]

Hilary - I don't want to take your thread completely off topic but I think you are much too tough on yourself and your images. I always value your contributions here and enjoy seeing your images. I think a lot of choosing what to post is dependent upon why someone posts. I post to improve both my image making and my pp so I tend to post images I am happy with and thinking of printing (to get that final tweak) and shots I am unsure of but think I can learn from or want other more critical eyes to see. I think there are others who do as I do. Some people seem to only post their perceived best images to see what others think of them. There are also some who only post images they are unsure of. Then there also seem to be some who post images more to promote their workshops than for participating in the critique process and community. As I often tell people, I have learned more in my 2 years on BPN then anywhere else both regarding image taking and pp. I believe that my education has been equally enhanced by posting my own images for critique and by reading and subscribing to threads about others' images. I for one hope you post more often.

Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

I for one hope you post more often.

I would second that Rachel, you have a lot to offer Hillary in all aspects and WE can all learn from your contributions both in terms of your images and your feedback.

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Rachel and Steve. It has been a hard few months for all sorts of reasons. We'll see if I have anything which I think is interesting but I am my own worse critic. :w3

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hilary - I don't want to take your thread completely off topic but I think you are much too tough on yourself and your images. I always value your contributions here and enjoy seeing your images. I think a lot of choosing what to post is dependent upon why someone posts. I post to improve both my image making and my pp so I tend to post images I am happy with and thinking of printing (to get that final tweak) and shots I am unsure of but think I can learn from or want other more critical eyes to see. I think there are others who do as I do. Some people seem to only post their perceived best images to see what others think of them. There are also some who only post images they are unsure of. Then there also seem to be some who post images more to promote their workshops than for participating in the critique process and community. As I often tell people, I have learned more in my 2 years on BPN then anywhere else both regarding image taking and pp. I believe that my education has been equally enhanced by posting my own images for critique and by reading and subscribing to threads about others' images. I for one hope you post more often.

Rachel

Really true wording here, Rachel.
Would just second that.

Cheers Andreas