Lion with a Mission

[Rachel Hollander]

This is another image from our time with the male lions on the buffalo kill on the steep riverbank. This lion came up from the dry riverbed a little bit after his coalition partners. He walked fairly close to our vehicle but his focus was entirely on the kill.

Canon 7D
300 II
1/320
f5.6
ISO 800
Beanbag from vehicle, cropped from left and below for comp, levels, curves, luminosity mask, selective color adjustments, selective burning, sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- excellent details and composition ! nice sharpness and colours as well, the blades of grass along with the yellow lines in the BKG are diverting the eye from the subject but still the subject rules !! TFS .

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Fantastic detail and sharpness Rachel. Colors looks great and that fixated gaze is what makes this image. Well composed too. TFS.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, seeing this I feel perhaps it's more 'in-line' with the suggestions that were made to Raymond's Tiger posting and which still would command that all intensive stare.

Good detail, but wished the 5D was on the other end, primarily for IQ, but also it would provide a fraction more room above and perhaps a more 'refined' option for cropping, but just my take. Interesting to note the overall colour palette and how we and the camera perceive things. I might be tempted to 'tame' the brighter highlights of the blades of grass as per Hasseb's comment, not always easy with soft colours, but might be worth a punt and it would, IMHO improve the image.

I may post one of these tomorrow before departing again.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Haseeb, Sanjeev and Steve. Steve - I don't have any issues with the IQ here from the 7D. The grass has been substantially tamed already and I felt going further looked too artificial. It may be a factor of being too close to the image and a fresh set of eyes or two say go further. I'll take another look.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Rachel, great portrait. I love the details on the long hair around the neck and ear. Not sure if it is the 7D or the DOF, but the hair on the face is not as sharp. Perhaps the 5D would do better there. Loi

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Loi, probably my fault. I backed off on the sharpening on the face because I thought it was looking oversharpened.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Rachel,

Saw this thumbnail on Friday evening and tried very hard not to open it - saved it for my Sunday morning treat because I miss my KTP lions so badly these days!

As you know I am very drawn to close-ups... I am so enjoying all the detail here and that formidable intensity in the subjects' eye, as well as its body language - head down and a neck "stiffness" those big cats display when focusing on something or stalking. It must have been so exciting to be so close to your subject:)

The composition and presentation work very well for me, I do not quite see those blades of grass as problematic since the lion's face is so powerful against the background. Nice clean processing as usual, and IQ is great despite relatively low SS. Sharpening is spot-on IMO.

Indeed a treat and I plan to have another look after breakfast, Andre here is nudging me to step into the kitchen - it is my turn to cook, LOL. Wishing you a wonderful day, thank you so much for sharing- as always, such a pleasure to view:5

Warmest regards,

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Gabriela, I'm glad you like this one. Enjoy your evening. :wave:

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Rachel, a bit late to the party, but Im here. :w3 What a great fixated stare you have captured here, and you have done well with a fixed lens, leaving enough space top and bottom of the face. I really like the detail on the mane, is it wet? The sharpness looks spot on, as does the DOF. Well captured.

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Stu, yes the mane was wet but I'm not sure from what.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Rachel

All covered above.
What drew me to the image was the stare, the fixated eyes- he knew where he wants to go, and he is going there-now!
Have seen this before with male/male interactions- the intense focussing from one individual.
I too wondered about the wet mane, was it early morning with wet grass?
He really fills the frame:cheers: