Cheetah Kill

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

7D + 70-200 f/4 IS. The light was getting low so upped the ISO to 1600 to get this shot. PP in ACR, CS5. Warmed the image up with colour temp to 4800. Did some colour adj. NR to BG, Sharpened in CS5.
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Camera
Canon EOS 7D (http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/eos_7d/)


Exposure
(1/160)


Aperture
f/5.6


Focal Length
106 mm


ISO Speed
1600


Exposure Bias
0 EV

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[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Sanjeev,
nice sightings you had on your trip.
From a photographic POV i think the angle is not very attractive and not ideal.Why haven`t you used the other camera? You could have gone higher with 5D, that you had more choices for SS and ISO.
The comp is ok.
You have more tonal variations in the shrub than in the main subjects, i think you should try to get more tonal variations in the subjects instead .

Just my thoughts

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Sanjeev - based on the techs and your description it does look like you struggled with light and ss. I would have dropped down to f4 to get as much light as possible. I agree with Andreas that the pov isn't the best. Looks like you were either close in the vehicle or the cheetah was in a dip off the road. There are some blues coming through in the bushes and also the very tip of the cheetah's tail. Again the whites on the kill look hot with no detail. Have you tried recovering them?

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thank you Andreas & Rachel, we were close to the subjects and I shot from the roof hatch, hence the steep angle. The 500 II was paired with the 5D3 and since it was getting late we only got a few mins to shoot, so did not bother changing bodies. Rachel, in ACR I did use alt click and recovery slider and there are no hot spots on the belly of the tommy. Appreciate your feedback a lot.
regards,
Sanjeev

[Hilary Hann]

Very sad when you get a good sighting but don't have time to give it justice. All I can say is that it sharpens your mind for the next time. Sometimes, the slider may not show up hot spots but the whites are too bright despite that.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, I agree with Andreas, the angle isn't great, however you have to make the most of the situation and invariably there will be other vehicles, plus other guess who clammer to get close and based on the kit, you were close.

I would revisit the image back in LR/ACR, just a slight tweak in Highlights, Whites & Exp tones the bright hotspots back. There is also minimal clipping on the blacks (Dark shadow areas), but I wouldn't worry. Popping a Midtone adj just brings a bit more depth to everything I might just drop the blue in the whites of the kill. There is a bit of detail in there, but adjusting things certainly bring out more even on a web image. It also brings more depth & form to the body of the cheetah too. Certainly swopping bodies and cranking up the ISO would have been the better option, even with some cropping the IQ would have been better, but this is always with hindsight.

I'll drop you a screen grab of the setting which may help initially?

TFS
Steve

[edwardselfe]

Think Steve's given some good ideas. there's more that could come out of this image I think. it's a frustration of mine that some guides sometimes drive too close to animals on safari. Nearly everyone has a 300mm lens, but even with a 200, it's possible to get nice images when people stand back a bit. and very hard to get a nice shot if you've driven up on top of the animal. I sympathise Sanjeev.
Ed

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Sanjeev,

What a great sighting and so sorry you did not have the best circumstances in this instance-I personally avoid going anywhere in an open vehicle with other guests, very frustrating since photographers and non-photographers don't mix well on a safari:2eyes2:.

Well this reminds me of an amusing story: we made one mistake of getting on a big game vehicle (the Unimog type) during an earlier trip in the Kalahari. Myself and my partner were staying at Mata Mata for a few nights and decided to go for a three hour trip, since one is not allowed to drive in one's own vehicle after sunset. We just wanted to see what happened at night around there. The truck was full of people talking and laughing and telling jokes in various languages, the ranger did not notice the hyaenas and the porcupine and the springhares so I had to shout at him to stop from time to time. He stopped for a few seconds eventually (usually a little too late) and before I got my settings right and the flash and everything, he was off without a warning and I nearly dropped my equipment as I fell back on my seat:bg3: Eventually I gave up, swore under my breath, put my equipment in a bag underneath my seat, and grabbed a spotlight from a tourist who looked tired and not-so-interested-as-I-was in finding some wildlife.

So well done under the circumstances, surely you can improve this image and lots of good advice from Steve above, looking forward to a repost,

Kind regards,

[Anette Mossbacher]

HI Sanjeev,

keep Ed's suggestions in mind next time you go on Safari. You can tell the driver not to drive to close. You pay for the driving!!!
When I saw the image this was my first impression, to close. Oh well, next time you know what to do in such a case.
You got good suggestion from Steve and others above. Nice sighting for sure.

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thanks Everyone for your feedback, highly appreciated. Steve & ed your points are well noted and I will take care. Gabriela, what a nice story and I can understand your agony at such times. Our vehicle had 4 people (we three were close friends) and another new acquaintance who did not have a camera but was insisting we move on as he wanted to see a leopard!!! And the driver was in a hurry to get back to the lodge :-( Well, in the future I will ask the driver to not go so close as it surely must be disturbing the animal while having his hard-earned meal. Steve gave some good ideas and I will work on the RP.
Cheers
Sanjeev