On the Prowl

[Brendon Cremer]

The lioness known as Maditobolo, walking through the misty plains of Duba Island, fixated on the herd of Buffalo, just starting to get moving in the nead distance,

Duba Plains, Okavango Delta, Botswana

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[Steve Kaluski]

Brendon, is pre or post what Morkel & I have seen?

cheers
Steve

[Nancy Bell]

Very beautiful golden light filling the entire image. I especially like the way it rims the ears, side of the face, and back of the lioness and catches the surrounding grasses. The intense stare and concentration is captivating. I believe you could bring out more detail in the lioness, but not sure if this is what you want.

[Loi Nguyen]

Brendon, certainly a unique and beautiful image. You handled the exposure really well here. There are enough details on the right side of the lion while the golden light streaming from the left. There is a steak of something on the lion body. Not sure if it is an artifact from PP. Loi

[Brendon Cremer]

Brendon, is pre or post what Morkel & I have seen?

cheers
Steve

Hi Steve, sorry i forgot to mention, i added a little more contrast to the lioness and a little selective sharpening to her face. WDYT?

[Mark Dumbleton]

Stunning image! Light makes it dramatic!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Brendon, this for me is one of those images I keep coming back to, plus one I keep challenging my thoughts on.

If I assume you are shooting into the light, then I would expect the side of the visible lioness to be more 'in shade', but there is an even light across the body?
Should the darker areas have more 'contrast' in them, ie a more larger scale of blacks to sites? By doing so it looses that 'dreamy/airy' feel.
At ISO 500 I would expect less 'grain' with sharper/crisper detail, so has the image in part, been lifted to give detail even at -0.67? For me if it's back lit then you would have more prominence in that look of the image with less detail, something I think we may see in another members work in the coming weeks? If you get another chance try say -2 or more, however each camera is different and so it may take less or more in EV to push more of that 'ring of fire'.

Brendon, without seeing the RAW I can only surmise and pose the question above because I just don't know and so I'm curious. :S3: Overall I like the look of the rich yellow/golden colour (gorgeous light at 7.00am) along with the stalking pose, reminds me of an old Cadbury's Flake advert, but before your time. :w3 I like the comp, but also wonder about my love of a 16 x 9 too. I might just crop that dark fine branch that runs up on the LHS starting at the cap 'B' as it looks like a crack in the mirror box. :bg3:

TFS
Steve

[Markus Jais]

Beautiful lion shot with very good composition. I like the colors and warm light as well as the stare in the cat's eyes.

Markus

[Brendon Cremer]

Thanks very much all, much appreciated. Steve i hear you 100%, i did lighten her a little if i remember correctly, i love posting these type of image here because it is really one of those that could go many ways, and i love to hear peoples opinions.

[Steve Kaluski]

Guess it's an old pair of eyes, I think it's they way you lightened her and the feeling of more shadow missing? Would be interesting to see it without any, and just go for the mood, even if it was a fraction I might have just left it?

Cheers, thanks for the response back, helpful. :S3:

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image very much indeed i love the rim lighting, but I feel it is lacking a little contrast, perhaps the fill in is a little high??

[Brendon Cremer]

Thanks again guys. Steve just been busy with a few things, will work a little on the image this afternoon from raw again with not lightening of the lioness and RP just for interest sake :w3

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Brendon - beautiful golden light and the low pov is just great. Love the stalking pose and the rim light effect. I do hear what Steve and Jonathan are saying about the contrast/lightening and this is one of those images that it might be worth trying a few different versions to see which best displays your vision.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Brendon, I would just try doing all your PP in RAW and leaving anything else in PS out, apart from cropping/sharpening/saving for web. Unless you do a channels/curves/levels adjustment twice to balance things in the form of adding 'contrast' (the correct way LOL) then I would leave it. Could well be wrong, just a hunch from the OP.

[Brendon Cremer]

Heres a RP, i reworked the raw in raw format only no PP with no lightening of the lioness and with a little more allround contrast and clarity.

131493

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Brendon,
great colors , exciting pose i think i can feel the lioness seeing the prey, excellent captured.
I do think the OP is too contrasty and gritty on the shadow side of the lioness, but without real shadows where should be some , seeing the lightning situation.
RP looks compared to OP really flat, so what is the solution ? I do not know really, but think this is difficult to get the balance.

I tried in PS but found no way to make me happy , in terms of contrast .

But really worth it to take some time and explore the option this wonderful image is giving.

TFS Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

Some great discussion points above. This is such an "on-the-wire" image that can work in so many ways and is really dependent on the processing/visionary bias of the person processing, albeit the differences may be subtle.
Love the light and pose, of course, and your exposure in preventing the rim-light to be overcooked is expertly done.

Here's my take, based on your RP. Some dodging and burning, some blacks added in selective colour, and a crop.
WDYT?

[Steve Kaluski]

Morkel I think you are spot on, this is so 'on the wire'.

For me it's one image that can work in either direction and I for one, do not know which route to take, I'm at the crossroads, but either route is right I think, it's simply down to our perception and how we interpret it. :S3:

[Jamie Douglas]

Morkel is on a role with his reposts. Just like Loi's image - the image was done right in camera and now it's just about how to take it the next level in post processing. Such a superb image and I love the beam of light crossing the right eye (viewers right). :5

[Brendon Cremer]

Thanks very much all, i really like all the comments and suggestions made, as mentioned by steve and morkel, i think this is one of those images that is quite tough to process as it can go many different ways, so was very keen to hear everyones views when i posted. Morkel i like your RP, the added black and dodging and burning adds that little bit extra punch. I was in two minds on the crop, when i initially started on this image i thought 16:9 but then thought because of the nice mood, light and colours i would keep it as is, i now see it could certainly work both ways:5

[Brendon Cremer]

Just another spanner in the works, not sure if it works and i think i prefer the Colour version, just been playing.

131511

[Steve Kaluski]

OK folks just to add a bit more into the thread, Morkel will try and fwd to you for your input also.

Now this goes well away from the OP, however I am coming from a different POV. Also not being there I cannot tell if it needs more warmth, yellow etc, but the original did lack punch and i feel under exposed, hence the above comments I guess. Brendon looking at the histogram you need more spread across the axis, especially to the left, in doing so you will capture more detail to work with and in turn the image will be far better. So all I have done is to get a WB starting point, which in this case was 51.7/50.2/50.4, adjust the exposure so there is a better spread in the histogram and ensure the whites are not clipped, likewise the blacks. This is the Exported tiff, as I said, this is just from balancing the RAW, nothing more, personal tweaks is down to the individual & interpretation.

[Steve Kaluski]

Now, having exported the image, I added some mid tone to bring a bit more detail & structure. Applied a Curves adjustment for the whites, dropped any cast in the whites, added a luminosity layer to help the brighter areas and some selective colour in the neutrals/blacks for the blacks. All adjustments are made as layers with masks. The light is from the left so any Curves adjust for the whites was only applied to that side of the head, everything else will be in shadow. Then sharpened.
Hope this helps, but a very big thank you to Brendon for allowing this thread to grow in a very positive way and perhaps others may have gleaned a few things along the way too? :cheers:

Steve
PS Removed the prominent blade of grass on the LHS

[Brendon Cremer]

Thanks very much for this Steve, always great to see others take on the image. WB wise it was definitely a little warmer at the time but for sure not as warm as my OP which i now feel is a little overcooked with warmness. I will certainly be giving the image a bash with some of your thoughts.

Its only a pleasure as well Steve, i hope that there are some who have possibly learnt a few things along the way, i certainly have. Thats why i love photography, you can never know it all and there is always something to learn and almost always something you never thought of.

[Brendon Cremer]

Another Final RP from me before everyone gets tired of this thread, if you not already. Some of Steves advice added together with a little personal preference, i think is more accurate of the actual scene on the day

131518

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Brendon - nice job on the last rp. I might just back off a bit on the sharpening of the fg grasses.

This has been a very interesting thread and it's always nice to see the evolution of an image.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Brendon,
so many really good versions , really difficult to decide which one is the best for my eyes.

Basic image still great stuff and i would mix your last version and Steve´s second, for me .

TFS Andreas

[Morkel Erasmus]

I had a bad connection today Steve, could only download tonight.
Won't add another repost here...nice work on the last one Brendon. Steve brought back nice detail and structure, then it just needed that golden mood of your OP...
:5