Lioness

[Rachel Hollander]

Taken in the late afternoon at Londolozi in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. The red is blood from an impala kill that the pride, well mostly this adult and the cubs, were feasting on.

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 200mm
1/320
f5.6
ISO 1600
HH from safari vehicle, cropped to vertical from horizontal, levels, curves, selective colors and sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel

Most beautiful eyes.. and the flatten ears and the open mouth are a little menacing also. Great portrait..

DON

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Superb portrait, lovely detail, awesome eye contact & composition. I like it. TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, amazing that in the space of say 20 minutes, a gentle stroll can turn into, a kill for the pride and how defensive she turned into during the meal, as portrayed here with the ears back.

I like the portrait & framing, perhaps moving the whole crop down a fraction may help, but personal choice. Based on the tech's as I have something to refer too, I feel it was a little softer in colour, less vibrant if you know what I mean, but more importantly it's looking a bit crunchy, perhaps pulling back on the sharpening & dropping the radius? Maybe just pulling back on the Exp a fraction too, what's the WB in the PP set to?

Certainly a cool sighting and we did I feel, have the prime spot. :S3:

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Don, Sanjeev and Steve. Steve - WB set to 5000 after using your method. She was the lioness standing off to the left after munching the stomach. Good thing there's no smell-o-vision. Definitely the prime spot but difficult balance for Alison and I at that angle.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Definitely the prime spot but difficult balance for Alison and I at that angle.

But you two had the luxury of not shooting over the Ranger and had the whole of the seat each. :bg3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Yes, and a nice core and quad workout :bg3:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel , nice and tight portrait with some good detail and colors , specially in the gums. Agree about being a bit crunchy , and i am surprised that you getting crunchy images :eek3:. But that can be easily addressed .Good call by Steve going darker in the tones , agree with him.

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Rachel,

I am mesmerised by this lioness...Looked at her nose and teeth to get an idea of her age, for I have seen "pale" looking lions like she is a few times before and they were quite old. The dark lines on her ears are slightly faded and so are the spots above the eyes. She is still healthy and very powerful, this girl is mean and lean (not so sure about "lean" after that kill though:w3). I love the detail overall and the colours, that stare you captured is magnificent - wonder what she was looking at, at the time?

Read the comments above and wondering what happened if you dropped exposure just a tad? I cannot really see the crunchiness as such, but then again I tend to over sharpen so I would not notice:bg3: Maybe Steve is right?

Lovely portrait and I will remember this intense stare...

Have a wonderful evening,

Maybe you have time to look through this folder, I would like to see this lioness's offspring:bg3:

Nite nite

Gabriela

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andreas and Gabriela for the comments and suggestions. Gabriela - Steve posted an image today of one of the cubs at the kill. This is also one of the cubs just before they were called to the kill:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/121309-Lion-Cub

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you Rachel, I quickly had a look at the link - so, the little golden boy is her son?

Brilliant! Will have a look at Steve's cub:w3

Wish I was there too...what a trip you had, Rachel! What sightings!

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Rachel

Love the posture, the mood and the saliva on her lower lip and chin.

My first thought when I opened the image was that it is a tad too bright.
Masked layer to still have detail in those gums or a D&B?

To use Carl's words at our last shoot: " she is one mean girl"

Love mood that you captured...

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andre - thanks for the comment but I don't understand your question. I didn't mask the gums or do any selective d&b on this image.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Rachel

This was I meant: did a masked levels layer @27% opacity , blending mode soft light. Just masked the blacks around mouth and nose not to darken the blacks and loose the detail.

WDYT?

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andre - thanks for the explanation and the rp. I've looked at the rp both here and in PS. Not sure about it, it's not really my style and is a bit too contrasty for me. I think this is more a personal preference thing and how far one goes in PP. As you know, my mantra is less is more when it comes to pp.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel, great details as usual and I as well agree with a tad crunchy, but no deal breaker for me today :)
love the colors in here, not to saturated for me at all, looks good, in German... das passt:)

have ve a great eve

ciao Anette