The Leap

[Rachel Hollander]

Another of the 8 month old male leopard cub taken in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa.

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 100mm
1/1000
f4.5
ISO 800
EC +.67
HH from safari vehicle, cropped from bottom to 16x9, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, dropped exp of bg, sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Nancy Bell]

You captured a wonderful mid-action moment! The leopard dropping in from the upper left hand corner really adds to the feeling of movement. I like the power shown by the braced front leg and the toes of a hind leg, really making me feel the push of the leap. The face and eye are perfectly clear of vegetation and nice and sharp and full of intensity. For me, I would try cloning out those pale branches behind the elbow of the outstretched leg, and maybe some of the other bkgd pale branches. The leaf in front of the outstretched leg is too bad, but not a real issue at all for me as I can still see the pads and curled toes.

[Douglas Bolt]

One determined leopard. The leaves don't cover anything important to the image, IMO.

[Morkel Erasmus]

You caught him nicely in the clear, Rachel (at least the parts that matter), and I like the framing/crop presentation...
As with others in this series, it's lacking a bit for me in terms of vividness (and I know the conditions were dreary).

Perhaps just a slight boost in midtone and highlight levels/curves, and a touch of warmth without losing the essence of the conditions?

[Russell Johnson]

Techs are there as usual, Rachel.

Personally I would ike to see more warmth through the image.

[Arno Ellmer]

Great mid air action ,Rachel. Pity about the leaves and twigs.Agree that some warming would improve the image.Good comp and well presented.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Rachel.
Here's a repost.
I went for a few steps here:
1. cooling filter on branches (masked leopard)
2. slight color balance adjustment towards magenta and yellow channels
3. dodging midtones and shadows and highlights on the leopard
4. hint of midtone contrast
WDYT?

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone. Morkel, thanks for the rp and the description of what you did. I like it and will have a go at it.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

My pleasure Rachel - I worked quickly so some of the dodging etc came out sloppy... :e3 ... but you get the idea.

[Brendon Cremer]

Great image Rachel, a little late to this one, but i really like Morkels RP, offers some great tips and adjustments.

[Andrew Merwin]

Great action captured here Rachel. I think Morkel's RP takes it up a notch.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, nice capture and I like the 'mid' jump pose.

I would look to reducing the yellow overall, tweak the greens for a little more life and just open the leopard up with a Curves and brightness adjustments.

Just my take. :w3

TFS
Steve