Leopard on the prowl

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi All,
Here is my first contribution to the theme of December month (predators). This was male leopard 'Ghost' at Timbavati. The light was awesome and we were close to him :eek3:
7D
70mm
f/5
1/400
ISO 400

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev, I think this is where you begin to see the difference in IQ, but guess the change of body was for reach?

I like the light/warmth, but not too strong for the Leopard to close his eyes. The pano crop works well, as it ties in with the walking stance and enough room to allow him to walk into frame, lovely head down & arched back of the neck, he was on a mission. Looks in prime condition and a big guy too. The overall colour really shows well how they blend so well into their environment and so easy to lose too, love the curled tail. I just wonder if a slight tweak helps to tighten the focus on the subject and allows to easily blend the dead tree branch LRHC? Obviously the amount can easily be dialled back to suit the taste and I have been a little too generous at the top, needs a lighter hand I feel, plus the ratio of where you wish to start & finish the blur can change. Not suggesting you should manipulate, just throwing in a thought. Perhaps f/4 or even 2.8 as I assume you had the 70-200.

Thanks for kicking off Decembers theme.

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice pose and light hitting his face.
I think you can achieve nice subject separation through a careful monochrome toning - using different colour filters for the grass and the leopard...

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thanks Steve, adding the blur and removing the dead branch certainly has improved the image. I could have shot wide open as the les was indeed the 70-200 2.8 II, but was not sure of DOF.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Sanjeev - nice stalking pose to kick off the month. The warm light is great and love the curved tail. Steve has taken it up a notch in his rp.

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Sanjeev,

Was just thinking how precious those leopards are and how rare the sightings...What a beautiful male you have captured here, before I even considered any techs I wondered at his sheer size, that massive neck, the determination on his face - what a beauty!

I really like the crop, works for me too - like Steve said above, it does tie in so nicely with the walking stance; this leopard is moving with great intent, body stretched, one can almost feel his tension. Steve's blur helps emphasise the subject by narrowing the frame on the top and bottom and diminishing some distracting elements - suddenly the image has a cleaner, tidier look ...the blur itself resembles a frame... I feel I have learnt something here, thank you Steve:)

Lovely light on the subject's face and I like the overall warmth and colours, sharpening is just right - I think you did a great job with processing, Sanjeev! Well done, love it:cheers:


Kind regards,

[edwardselfe]

This is a beautiful image - and I think it could only have been even better with a shallower dof. The 70-200mm at 70mm would give you a large dof at f5. I would probably have chosen 2.8 (or 3.2 for a bit more sharpness). Even so, there are lovely colours here and the pano crop works. I think Steve's blur effect is to be considered, but needs to be done carefully imho. I've never really managed to replicate lens blur, but others are very good at it!
Ed

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi sanjeev , i like this because of the subject in great light . You could have taken it differently as already suggested .
But doing this as Steve did, quick and dirty , is very difficult to do without looking too artificial .

Nice color and tone .

TFS Andreas