Back Lit Leopard

[Arno Ellmer]

This image was created in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park , past September . I was watching this young female leopard patrolling her area one late afternoon .While walking under a tree she suddenly stopped and proceeded to sharpen her nails on the bark of this tree.
I managed to capture her just after the action , as she lowered herself.

I am not a great fan of a square crop , but I wanted to keep the branches on the left ,since I quite liked the way these branches and the tree trunk framed the subject.

Canon 1D X
500mm +1.4x
f/18 ( don't know why on earth I set to f/18 ???!! )
1/320
ISO 1600

All comments ,suggestions and crits very welcome.


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[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Arno,
what a great shot, i feel.Technically very difficult to handle,so i think you done very well.

The pose looks so cool , priceless to me.Like you i am not a fan of square, but i look over it in this case.

Think there is room for improvement in tonality , while keeping the natural light situation, maybe Mr Detail can pop up and leave a comment , think he is having a solution in his pocket.

Only thing i would suggest is removing the little twig , that is growing into the head.

But in general i think a terrific shot , again looks sooooo cool.!!

TFS Andreas

[Tom Graham]

I love backlit shots. As I always say - when you find a backlit shot, take it!!
Square crop for branch framing good for me.
But needs some selective processing on the leopard (and on background?) to separate it from the nearly same background, to make leopard pop a bit.
Tom

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Arno - great pose with the paw on the tree. The comp works for me with the arching trees on the top. You handled the tough backlit conditions very well. I would burn the leaves in front of the leopard slightly and apply a little more selective sharpening to the leopard's head.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

Like the pose and your choice of framing. Certainly could add more pop in PP if you choose but then you might lose the look/feel of the lighting.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Arno, this image gives me a pain to the gut because it's amazing and I've yet to see my first KTP leopard after so many trips!!!
This kind of Kalahari sighting haunts me...
From your file title I see this was at Leeuwdril? I diligently patrolled the area 2 weeks ago but no leopard...:e3
I like the framing by the tree and ground and the square crop works for me here.

I felt that I agree with Andreas' assessment, so here is a repost with the BG darkened slightly and some more contrast added to the leopard. What do you think?

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Arno,
What a wonderful sighting and image. I like your composition and the contrast changes Morkel added, I feel have improved your image. I cannot wait to get back to the Kalahari and this image only makes the wait a lot longer.
TFS and best wishes,
Mark.
:cheers:

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Arno, I like the image and the pose is excellent and very unusual. :cheers:

For me I am trying to get my head around the light and agree with Tom, that it needs some contrast/depth, as I feel it looks like the whole image has be lightened, looks washed out, but I could also be totally wrong. :w3 If it's backlit I would have expected more shadow areas, higher rim light, plus there are no real blacks, more dramatic contrast. I am also a like confused about how the LHS of the curvature of the tree is in slight shadow, but to the right it's not, with a slight lighter area just by the raised paw? For me there is always a trade off with backlit, as you are going for atmosphere/scene rather than detail, so shadow areas can be more defining. The light is coming in from the RHS so the Leopard would be in shadow on the LHS, this again highlight my comment about the arching trunk.

Now I know this is way off what has been presented, but where I am going is to try and show/illustrate what I mean about depth and getting some 'Tonality' into the image, still trying to retain the lovely rim light, no worries about blowing the whites, you would not get any detail in there. I also had to make some assumptions as the image had no profile. BTW what was the compensation + or -?

Hope this all makes sense

Thanks
Steve

[Tom Graham]

Morkel's is better. But here is the best :S3:
Interesting image to play with. It holds so much potential. My first look at original was low contrast/color caused by lens flare. I'm sure you must of had a lens hood on ?
Anyway, this done with curve in lower right corner, plus a little sharpening.


122241

[Steve Kaluski]

Morkel's is better.

Great Tom, if the various RPs show a better direction and it enhances the image and provides more potential for the image to develop then they are doing the job.

Tom, can you therefore do me a favour and expand in greater detail the reasons why, as a one liner doesn't really help those of us who are trying to learn from the various suggestions made. :S3:

Cheers :wave:

[Tom Graham]

"...expand in greater detail the reasons why...."
Which part expand? OP looked "washed out" to me, as if bad lens flare, like a haze over it. Like you said about "dramatic contrast" agree, backlit subjects should have dramatic lighting. .So thinking image needed more contrast and saturation and sharpening. I played in Photoshop with many possibilities - levels, hue/saturation, color balance, and various layer light modes. But "curves" seemed to give closest the result I wanted after playing with it. But might be a tiny bit too much red. And agree OP is not sRGB,
Merry Christmas - Tom

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Tom, information like this I feel helps to understand the thinking and why we do, what we do to an image.

Adding more contrast adds black which in turn adds to the shadows & darker areas and they then can become choked. Mid tones is where you have your detail, agree, the image does also require some USM.

Merry Xmas to you too - Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey folks , i prefer by far Steve`s RP, simply because of the clarity.

Steve - could you go a bit warmer in tones ? Think that comes closer to the colors of OP, which i personally like .

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Sorry Tom/Morkel, meant to also ask, what did you do when you download the file and found it had an untagged profile, how did you approach the file?

[Arno Ellmer]

Hi Arno, I like the image and the pose is excellent and very unusual. :cheers:

For me I am trying to get my head around the light and agree with Tom, that it needs some contrast/depth, as I feel it looks like the whole image has be lightened, looks washed out, but I could also be totally wrong. :w3 If it's backlit I would have expected more shadow areas, higher rim light, plus there are no real blacks, more dramatic contrast. I am also a like confused about how the LHS of the curvature of the tree is in slight shadow, but to the right it's not, with a slight lighter area just by the raised paw? For me there is always a trade off with backlit, as you are going for atmosphere/scene rather than detail, so shadow areas can be more defining. The light is coming in from the RHS so the Leopard would be in shadow on the LHS, this again highlight my comment about the arching trunk.

Now I know this is way off what has been presented, but where I am going is to try and show/illustrate what I mean about depth and getting some 'Tonality' into the image, still trying to retain the lovely rim light, no worries about blowing the whites, you would not get any detail in there. I also had to make some assumptions as the image had no profile. BTW what was the compensation + or -?

Hope this all makes sense

Thanks
Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your repost .This is excellent and a great improvement. I did generally lighten the whole image ,and not selectively , so your comments /observations are interesting.
The EC was -1/3 , correctly or not .! :S3:
Could you be so kind and send me your workflow of how you arrived at this cuurent repost, either here on the forum or in a PM ,if it is too long and boring for others.
For interest and info , herewith the JPEG version of the original RAW file ?
Regards and thanks.
Arno

[Arno Ellmer]

Morkel's is better. But here is the best :S3:
Interesting image to play with. It holds so much potential. My first look at original was low contrast/color caused by lens flare. I'm sure you must of had a lens hood on ?
Anyway, this done with curve in lower right corner, plus a little sharpening.


122241

Hi Tom ,
Thanks for your input/comment/repost.Great improvement allround. Yes ,I was using a lens hood , and EC was -1/3.
Would be interested to follow your workflow to arrive at this end result .Also asked this from Steve.
I am certainly new to successfully processing backlit images.
Sent a JPEG version of the original RAW image to Steve for interest sake.
regards and thanks,
Arno

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Arno, the first BIG issue is that in your workflow the image somewhere is not set up correctly to provide an sRGB file, probably something simple like an unchecked box which I think was the case with Ignacio, however I am still awaiting a reply. The next is getting your WB correct or as close to what you think. I can try to recollect the steps I took, but cannot remember them all, as I tend to flatten parts as I go along when dealing with a RP.

If you wish, you can fwd the RAW file to me via Dropbx and I can then work on that to provide a better workflow. There are parts which are actions that I have had written which I would have to skip, but you would get the overall basics and I would post that here.

Personally I might have set the EC much lower for backlit, but again it depends on what you want.

Lens hoods are a given, no one shoots without them, especially big prime lenses, they have a role to play.

cheers
Steve

email for Dropbox is steve@untamedimages.co.uk

[Tom Graham]

Thanks Arno. I don't work with Photshop a lot, perhaps once a week. So your image was a challenge, I could not go directly to the proper adjustments to make. I simply started playing, as I said in window 11, until I found something I liked. Was rather simple, a simple curve adjustment. I'd now also try taking out a touch of red overall.
Tom

[Steve Kaluski]

Arno, I think it would be good, if when you send the RAW, both Morkel & Tom get it too, as they also added a RP. I can fwd direct to Morkel as we have a link already set-up if it helps. Then once we have worked on the image, added our steps (as full as we can) to what was done, we post simultaneously. I don't think adding % numbers will help ie -5 shadow +10 highlight as this becomes too detailed and partly personal choice, but certainly the key areas worked through. In addition this thread could also be of value in ETL to.

Will await the file later today.

Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Okay, firstly thanks for the RAW file, Arno.

Here's my latest repost from RAW, and here's a short summary of what I did.

1. RAW conversion - cropped as I liked it, and just evened out the histogram so there's no clipped blacks or whites, and applied some masked sharpening.
Also reduced overall clarity on the main slider and painted back some clarity to just the leopard.
2. Resized to 1000px wide. Sharpened slightly.
3. Applied local contrast enhancement - USM 20%, 10px once overall and a second time just on the leopard using a mask at 50% opacity.
4. Increased saturation some more.
5. Dodged midtones and shadows on the leopard slightly - 5% adjustment brush value.
6. Ran Robert's multiplied luminosity layer overall and painted through a mask on the leopard to reduce it's effect on the cat.

Voila...
Now awaiting Steve's guaranteed-to-be superior effort... :cheers:

[Tom Graham]

V nice Morkel. Better than mine.
I like your "lightened" leopard. I thought mine needed same but to lazy to mask it. For masking you simply used a "brush" to mask it? Or is there an easier way when there is detail (hair-fur) on the edge. Or, is it that with low (5-20%) brush setting, not that critical?
Tom

[Steve Kaluski]

Morkel NO WAY, yours has really taken it up a gear and more in keeping with what it should look like. Having no idea when it was shot, now I know 17.50 I wanted to keep it as close to the RAW, as I had nothing to gauge it too, so I kept it cool. using the WD dropper in LR4.3 I got a midpoint value almost 50 across all three channels so that was my starting point. This is FF.

WB set to just 4250 hence the colder blue, 0.15 Exp, +7 contrast, 8 clarity, sharpening output to PS. The only whites & highlights indicated were the burn out rim areas.

PS Curves adjustment, Inverted Curves adjustment, Channel layer adjustment, plus 15 Sat

As the light was strong from the RHS the leopard would be in shadow with no real highlight or indeed light, ditto the tree trunk, no light hitting that either.

So conclusion, two images TOTALLY different in every way. Morkel wins hands down, but a good test and shows how we all see things differently and how we might interpret them. Food for thought Arno, interesting to see where the FP was, had to check it was the 1DX as I had never seen them displayed like that. :S3:

Steve

[Roger Clark]

So far I like Tom's presentation the best as it is a nice improvement but not as contrasty as Steve's try in pane 8. I think it is a great image (wish the stick out of the head were not there). I think the out-of-focus elements in the foreground need to be mitigated. I would do that with a feathered selection and curves to put some contrast where the OOFs robbed the contrast.

This would be a good image to the monthly digital workflow exercise, though maybe it is worked enough here. (Please keep that in mind for future submissions.)

Roger

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks Tom and Steve. I do have the advantage of having been in the Kalahari enough to know what this kind of light in that special place looks like :w3.

Roger - we'll keep that in mind. There have been a few like this and we should actually open them up to a wider participating audience.

Arno - most importantly - what are your thoughts now? :e3

[Steve Kaluski]

Well I did raise the point in pane 19 Roger albeit for ETL, but over to Arno, however I think he would be happy. Sorry Tom you declined the offer, would have been useful to have had three, perhaps next time. :w3

As I said Morkel, do you go with the RAW or move away from the capture, but I'm still not convinced with the light & direction, not the temp? :S3:

[Morkel Erasmus]

It looks like the light was coming from about "2 o'clock" if you view the leopard as "12 o'clock" on a fictional clock. Some of the light would also then be filtering through on our side of the tree.

Thus to me it's more side-light than backlight, and sidelight in the Kalahari I've found to create a nice warm glow (not always captured by the camera depending on the brand and the WB setting). So I went with that in my interpretation of this image. Arno can confirm or deny that this was the case?...:S3:

[Tom Graham]

Morkel - I'd still like to know your technique for masking. Simply using a "brush" I find rather tedious :S3:
Tom

[Morkel Erasmus]

Morkel - I'd still like to know your technique for masking. Simply using a "brush" I find rather tedious
Tom

Apologies, Tom...missed your question (it was late at night when I was hogging this thread :e3)...
I use various methods. Brushing is one - setting a light opacity (20%) and brushing carefully. Another easier option if you have a subject that's easy to select using the magic wand or lasso (ie not too busy surroundings) is to select it roughly, feather the selection and then just click on the top layer, and click on the mask icon - this will mask according to your selection. If the mask has "punched through" the wrong part (ie you want it applied to the leopard but it's applying it to the BG) then just invert the mask and if necessary then adjust mask opacity and voila. :5

[Steve Kaluski]

If the mask has "punched through" the wrong part (ie you want it applied to the leopard but it's applying it to the BG) then just invert the mask and if necessary then adjust mask opacity and voila. :5

In the Industry it's known as Reveal or Conceal. :S3:

[Arno Ellmer]

Wow ,guys , I have been away from my PC for about a day and when I returned I picked up the thread with the very interesting responses.
Firstly , Thank you sincerely Steve and Morkel for doing your PP on the RAW image.
Just shows you how different approaches can all produce an awesome end result as both images have shown.
Do I have to appoint a winner ? They are BOTH winners and both showcase awesome PP capabilities.
As Morkel said , knowing the Kgalagadi and it's magic light the warmer image of Morkel more accurately portrays the real light situation.
It was late afternoon , about 30 min before sunset.
Morkel ,I cannot recall the exact position of the sun relative to the cat ,but your assumption is probably quite accurate.
I have to study and absorb the vast amount of PP info disseminated so kindly and freely here ,which I will do in the next few days.
Thanks again guys , for giving so much of your valuable time on this subject. :cheers:

[Morkel Erasmus]

A pleasure, Arno - shout if you want some more clarity on any of the steps we outlined. :5

[Tom Graham]

Another bit of PP I would do especially to this image, because of its light BG in lower half , is what the worlds greatest printer did with most of his images. Ansel Adams' book "The Print" page 110, "Edge Burning", "..... helps to hold the eye within the format". Burn/darken just slightly, 5-10%, "....the viewer should not be conscious of it."
Tom

[Arno Ellmer]

Another bit of PP I would do especially to this image, because of its light BG in lower half , is what the worlds greatest printer did with most of his images. Ansel Adams' book "The Print" page 110, "Edge Burning", "..... helps to hold the eye within the format". Burn/darken just slightly, 5-10%, "....the viewer should not be conscious of it."
Tom
Thank you Tom , for all your valuable suggestions and input. Very much appreciated. Will try and trace the publication.

[Arno Ellmer]

I wish to thank you all for the great response, valuable input and good guidance, suggestions and recommendations. It has been very valuable and informative.