Cub Chowing Down

[Rachel Hollander]

A different kill from the one I posted the other day. Here the lionesses of the Tsalala Pride on Londolozi in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa took down an impala for their 4 cubs. This particular cub grabbed what I think was a leg and took it off to the side and out of the fray of the other cubs. Good thing that images don't have smell-a-vision. One of the adults had opened up the stomach and intestines and the smell was strong. The area was tight with lots of foliage so we parked at a somewhat precarious angle on a deserted termite mound and just stayed put.

Canon 7D
300 II
1/320
f5.6
ISO 1600
Beanbag from safari vehicle, ff, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color adjustments, sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Amazing photo Rachel, I like the little teeth showing & chomping on the kill. Those strong little claws clasping on the leg shows he wouldn't want to let go of his piece!! Comp looks good but maybe a square crop with less on top and more to the right as we see it could also work?
cheers
sanjeev

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Sanjeev. As I said this is ff, so no more room to the right. Most of the distracting foliage was to the right so I was trying to keep it to a minimum with this comp. I wanted to shoot tight on the face but in hindsight perhaps a little more room below and less on top would have worked better. Yes, I could easily go square here.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Wow that's good, such well developed claws yet the teeth are so small.
I keep reading about these luminosity masks - how or what did you do and why????

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Jon, the best way to learn about Luminosity Masks is to Google "Tony Kupyer" and then read some of his tutorials and info. He also sells plug-ins that some people use. This thread in the Digital Photography Workflow forum explains how to do the most basic luminosity mask to tame highlights and an inverse luminosity mask to lighten the darkest areas:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/115042-Luminosity-masks

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you Rachel, I have some reading to do!!

[Loi Nguyen]

Rachel, great details and lovely eyes. I'd suggest go for a 4:3 format and take some off the top. Loi


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[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Rachel!

Cute little youngster munching, and I would not mind the smell-o-vision although I would prefer to have the sound on:)

I like the way you framed this, I would not go square - that little branch on the top RHS helps to balance things very well:)

Sorry I am becoming a little scarce these days...hectic at work...I do put my laptop on every morning before we open the pharmacy doors and even though I do not always manage to comment I do get to look and wonder:tinysmile_shy_t:

Enjoyed viewing very much, PP work excellent as always, well captured and processed Rachel:cheers:

Warmest regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel , very nice detail and overall clarity . Love the eyes. Very well processed with good colors .
Only the framing is not ideal i think . You have too much space on top . So i would rather suggest a square as my SA sister :bg3: or a 4x3 as per Loi. Or even better you should have more space on LHS and bottom , but i guess you do not !

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Loi, Gabriela and Andreas, much appreciate the comments and suggestions.

:cheers:,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, yep, a very nice encounter albeit slightly smelly/gory. Personally I would have liked the framing to have been slightly lower with more space at the foot & less above. IF this is FF then I would consider loosing some space above.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, I agree :wave: