Leopard Royale

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Here is another contribution from me for the theme of the month. Again taken at the Okavango Delta, Bots. 7D II with 500 II. Thanks for commenting on my earlier images. Much appreciated!:S3:
1/500
f/6.3
ISO 800
Hand Held

[Andre Pretorius]

Hi Sanjeev
Would have loved to be so close to this magnificent cat on our last trip....
IMHO I feel the BG is too over-powering in this image, would reduce brightness and do a curve layer on BG.
Would punch the mid-tones on cat with selective sharpening on eyes, ears and nose.
Where was focal point, nose look sharper than eyes?
Love this cat, with bit of youth still present with pink on nose...:S3:
Fine with comp and HA.
Would warm up lower part of cat though, looks cooler than head..(very critical now..,maybe the shade to the tree?)
Stunning capture!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Sanjeev - Another well done leopard shot. Is this a different leopard? Nice level pov with good detail. I understand what Andre is saying about the bg competing with the leopard due to the brightness of the bg. But you exposed well for the cat in the shade. If it were mine I would reduce the blues and magenta slightly. Nice one overall.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Thanks Andre and Rachel. Yes this was a different one, we saw two leopards in the 3 days we were there. This one was in the shade and I did my best to expose for the leopard. I did tone down the BG a lot. Can do a bit more I guess. The image in RAW is tack sharp and I had to struggle not to oversharpen it in PP. The FP was just under the right eye. Thanks a lot for your inputs.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Sanjeev -- Another very good leopard image ! great sharpness and details , the dry twigs coming out on the RHS corner behind the leopard are a bit distracting but eliminating it during PP is always a personal preference . loved this one . TFS !

[Gabriela Plesea]

This is another sweet frame, Sanjeev. I lost count of how many you delighted us with, so far:)

What a focused, attentive leopard, what pink healthy nose and the expression on its face is just awesome, mmm...I like that beginning of a frown there... do tell us Sanjeev - what was he looking at?

Very well exposed, nice and sharp, good IQ, framing works for me:) Agree about the BG though, it has this "lemon" tinge to it and might not compliment the subject that well. Should you feel adventurous and have some time available to go back to this frame, try something more unusual, like reducing the yellows in the BG and adding a tad of magenta, you might end up with a rather pleasing pink but remember to blur the mask. Keep experimenting my friend, I feel I must thank you again for those wonderful images, truly delightful in every way:5

Kind regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Sanjeev another nice Leopard, but for me you have spoil us with previous images and therefore for me I don't find this as appealing, but that's just my take.


The FP was just under the right eye.

I'm assuming 'right' as in how we are looking at the subject? If so I feel you would have been better to have placed it more between the two and have upped the ISO & DoF. Again, just personal preference, but some more tonal range in the whites may help to add some more form within the face.

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice and sharp and with lovely details, Sanjeev.
I think toning down the BG some more might overdo it, as it's already obvious that it's been "handled".
Going B&W might be a different option given issue with the BG, and might enable you to make the subject stand out a bit more?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi sanjeev yet another lovely Leopard portrait , not as great impact as some other you posted , but this is not as "easy" to make it working the same way .
I am fine with the BG even if it does look somehow "artificial" , but i think you did well by even out the tones of BG and subject .
I like the overall colors and the details you have extracted , i agree with Steve and his whites suggestion :5.

Nice job , Sanjeev

TFS Andreas